Matt is an experienced sports journalist and Senior Editor at Football FanCast with 15 years of experience covering football across the Premier League, EFL and Scottish football. Since joining the publication in 2019, he has progressed from writer to Assistant Editor and Senior Editor, a position he has held since 2021.  

A Sports Journalism graduate, Matt previously served as Arsenal and Premier League Editor at VAVEL and gained club-media experience with Chesterfield FC. His journalism has appeared through the Press Association, with his work featured by Sky Sports and the Daily Mail.
 

Throughout his career, Matt has interviewed prominent football figures including Arsène Wenger, Ray Parlour, Alan Smith, Lucy Bronze and Steph Houghton, while also appearing on Arsenal Fan TV and Love Sport Radio.
 

Today, Matt leads Football FanCast's features team, overseeing opinion coverage, editorial standards and content strategy while continuing to provide detailed football analysis.

"It's not done yet". That was the famous message Declan Rice sent when Arsenal lost to Manchester City on April 19th.

The midfielder was quite right. The Gunners went on to win the Premier League and since then, they have been in extraordinarily good form.

Mikel Arteta's men have won 14 out of their last 15 league matches and have kept 11 clean sheets during that run. They've locked in, alright.

A theme of that run has been the sheer number of fixtures they have won 1-0. In fact, that has been a theme of Arteta's tenure to date. They have won 34 games by that scoreline since Arteta took over in December 2019.

They have proven it is a sustainable way of challenging, but how long can this play out before improvement needs to happen in the final third?

Arsenal's biggest issue bites them again vs Hull

The English champions may well be in terrific form, particularly at the back. The arrival of Ezri Konsa has ensured that William Saliba hasn't once been missed while he sits on the sidelines with a back injury.

Konsa looks like one of Arsenal's best signings in years and has made his £55m fee look like a bargain.

Yet, at the top end of the pitch, problems persist. Last weekend the Gunners beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield and while on that occasion all that mattered was the result, it illuminated problems in the final third again.

That was seen again against Slavia Prague and then once more against Hull on Saturday afternoon.

In Czechia midweek, the visitors endured a rugged second half where they were perhaps fortunate to walk away with all three points. They deserved the win on Saturday but it should have been a lot more comfortable.

In attack, they lacked the ability to kill their opponents off. In fact, for much of the game, they lacked the ability to even score a goal.

Martin Odegaard finally broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute, firing home from close range after dazzling work from Noni Madueke down the right. Since Bukayo Saka's injury against Bayern Munich, Madueke has stepped up admirably.

Those around him, however, have not. Kai Havertz scored the winner against Liverpool a week ago but either side of that has delivered some abject displays.

He had seven shots against Fleetwood Town without scoring and was poor again against Hull. To sum up his woes, no player has been caught offside more than the German in the Premier League this season (15).

Sadly for Arteta, Havertz is not the only problem in his forward line.

Arsenal's new Sterling has emerged after Hull

This summer represented the ideal opportunity for Arsenal to go big in the transfer window.

They had reached a Champions League final and won the league for the first time in 22 years. It was the time to be ambitious; it was the time to spend big.

The Gunners did try. Vinicius Junior would have been one of the biggest signings in Premier League history, if not the biggest. Morgan Rogers and Julian Alvarez were also targeted.

Alas, they ended up with none of them. Andrea Berta dallied on the Rogers deal and was eventually trumped by Chelsea who were willing to pay £117m for his services.

As for the other two, they ultimately ended up remaining in Madrid. This was a huge problem, not least because Leandro Trossard had already departed, but also because Gabriel Martinelli was set to move to Saudi Arabia. That deal did eventually go through.

We're now two and a half months into the new season, and the likelihood is that Arteta would rather have kept them around. After all, the one attacking signing they did make in the window has failed to set the world alight.

Christos Tzolis was the replacement and while he enjoyed a vibrant start to his Arsenal career, we're now seeing the negatives of the move.

During the opening months of his time at the Emirates, the Greek looked crafty; his efficiency and decision-making were first-class. This was a player who registered two assists in the Community Shield and a player who ran Coventry City ragged in the opening match of the league campaign.

Yet, after sustaining an injury on international duty with Greece, he has looked like a shadow of that player since returning.

Against Liverpool, Tzolis worked hard but ultimately failed to provide much in the final third. His performance against Hull was certainly his worst for Arsenal yet.

Every time he got the ball, he seemed to over-dribble or misplace a pass. It was either wildly overhit or extremely underhit; there was no in-between.

Tzolis ultimately left the field on 69 minutes, having ceded possession every three touches. He failed to complete a dribble, was inaccurate with all four of his crosses, completed just 79% of his passes and was incredibly tame in front of goal.

When the forward signed from Club Brugge for £34m, very few expected him to be a world-beater. He was signed as a back-up player and he is looking exactly like that right now.

Arteta hasn't made many forward signings since becoming Arsenal manager and this is perhaps why. It's sad to say that right now, Tzolis can be filed among the Raheem Sterlings and Willians; inconsistent wingers with a lack of end product. That's what you get when you pay £34m rather than the £117m Chelsea paid for Rogers.

Most of the recruitment during the Spaniard's tenure has been elite but with the 24-year-old, he currently looks like a waste of money. They'd have been better off keeping Martinelli and Trossard if this is the level we're going to consistently see.

Arsenal needed game-changers over the summer and instead, they signed someone who looks out of his depth.

It is far too soon to completely write off the attacker, but he is now 21 games without a goal in the English top flight, a run that stretches back to his days with Norwich. Perhaps he's just not cut out for English football?