If you peradventure still think Arsenal’s run is a flash in the pan, then maybe you’ve been
oblivious to the character, resilience and urgency the North London club has been deploying to
grind out applaudable results hitherto.
The inklings have always been there ever since Mikel Arteta took charge of this young team,
with the defining moment of this team visible for all to see last season.
Many tipped the Gunners to seal Champions League qualification last season after a couple of
good runs that saw them amass the most points in the league only behind Liverpool and
Manchester City after their horrendous 5-0 to later crowned champions City.
Arsenal however missed the top four qualifications by whiskers, as injury raised its ugly head in
their camp
Kieran Tierney and their midfield gem Thomas Partey are the most felt ones, coupled with the
dip in form of their strikers.
Eventually, the disorientation took its toll on the Gunners, as they dropped some vital points
which allowed Tottenham Hotspur to leapfrog them in the penultimate game of the season —
condemning them to 5th place finish, just 2 points behind fourth-placed Spurs.
Edu & Arteta The Genius: Arsenal Astute Summer Business & Pre-season Preparations
Rubbing Off.
Before delving into their on-field character, one has to look at the behind-the-scenes which is
the bedrock of every progress the Gunners are currently experiencing.
Arsenal technical director Eduardo César Daud Gasper and Gaffer Mikel Arteta made a couple
of on-point decisions in the summer business that’ll pay off for a long time to come.
Hinged atop these decisions was replacing misfiring Alexander Lacazette with out of favour, yet
potent Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus.
The North London club furthermore banked on Arteta’s relationship with City and Pep to bring
Oleksandr Zichenko who has also been equally immense in this campaign.
And of course, there was Fabio Vieira who set the Portuguese league ablaze last season, plus a
couple of outgoing players which seemingly balanced the squad.
The dividends these decisions were going to yield were a latent one, even after Arsenal
thrashed Chelsea 4-0 in the pre-season to lift the Florida Cup, before a friendly 6-0 humiliation
over Sevilla in the Emirates Cup.
Of course, it was very easy to label these performances ‘inconsequential,’ but it’s now evident
those baby steps were the oil that lubricated Arsenal to taking the Elephant steps catching
everyone unaware presently.
A Rollercoaster 2022/2023 Campaign So Far?
Definitely not. Arsenal started their season with a hard-fought 2-0 win away at the Selhurst Park,
putting out a display widely labelled ‘unsatisfactory.’
Before that, Arsenal had just one win in their previous eight meetings with Palace and had never
kept a clean sheet at the Selhurst Park since October 2013. Unsatisfactory?
There on, Mikel Arteta led his side to a comeback win over Fulham, and even when they made
it 3 wins in 3 games after defeating Bournemouth, the Spaniard labelled his side’s 100% record
as ‘nothing.’
Maybe all that meant nothing, but they did make it 5 wins over 5, before they visited Old Trafford
in a bid to win their sixth opening game for the first time since 1947. The feat however didn’t see
the light of the day, as goals from Antony and Marcus Rashford handed Arsenal their first & only
defeat across all competitions in the campaign so far.
One would think the Gunners would return to ‘default settings’ howbeit, they returned from the
international break with a statement of intent, as they defeated their North London rivals Spurs
who have also been incredible all season long.
Arsenal continued to show signs of maturity – by their manner of victory which saw this youthful
and energetic team grind out a win again over last season’s UEFA Champions League finalist
Liverpool to reclaim the top spot from Manchester City.
‘Luck’ further shone on them last weekend when they gave it their all to cart away all three
points from Leeds to move five points clear of City who lost to Liverpool in the same game
week.
Much has been said about the rebirth of this team in the Premier League, but what about on the
European scene?
After Bukayo Saka’s lone goal gave them the win against Bodo/Glimt in Norway last
Wednesday, Mikel Arteta’s side are currently topping Group A in the Europa League, having
won all their matches in the tourney becoming the only Premier League side with the most
victories this season, whilst also extending their record to 11 UEL group stage away games
unbeaten.
This is only just the start, in the words of Gabriel Magalhães: “It’s not easy to be top of the
Premier League at the start of the season. We’re all united and focused. This is just the start.”
And they still do have an advantage over other PL contenders, seeing they are competing in
Europa this season, the quality in depth will really go a long way to help them during the group
campaign, where most of their domestic rivals will have to always play their best legs in the
more competitive Champions League.
What more to ask for, when the World Cup break also presents them a great opportunity to rest,
as most of their players won’t get to feature in Qatar, and also charge up for what’s to come after
the World tourney?
Tipping Arsenal to win the Premier League is probably too early, given the level of
competitiveness in the League, but the last time Arsenal won the title in the 2003/2004 season
under Arsene Wenger they had an 80% win rate after 10 games.
This season under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have a 90% win rate after the same amount of games.
● Top of UEL Group A.
● Top of the Premier League.
● Won 12 of their 13 games this season.
Definitely not the same Arsenal, wake up to reality!
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