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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Paul Brown

Piers Morgan's ludicrous Mikel Arteta plea ignores Arsenal's major transfer failure

Piers Morgan may think Patrick Vieira should replace Mikel Arteta - but that would be a ludicrous decision for Arsenal to make.

Until their recent dip, Arteta looked like he was finally getting things together at the Emirates: like he'd found the right formula and a return to the Champions League was within his grasp. Then, his side lost three times in a row to slip below not just Tottenham (gasp!) but also Manchester United (really?!?) in the race for fourth place.

Now, they face tough trips to Chelsea and West Ham, with a visit by United sandwiched in between. But Arsenal's biggest problem is not Mikel Arteta; it's their failure to buy him a striker in January to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Some people claim Arteta picked the wrong fight with Aubameyang, forcing out a player his side needed for the run-in. It's probably how Arsenal fan Morgan feels too. And there is some merit in that. But let's face it: while Aubameyang has scored goals for Barcelona, he is 32. And his wages were an albatross around the club's neck.

He is a player on his way down, who had only scored four Premier League goals this season before he was shipped out, and was setting a bad example. Stripped of the captaincy for one disciplinary breach, he didn't learn his lesson, and ended up being frozen out by the manager.

I know who I back in that fight, and it isn't the guy who can't be bothered to turn up on time for team meetings. No, Arsenal's problem is not that Arteta let Aubameyang go. It's that they didn't replace him, leaving themselves short up front.

Aubameyang has been in fine form in Spain (NurPhoto/PA Images)

Have Your Say! Do you agree with Piers Morgan about Mikel Arteta? Join the debate here.

Alexandre Lacazette, whose contract is running down, is just not up to it, and can't seem to hit a cow's backside with a banjo. Since Aubameyang left, Lacazette has scored once while the Gabon international has found the net 10 times in Spain. Arsenal are crying out for a striker, but a young, hungry, world-class one; not an over-the-hill has-been on massive wages going through a purple patch at the end of his career.

They tried hard for Dusan Vlahovic even after it became clear he had no interest in the club, eventually joining Juventus instead. And then they decided to keep their powder dry on the likes of Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alexander Isak of Real Sociedad. Maybe there was just no-one good enough available. Or maybe Arsenal made a costly mistake. Either way, it has left Arteta short. But, the Gunners boss has found a system and a way of playing that works, and that gets the best out of three players he can build the club's future around.

Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe all played some of the best football of their careers after Aubameyang left. And Arsenal looked like a team again. They shouldn't throw all that progress away just because they've lost to Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton.

Arsenal didn't sack Arteta when they lost their opening three Premier League games of the season without scoring a goal. They shouldn't get rid of him now either. And while Vieira is a good manager who has worked wonders at Palace and looks destined for an even bigger job one day, it's surely too soon for him to get the Arsenal job.

Arteta has been allowed to sign virtually a whole team of players since he's been at the Emirates, upgrading at almost every position. A goalkeeper, two centre halves, two full-backs, two central midfielders, and a number 10. And they had the wing positions sorted already.

He will get his shot at signing a top-class striker this summer, possibly even two, and it's then he will really be judged. Celebrity critic Morgan's tweet about all this read: "‘Trust the process!’ No thanks. #ArtetaOUT #VieiraIN" with a screenshot of recent defeats. But that is exactly what Arsenal should do, even if they fail to finish in the top four - because without a 20 or 30 goals-a-season striker to rely on, there is only so much anyone can do.

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