Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta admitted that the possibility of bringing in a striker isn’t looking realistic at the moment. Arsenal’s woes in the attacking half of the pitch were reflected during their 2-0 loss against Liverpool in the FA Cup.
The Gunners, throughout the tie, made plenty of chances but ended up wasting their opportunities to break the stalemate. Liverpool capitalized on the window of opportunity and clinched a 2-0 victory.
After the game, Arteta was quizzed about the possibility of bringing in a striker and said as quoted from Sky Sports, “At the moment, it doesn’t look realistic. My job is to improve our players and get better results with the players we have.”
“One thing is what we need and another is what we can do. What we need to do now is stick behind those players, give them some love, train them and make sure they visualise something very different to what is actually happening now. They’ve done it. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel, because they’ve done it,” Arteta added.
Arsenal fans have been demanding a striker for quite some time in the January transfer window. Arteta asked the fans to support the team and said, “What I beg from the supporters is that they are behind the team. Stick behind the team, they are incredibly good. They deserve the support with their attitude.”
Liverpool struck twice in the dying moments of the game to move into the next round. An own goal from Jakub Kiwior in the 89th minute, which was followed by Luis Diaz’s injury-time goal got the job done for the Reds.
One particular opportunity that Arsenal missed out on was Kai Havertz’s chance. The goal was glaring at him but he was unable to find the back of the net.
“Merit-wise, performance-wise, there is no question who deserved to win the game. It’s very difficult but if the team is getting hammered and not deserving to win football matches, I would be much more worried,” Arteta said.
