Maybe Arsenal is experiencing conditions similar to last season. Even this season I think it's worse. Because last season we saw Arsenal still ranked at the top in the middle of the season.
A lot of people predicted that what happened to Arsenal last season is going to repeat itself this season. I also have the same feeling, but I am just surprised that Arsenal performance has started reducing so early. There are still lots of matches to be played, and if their performance keeps on dropping, they will find it difficult to end the season in the top 4 this season. Arteta is really having lots of things to work on, and I am sure Arsenal is really in need of new strikers. Saka has not really been in form this season, his performance dropped drastically this season, which affected Arsenal's performance. Let’s see what Arsenal will be playing in their next match against Crystal Palace, they should be able to win the match, but it’s not going to be a easy win for them.
Inconsistency has been their problem in recent seasons, it's a problem they haven't been able to solve until now and now we've seen the same thing happen to them. Arteta should have been able to anticipate this, because he experienced first-hand what happened last season that made them ultimately unable to become champions after they had a considerable chance to do so.
Now I don't see it as the fatigue we talked about last season, maybe it's because they were at the same level all season, while their competitors could improve their performance as the competition progressed.
They weren't prepared when something happened to them and that's actually normal for a club. But as I said earlier, Arteta should have anticipated something similar every season.