Mikel Arteta's 'bring your dinner' claim has harmed Arsenal's Premier League title charge

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It was truly hard to believe you were watching the potential Premier League champions. Arsenal were abject, short of ideas, nonchalant, sloppy, weak, devoid of character and ultimately outclassed by hard-working Bournemouth.

But however poor their players were, much of this defeat must also rest with Mikel Arteta. Arsenal were merely a by-product of their overly-animated and emotional head coach, namely inside the opening 20 minutes.

The Spaniard had urged Gunners supporters on Friday to "bring their lunch and dinner" to the Emirates but on the field, there was a sense of panic and that sparked restlessness and frustration in the stands.

Bournemouth made smart tactical fouls to disrupt Arsenal's rhythm and Arteta was like a bubbling volcano ready to erupt as he sprung around his technical area while hassling fourth official Gavin Ward.

He was so agitated, he simply could not sit still, particularly after Martin Zubimendi trickled a dismal straightforward pass out of play when attempting to find the feet of Ben White.

Moments later, the ambitious Cherries broke the deadlock through Eli Junior Kroupi after fine work from Adrien Truffert and the opener prompted a swift change change in Arteta's demeanour and Arsenal's approach.

The hungry Double-chasing boss turned around to the home crowd and urged them to calm down via hand gestures.

In fairness, his team, who later equalised through Viktor Gyokeres' thunderbolt penalty, immediately became more controlled and self-assured in possession, which begged the question; why was there such desperation to blow Bournemouth away?

There's respectable substance behind Andoni Iraola's side's 12-match unbeaten streak, they are a tough nut to crack but instead of attempting to wear and grind them down, Arsenal appeared set on steamrolling them from the get-go.

It was poor judgement and the approach blew up in their face as Bournemouth rose to the challenge and were bang up for disrupting Arsenal's title charge for the second successive season following a shock 2-1 victory at the Emirates last May.

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Additionally, video footage emerged on Friday of Arsenal playing a TikTok montage on a big screen next to their training session at London Colney in a bid to inspire the players.

If Arsenal's squad is short of motivation at this stage of the campaign when they virtually had one hand on the trophy, perhaps they are in bigger trouble that we all thought.

Arteta likes to think outside of the box but this kind of motivational tool feels slightly artificial and plays into the narrative that Arsenal lack the belief required to get themselves over the line purely because they have not already done it.

Make no mistake, they are now in huge trouble following Alex Scott's well-crafted winner because Manchester City have built considerable momentum and their route directly back into the title fray is already mapped out.

Beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday and defeat Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium next weekend and they will go level on points with the Gunners if they beat Burnley on April 22.

Suddenly, Arsenal's home fixtures against Newcastle and Fulham plus away trips across London to West Ham and Crystal Palace no longer look like a formality.

Two years ago, they were heavily criticised for celebrating a goalless draw at Manchester City as come the end of the season, they fell two points short of Pep Guardiola's champions at the summit.

A draw would undoubtedly be a favourable result next weekend as this time around, Arsenal lead the standings and are not part of the chasing pack but it's a dangerous game to go there and play for a point.

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If Arsenal truly want to end their gruelling 22-year wait for Premier League title glory, only a statement win at the Etihad will do and to achieve that, you can't help but feel Arteta needs the cavalry back.

Captain Martin Odegaard has endured another unspecified injury setback, Bukayo Saka has not been seen since the Carabao Cup final due to a fitness problem, Jurrien Timber has now spent one month sidelined with a groin issue while Riccardo Calafiori has not started back-to-back Premier League games since early-December.

The brutal reality is that Arsenal will now struggle to get over the line without players of such importance because those that have stepped in during their absence have struggled desperately following three defeats in the past four matches in all competitions.

A greater level of maturity, responsibility and conviction is now required if Arteta's men are to be crowned champions.

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