Arsenal are shell-shocked and huge concern will have club fearing brutal title collapse

Arsenal’s latest setback has enhanced fears they could still let the Premier League title slip away.

The Gunners’ hopes of winning the treble were ended on Saturday night in embarrassing fashion as they were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship outfit Southampton

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The defeat at St Mary’s followed Arsenal’s Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City prior to the international break, leaving the Premier League and Champions League as the remaining silverware available to Arsenal this season.

However, Mikel Arteta must also juggle a mounting injury list if he is to end their six-year wait for a major trophy.

Meanwhile, it has been 22 years since the Gunners won the Premier League.

City sit nine points behind their title rivals but have a game in hand.

The two sides are also still to meet at the Etihad Stadium, with their clash scheduled for Sunday, April 19.

Arsenal face Sporting Lisbon in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday, live on talkSPORT, before hosting Bournemouth on Saturday.

Following their defeat to Saints, though, concerns have been raised over the knock-on effect of recent results.

It has even been suggested that the ‘shell-shocked’ Arsenal players could be showing signs of nerves beginning to creep in.

Injuries mounting for ‘shell-shocked’ Gunners

Tony Cascarino believes Arsenal fans are starting to have concerns over the current state of the side after back-to-back defeats.

Meanwhile, the absence of several key players through injury may also hamper their hopes during the final weeks of the season.

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Speaking on Sunday’s Weekend Sports Breakfast, Cascarino explained: “I think they’re going to be in shell-shock because of what’s happened in the last few weeks.

“I was at the game against Everton at the Emirates Stadium where they won late, 2-0, it was a great game. Everton were fantastic for 85 minutes. Arsenal got over the line.

“I think this is a bigger concern at the moment. Arteta will say all the right things, but Arsenal fans are really, really concerned about where they are, with injuries mounting up as well.”

Arteta was without seven first-team players due to injury against Southampton as his side failed to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

Long-term absentee Mikel Merino was joined on the treatment table by Eberechi Eze prior to the international break.

Piero Hincapie, Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard withdrew from their national teams before missing Saturday’s defeat.

In a further blow, Gabriel Magalhaes was forced off during the second half.

Cascarino added: “You’ve got to think of certain people that weren’t involved yesterday. I mean, if you’ve got no Declan Rice, you’re really losing the heartbeat of the midfield of energy.

“Martin Zubimendi is another player and Timber. So you’ve lost some tenacious players in their positions.

“Now, obviously, they’ve got Man City coming up. They’ve got Bournemouth as well, they’re tricky games.

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“But what I did see yesterday was that a Southampton team really hurt them and mistakes.

“If you go back to when they were fighting for the title a few years back, when they lost at Newcastle, Arteta played a few injured players because he had to, and they got blown away by Newcastle and it was sort of the end of their title run, really.

“I think all Arsenal fans will be shell-shocked today. What they’ve witnessed, because they are a good side. We know they are. They’ve led the way all season but for this period of the season to then look vulnerable, that would be a concern.”

Arteta must handle Arsenal’s wobble – O’Leary

Former Arsenal defender David O’Leary believes Arteta must show his leadership if the Gunners are to bounce back from their recent woes.

The Irishman won seven trophies including two league titles during 20 years with the club.

When asked how he dealt with wobbles as a player if he had any, O’Leary told talkSPORT: “We certainly had a big wobble, (we) nearly threw the league away.

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“We had to go to Anfield that night and win by two clear goals. I had my doubts, without a doubt.

“I mean, I roomed with Alan Smith that afternoon and we went up after them to rest in the rooms and I thought George Graham was that confident.

“He gave that impression, whether it was just a great acting thing, to say that we can do this. I thought we could beat Liverpool, but could we beat them by two clear goals? In all the 20 years of going there and playing? I’d never done that.

“He radiated a very calm approach to the game after us having a few games where we were expected to win them. We didn’t.

“We drew and we got beat in that and brought Liverpool back into play and gave them a great chance. I think a lot depends on the leader and the leader now of Arsenal is Mikel Arteta.”

O’Leary also fears Arsenal will suffer from the absence of Rice from their midfield.

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He explained: “He’s been their best player. He’s been outstanding. You might have a great squad in which Arsenal have and you have great players to come in, top players.

“But within that squad, you have players like Manchester United. They had Roy Keane. When you left Keane out, yes, they had a top player to come in. But you want the real special ones and Declan Rice has been a real special one for the team.

“I think when he’s not playing, no matter how well Arsenal play, Arsenal still suffer a little bit because of his absence.”

Arteta’s behaviour shows ‘nerves’

Arsenal fan and broadcaster Harry Symeou joined The Warm Up to dissect his side’s latest defeat.

During their loss to Southampton, Symeou noted Arteta’s increasingly frantic behaviour on the touchline.

He admitted: “I just think for him to be as animated as he is and for him to be sort of constantly saying, get up the pitch, squeeze up, it’s almost a tell-tale sign to me that maybe for some of the players, it is the nerves taking over.

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“Maybe it’s the idea of what’s at stake sort of coming into their thinking mid-game and that leading to them playing in a much different way to what’s been expected.

“I mean, everything he says is we’re going to attack this, we’re going to enjoy this, we’re going to do all of that stuff.

“Do you really think that he then goes into the dressing room and says something completely different? Because I don’t.

“I think it’s about trying to get them to stick to the task at hand, play the way they’ve prepared to play and not be bogged down by the expectation around this season.”

Rival fans rooting against Arsenal is ‘ridiculous’

Rival fans have made the most of Arsenal’s recent defeats to City and Southampton by taking the chance to celebrate their failures.

However, Symeou has been left ‘irritated’ by the growing desire from supporters for City to beat the Gunners to the title.

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He explained: “I don’t understand it, to be honest with you. That’s the bit that I struggle with. I get there’s tribalism in football. It’s part of what makes football brilliant.

“But I find it amazing that we’re in a title race with a team that are, and I have to be careful how I say this, accused of breaking the rules.

“We don’t know that they are. They’re accused of breaking the rules, yet everybody wants them to win the league.

“We went into the season competing with a Liverpool side that spent over £400million in the summer and were coming into it from a position of champions. Yet the noise around us is so much louder all the time.

“Do we sort of get animated as a fan base? Yes, but isn’t that natural when you haven’t won the league in over two decades.

“So I do find it frustrating, I do find it irritating. I think some of the narratives that have been created around Arsenal are ridiculous.

“A great example was all the players pulling out of international duty, apparently they were all fakes. Yet Arsenal are without six players, key players going to Southampton.”