When the Amazon TV crew wandered around the Emirates Stadium and training center in Colney last season, they couldn’t help but wonder. During the filming of the documentary All or Nothing: Arsenal, he experienced a rollercoaster ride in terms of the team’s performance. And its conclusion in the form of fifth place and the repeated absence of the Champions League did not please the Gunners’ fans. But now, it seems, everything is different. Arsenal have a plan that fans of the London club are amused by. It makes sense and has a mastermind with a clear vision of betting on young, yet proven players: Mikel Arteta.
At the beginning of the 2021/21 season, when Arsenal fell 0-2 at the ground of newcomer Brentford, its fans hid their heads in their hands. Again and again. However, it was even worse, the set of coach Mikel Arteta (40) was not enough for Manchester City or Chelsea in the following fortnight and stuck at the bottom of the table with a threatening score of 0:9.
“Zero goals, zero points,” summed up Arteta’s laconically menacing start to the season in the trailer for the upcoming Amazon Prime documentary from the All or Nothing series. Arsenal will be depicted in it in the most difficult and most successful moments of the last year.
And that there were. Peaks and falls to the bottom. When we fly through the 118th league season in the history of the club, which with 13 titles is the third most successful in the history of the Premier League, we come across several interesting periods: the worst start to the PL season in the club’s history, a meteoric rise, a weaker end of the year, a great position to return to Champions League and finally failure before the finish line.
The youngest squad in the Premier League
In short, the end of the season did not suit the “Cannons” at all. Although Bukayo Saka (20) and co. brilliantly stepped back into the millionaire competition, which they last played in the 2016/17 season, they stumbled and could not get up after the duel with their rival from Tottenham (0:3). The subsequent 0:2 defeat at Newcastle definitely cost them the fourth place, which they comfortably protected the hated “Roosters”.
“I’m extremely disappointed. Newcastle’s players worked ten times better than us throughout the game. It was nowhere near the performance you have to put in to get into the Champions League.” said a greatly frustrated Arteta to Sky Sports.
The reaction of Granit Xhaka (29), who after the match at St. James’ Park didn’t take napkins. “From the first to the last minute, we didn’t even deserve to be on the field. We didn’t follow the game plan, we didn’t listen to the coach. It was an absolutely disastrous performance.” the experienced midfielder was relieved and added: “Age doesn’t matter at all. If someone isn’t ready for a match like this, let them stay home.”
The crash at the end of last season casts the shadow of failure on Arsenal again, but the fans believe in Mikel Arteta and his strategy of betting on youngsters. After all, the Gunners have the youngest Premier League team ever, the average of their starting eleven in the 2021/2022 season was 24 years and 308 days. And youth needs time.
In addition, unlike previous years, the club is also very active in the transfer market. And it works according to a clearly defined plan, which Arteta is carrying out together with Brazilian Eduo (44), a former Arsenal player and their current technical director. In particular, the Spanish coach draws on rich experience from Manchester City, where he stood alongside the highly successful Pep Guardiola (51).
Both “Citizens” and “Gunners” are currently targeting not-so-expensive buys that make sense. Unlike previous years. The duo Nicolas Pepé (27) and Gabriel Jesus (25) can be the best example. While the former boosted Arsenal in 2019 with the signing of the club’s most expensive signing in history, the Brazilian now arrives as a sound investment.
Another reinforcement on the horizon
Why? Gabriel Jesus has several advantages over Pepe. The biggest one is the experience with the English Premier League. The nimble striker has already spent six seasons on the islands, during which he carved out an important role in the squad of the reigning champions and scored regularly: he managed 14, nine and eight goals in the last three years. And he received a large part of the space as a substitute player.
Another plus is the fact that Arteta and Jesus know each other very well, as they worked together successfully at Manchester City. This is also why the Brazilian chose Arsenal among the crowd of interested parties: “We talked several times about the club, about the players, about his project and the future of Arsenal. It was great to hear, I trust Mikel one hundred percent.”
It was the trust in the work of the Spanish coach and more game experience that made Jesus move to north London: “We had a great relationship before, he’s a great person and also a coach. He helped me a lot at Manchester City. We spent extra time together after training to show me how to improve shooting, working with and without the ball and in other things. He is a very intelligent person. He was also a great player and he can teach me and other young people a lot more.”
Gabriel Jesus joined the Gunners as the second significant summer signing. The first is Fábio Vieira (22), a former mainstay of FC Porto’s reserve line. The Portuguese is proud of his excellent record from last season, but during it he collected 7 goals and 16 assists in 27 league matches.
If the two mentioned acquisitions fit into the already established system, which is driven by predatory youth led by Martin Ødegaard (23), Saka (20), Emil Smith-Row (21) or Gabriel Martinelli (21), Arsenal can think about the much-desired return to the Champions League. Especially when another discovery is on the horizon.
After an unsuccessful attempt to acquire Raphinha (25), who will probably prefer rival Chelsea, the Gunners would like to strengthen the midfield. That is why Arteta and Edu focused on Youri Tielemans (25), a Belgian midfielder who currently belongs to Leicester City. As in the case of Gabriel Jesus, the price tag of the highly sought-after player may not be high at all, as his contract expires at the end of next season.
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