Following the end of their worst season since 1995, Arsenal fans will find it very difficult to put the events of Mikel Arteta’s first campaign behind them. Whether limping out of the Europa League to former coach Unai Emery’s Villareal or the chaotic loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Gunners will have a hard time deciding where they hit rock bottom. After years of decline, the club has accepted its current position and now has to re-address its goals.
They can no longer compete in the transfer market with the top four. They can no longer rely on Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sánchez to drag an underperforming team to a Champions League spot. Will the deterioration continue? Or has the past season been a painful preparation for what will be a rejuvenation of Arsenal? Either way, there are many questions surrounding Mikel Arteta and whether he is good enough to coach at one of the most prestigious clubs in England.
Decisive season for Arsenal
Fallen heroes
With a team costing close to £ 500 million and a salary expense twice that of the 2015/16 Leicester City champions, many are wondering where that money is being spent. As of 2021, it has been more than four years since Arsenal last played a Champions League match. Since then, they have drifted further and further away from that fourth place, until now even being excluded from a place in the Europa League.
With players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabriel and Nicolas Pepe, it is a mystery why so many players of proven quality fail to impress as they advance in their careers at Arsenal. The £ 350,000-a-week star forward Aubameyang scored ten goals in his first season for the Gunners in just 13 games in 2018. This past season, he managed as many goals in 29 far less impressive games. Not bad, if your team was struggling to survive rather than trying to push for places in the Champions League.
Is this something that only Aubameyang is guilty of? Absolutely not. Many big money firms have not achieved the impact they were intended to do. David Luiz, Willian, and Granit Xhaka have pointed fingers at you at one point or another. Clearly, underperformance is an ingrained trait of Arsenal’s current system, from training to ownership. No one, not even Arteta, has a clear path to improve.
Hope could still be there
Arsenal are close to completing the signing of Brighton & Hove Albion defender Ben White. Even though the transfer does not look as attractive as some of Arsenal fans would have hoped, it is still a very solid transfer. With Arsenal holding the ignominious record for most mistakes leading to goals for several years in a row, a top performing target is exactly what Arsenal need. With proven players like Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga also joining the fray, there are no signs that their transfer business is slowing down.
After the horrendous debacle surrounding the European Super League, no club owner faced a more backlash than Kroenke. Arsenal’s relationship with the board of directors has been fragile (to say the least) for many years. With Arsenal fans strongly backing a Daniel Ek takeover attempt, the Kroenkes should be desperate to get the fans back on their side. With government officials sticking their toes in and out of soccer property this year, Arsenal’s board of directors should see great benefit to their operations by winning the support of fans. The Manchester United management, who is in a similar position to Kroenke’s, has responded to the backlash with the signing of Jadon Sancho and is also closing in on Raphael Varane. This could prompt Arsenal to put their hands in their own pockets, continuing with important and sought-after players like Ben White.
Are the new signings the solution to all Arsenal’s problems? Of course not. Many questions still hang over Arteta’s head. Are we in the final stages of this so-called ‘process’? Will young talents like Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli legitimately cement their names on Arsenal’s first-team squad this season? Will the incorporation of Arteta to the new coaching staff be a discreetly crucial decision? The manager certainly believes it. However, relying on the new coaching staff and young talent can take a long time to achieve the desired effect. However, with the reality of Arsenal’s situation, patience seems to be a must if they are to reach the heights of the Champions League places. However, after almost two years in office, the Arsenal fans cannot be resentful of dismissing any kind of process if results similar to last year are maintained.
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