I don’t want to have this debate for the 678th time but I don’t agree with these narratives about the squad. What I will say is that I think this Arsenal team challenges for the title under a good manager that plays the right players in a functional system.
White, Saliba (if we used him) and Gabriel as CB options is great. Not really as elite as what United or Liverpool have but on the same level as Chelsea. Tierney is just as good as the left backs the title contenders have. We need a right back.
Partey and Xhaka are very good, both of them. Balanced as well. Lots of power, defensive responsibility and progressive passing in that midfield. I think our CM options are on par with Liverpool, Chelsea and United (now that Pogba is looking like he will play further forward).
In the frontline we have world class, elite superstar Aubameyang who has had one non world class season in the last 6. That one was almost solely on an Arteta system that doesn’t create chances. This Arsenal team created 81 big chances in 17/18 under Wenger, and 74 under Emery in 18/19. but only 45 last season because we completely avoid the center of the pitch. Aubameyang looked like one of the best strikers in the world until last season when he played under Arteta for a full year while having to deal with Malaria and personal tragedy.
Pepe and Lacazette can still be world class. Pepe hits Sadio Mane level numbers as long as he isn’t used as a touchline winger in a stale JDP system (in fact he had better numbers than Mane last season but that was a fluke down year for Mane). He had 22 goals and 11 assists when used as an inverted winger as recently as the 2019 Ligue 1 season. ESR, Martinelli and Saka are absolutely amazing. Unreal players. Ødegaard is also very talented and can hit very high levels under a good coach.
I truly believe sacking Arteta and bringing in an elite manager, like maybe Conte, would have us challenging for the title and end the ”squad needs to go” narrative.
The same thing goes for your squad who is good enough for a title challenge. It’s filled with talent that can be world class under a good manager but isn’t performing like that. Alli, Ndombele, Reguilon can all be among the best in the world in their positions and that isn’t exagerrating. People underestimate just how quickly and dramatically sacking a bad manager for a good one changes things. Tuchel took over a struggling, underperformikg Chelsea team in 10th after 19 games and won them a Champions League while finishing fourth. Conte won the league with a Chelsea team that finished 10th the season before not too long ago. Moyes turned West Ham from a relegation level team to a solid european level side in a year and a half.
All I took from this is that the CB who is under 6ft tall scored less from set-pieces; and Brighton, the club that had a record signing of 24 million and only 4 ever signings over 20 million going into last year finished lower in the league. Really that 16th place finish is rather cruel-looking, Brighton played much better football than their place in the league shows. A big part of that success is Ben White. Sure Dawson is better in the air, but White is far better on the ball, progresses the ball more, had more touches, covers more ground, gets higher up the pitch, provides pressure, and actually creates shooting actions. He was a focal point in possession in his first year in the prem and thrived. Dawson is tall and brutish, he wins some duels... 
