After Wednesday night’s draw with Nottingham Forest, Nuno Espirito Santo said one harsh thing that said it all about what’s wrong at Arsenal right now. The two teams, which are currently second and third in the table, played each other in the Premier League at the City Ground, but neither could win. The score was 0-0.
It was another bad result for Mikel Arteta’s team, as Liverpool kept growing their lead at the top of the league. At first, Arsenal and Arne Slot’s team were tied for the title, but new results have put 13 points between the two teams. The Gunners have had a lot of injuries lately, which is one reason why they are having trouble.
Not long ago, stars like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz got hurt, and they don’t have many choices up front right now. So much so that they’ve been putting midfielder Mikel Merino up front and even Riccardo Calafiori up front against Forest. Even though they’ve done a good job, Espirito Santo himself said that the team still lacks a lot of firepower.
Espirito Santo Commented On Arsenal’s Lack of Forwards
He pointed out how light they were up top
Forest has done better than anyone thought they would this season and is now in a strong position to make the Champions League. It’s amazing how much work Espirito Santo has done, and his strategies have really helped. During the season, he’s had his team move to five at the back, which has become standard for the club. Even though they played one of the two best teams in England on Wednesday night, he didn’t tell his team to do that, and when asked why, he didn’t hold back:
“As Arsenal doesn’t have a striker… there’s no need for an extra body.”
"As Arsenal doesn't have a striker… there's no need for an extra body" 👀
Nuno Espírito Santo's delivers his brutal honesty 🤐
🎙️ @Julesbreach pic.twitter.com/L7N7H3yQD4
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 26, 2025
He told it like it is, saying that Arsenal aren’t strong up front right now. These days, Arteta’s men haven’t scored many goals, and it’s easy to see why. After the game, the Spanish coach talked about how hard it was for his team to score goals and how they were working to fix things. According to quotes on Arsenal’s official website, he said, “We tried and adapted the quality that we have, how we can help the team to create different things, to have threats from different qualities. Probably they aren’t about arriving in the box and making magic moments; they’re other kinds of players.” We need to get used to that and do our best.
