Where Now For Arsenal

It’s been a week since Arsenal forgot to come out for the second half of the Europa League final against Chelsea and ended up losing 4-1. That defeat condemned them to another season of Europa League football and also meant their transfer budget for this summer is severely hampered. With a squad that needs a huge overhaul it means we have very little wiggle room and will have to offload more than a fair share of the players we already have to give us more spending power.

I fancy myself as a bit of a pundit when it comes to predicting the results of football games and a few friends like to ask my opinion before placing their weekly bets. As an Arsenal fan they always think I have some sort of insight into my club, but my advice is almost always to steer clear of Arsenal because you just don’t know what you’re going to get. The Europa League final was a case in point where we most definitely could have beaten Chelsea, but ended up on the end of a 4-1 drubbing.

Before the game I said Unai Emery’s first season at the helm would be judged by the result of it after the late collapse in the Premier League saw us miss out on a top four finish. Our failure to finish ahead of both Chelsea and Spurs when they struggled to get over the line was a direct result of making the Europa League final in my opinion and the sacrifice was not worth it given the outcome of that game. To have ended up with all of our eggs in one basket and then to have failed so miserably in the final was a damning indictment of both the players and the manager.

I can’t say I’m anywhere near sure Emery is the man to lead us forward considering how the season finished and also considering our progress throughout the season. I can’t honestly say I have seen any sort of improvement in any of the aspects of our game which had become so unacceptable in the later years of Arsene Wenger. Our failure to make the top four and in the Europa League final would surely have been easier to take if there were any genuine signs of progress.

Instead we were treated to comical defending week after week with Arsenal leading the way in goals conceded from defensive errors in the Premier League. When we went behind away from home we only came back to take one point in our 19 away games which tells us so much about the character of the players when sleeves needed to be rolled up. The manager didn’t have the faith in his players to continue their early season attempts to play the ball out from the back and they lost anything resembling a style of play as the season progressed.

With Aaron Ramsey on his way out of the club this summer and Mesut Ozil seemingly unable or unwilling to perform consistently under Emery we are a team bereft of creation. Our lack of genuine width and players to take on the opposition is worrying with the full backs expected to do that work all too often. If it wasn’t for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette we probably would have found ourselves a few places further down the table.

When we went on our 22 game unbeaten run early in the season the stats people told us it couldn’t last as we were defying all the stats which generally even out in a season. Those stats did nearly catch up on us in the end, but thankfully our goal conversion defied them enough to at least finish fifth. It’s impossible to say things were any better than last season though and the late collapse made them feel worse.

The only saving grace was Spurs losing the Champions League final to Liverpool though as they yet again finished the season with their trophy cabinet bare. They will have Champions League football next season though and the money that goes with it as we make our way to the extremities of Europe for meaningless games against nothing teams. It’s no barrell of laughs being an Arsenal fan at the moment and yet we have played in five cup finals in the last six seasons and won three of them.

If we’re going to get anywhere near the level we need to reach to challenge for a top four spot next season we need to invest heavily this summer and we will have to raise a lot of money through sales to do so. There are so many players who are or should be surplus to requirements in the squad, but selling them and getting a good price for them won’t be an easy task. If we can add a few quality players to those that are good enough to stay and bring through a few of our really promising youngsters it might just give the squad the the balance and impetus it so desperately needs.

The manager showed little faith in those young players this season just passed, but he has to make Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka and possibly Eddie Nketiah a bigger part of his plans next season. They can save us so much money in the transfer market and hopefully fill some of the squad places vacated by players who need to move for our sakes and theirs too. I’m not saying they should all be in the team week in and week out, but surely they can play a bigger part than a few minutes at the end of a game that’s already won or too far gone to get back.

I can’t say I have the faith in those in charge at the club to do any or all of this and it’s difficult to believe we’re anything other than an afterthought to our owner. He has never shown any interest in putting a single penny into the club and it’s difficult to believe he was the man the board thought would uphold the values of the club when they all decided to jump ship. At the time he seemed the better alternative and I’m no lover of Alistair Usmanov, but surely he couldn’t have done any worse than Stan Kroenke is currently doing.

I wish I was looking forward to a summer of rebuilding for a brighter future for Arsenal, but it’s hard to believe it. I hope we can make the changes that are needed and move the deadwood on, but I remain to be convinced by the owner, the manager and quite a few of the players too.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.