The team Arsenal has today can be the envy of most teams in the world. An impressive game, based on still very young players, gives hope for the coming years. It’s hard to believe that just 5 years ago the club was in total ruin.
Bartłomiej Bukowski
04 House 2024, 09:16
Getty Images / Visionhaus / In the photo: Arsenal players Arsenal fans have been waiting exactly 20 years for their beloved club to end the season with the national championship again. At that time, the unforgettable lineup of the “Gunners”, led by Henry, Ljungberg and Bergkamp, achieved the impossible, ending the season without a defeat and building the legend of “The Invincibles”.
And although the Londoners have already suffered five defeats in the current competition, a possible title will be no less an achievement. The achievement was, above all, Mikel Arteta, who pulled the club back from the bottom, overcoming quite a few crises along the way, during which there was no shortage of enthusiasts for his dismissal.
However, the Arsenal authorities withstood the pressure, giving Bask enough time, and the team he was building was taking shape month by month. Today, they are one of the best-playing teams in the league, all thanks to an army of young stars who are still on the rise. The current Arsenal is Arteta’s project from “A” to “Z”.
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Bad start, have a nice one
11th place, 29 points behind the leader (8 points above the relegation zone), and there was such chaos on the pitch that Bukayo Saka, who was taking his first steps in adult football, played mainly as left back. This is the situation Mikel Arteta found himself in at Arsenal.
– If the fans see Arsenal finally regaining their identity, they will be on board with us. We must do everything to give them hope. We are the biggest football club in England and it’s time to believe it, Arteta said at one of his first press conferences.
But at the time it sounded like a madman’s dream. Arsenal had finished the previous three seasons outside the top 4 (previously 20 years in a row in the top four) and from season to season they seemed to be sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of mediocrity.
Moreover, Arteta’s beginnings at Arsenal did not indicate that the new coach would immediately become “the next Guardiola”. And these were the hopes. Bask had previously matured as a coach for three years as Guardiola’s assistant at City, and the Catalan himself openly admitted that he saw Arteta as his successor, generously complimenting him.
Appetites were aroused, but the reality turned out to be much more brutal. Arteta finished his first two seasons in 8th place. It was during his term that the club did not play in any European cups for the first time in the 21st century.
At this point, many people questioned the point of Arteta’s mission. Especially since the team’s play itself, although there were some flashes, was not impressive.
Success built in small steps
Since Mikel Arteta took over Arsneal at the end of 2019, there have been three coaches in the Manchester United dressing room (not counting the interim Michael Carrick). Chelsea increased this statistic even more. Four coaches have worked there since the end of 2019, one of them twice (Frank Lampard).
Today, both of these clubs are in deep crisis, and the fight for the title seems to be a pipe dream, not much more realistic than the one at the Emirates Stadium when Mikel Arteta arrived there.
And it is the fact that the Arsenal authorities decided to focus on one specific person who was given a sufficient amount of trust that is paying off today.
What is worth emphasizing, however, is that Arteta could easily envy the conditions that Mauricio Pochettino and especially Erik ten Hag found in their clubs. Chelsea and United do not hesitate for a moment when it comes to spending several dozen million euros on the transfer market. From his first window as Manchester manager, Erik ten Hag was able to buy almost half of the Dutch Eredivisie, headed by one of the most overpaid players in history – Antony – who was brought in for nearly EUR 100 million.
Arteta had no such comfort. During the first three windows, his only more expensive transfer was the purchase of Thomas Partey, who cost EUR 50 million. In total, he spent EUR 90 million on transfers during this time – less than the costs of the above-mentioned Antony or Mykhailo Mudryk.
In fact, Arteta received his first big money only before the current season, when he bought Declan Rice for 115 million euros and Kai Havertz for 75 million. The thing is that the effectiveness of Arteta’s transfers is really high. Today, it is difficult to point out one obvious player whose purchase would be a failure for the Spaniard.
On the other hand, there is no shortage of gems that Arteta picked up for money that was ridiculous by the standards of the Premier League. Gabriel? 26 million. Odegaard? 35 million. Trossard? 24 million You can also safely include Kuba Kiwior here, imported for just EUR 20 million from Spezia, and who has already proven many times that he can compete for the highest goals in England.
Moreover, Arteta strongly focused on youth development. Saka, Martinelli and Saliba are today the team’s leading figures, the envy of every league rival, and none of them is even 23 years old yet. If we add Havertz (24), Odegaard (25), Rice (25), Gabriel (26) and White (26), we have a picture of a team for years to come.
However, after five years spent in London, it’s time for Arteta to finally dot the “i” in his work and return Arsenal to the English throne. For this to happen, however, the Gunners must not only win the remaining three games, but also count on a stumble by Manchester City, which, although currently behind them, has a game more to play.
The Gunners can take the first of these three steps towards the title on Saturday. The match against Bounremouth is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m.
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