Arsenal Season Review

That was the season that was for Arsenal and it ended up with us failing to qualify for European football for the first time in 25 years. When judging Mikel Arteta’s progress as the Arsenal manager it’s hard to ignore that statistic and the season can surely only be judged as a failure. Of course there were highs and lows throughout the season, but his inexperience and pure stubbornness at times were key factors in our second successive eighth finish in the Premier League for me.

The results prior to Christmas put us in real trouble in the Premier League and we were as low as 15th before results eventually improved. Those results and performances picked up with a 3-1 win at home to Chelsea and we went on a great run which almost put us back in the reckoning for a top four finish. As we progressed in the Europa League our Premier League results and performances suffered though and ultimately for me it was during that period that we lost out on our European ambitions.

When we eventually went out of the Europa League to Villarreal in the semifinals our league form improved and we won our last five games to leave us only six points off the Champions League places. We did better against the rest of the “big six” than we have done in a long time and we more or less bossed the games against the bottom six, but the points we took against the teams who finished around us in the league just weren’t good enough. Aston Villa, Wolves and Everton all beat us at home and away and that’s where our European ambitions died.

For me the jury on Arteta has to be out as he made some very strange decisions at times and his inability to admit his mistakes and rectify them is a real negative for him. Those strange decisions included the decision to loan William Saliba out after spending so much on him and it appears he’s still not sure he wants him at the club next season. Surely Saliba has to be one of the players who we attempt to build our future on and I only hope Arteta can find a way to include him.

The signing of Willian was apparently down to Arteta too and it was probably the worst decision of last season. Not only was he paid an absolute fortune because we got him for free, but he kept Pepe out of the team for the first few months of the season no matter how badly he played. When Pepe came into his own in the new year he showed exactly what we wanted him to show and his performances consigned Willian to the bench.

I don’t think there’s any point in going into what happened with Mesut Ozil because I don’t think any of us know what really happened or why it happened. Suffice it to say he plys his trade elsewhere and it was for the best in the end because he had very little to offer the team towards the end of his time at Arsenal. Ozil came on to the scene at a young age and I think that has taken it’s toll and his best years are well behind him now.

The fear of losing seemed to play too big a role in Arteta’s thinking for too long, but when he eventually loosened the reins we actually played some good football. However the changes were almost forced on Arteta due to injuries and it was only when players like Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe took the chances that came their way that the team improved. They have both become crucial parts of our future now and the sooner Gabriel Martinelli joins them in the starting lineup the better for me.

One of the most curious decisions Arteta made was to play with a false nine in our Europa League semifinal first leg against Villarreal. We somehow got away with a 2-1 defeat and only had to win the home leg without conceding a goal to progress to the final, but our lack of ambition in the second leg was almost unforgivable. His claim afterwards that we were the better team over the two legs was just wrong, but I thought we should have been the better team if he had got his selections and tactics right. 

Villarreal went on to beat United on penalties in the final and we missed a great chance to pick up a trophy and qualify for European football too. I think Arteta put too many eggs in the European basket and we paid the price when Villarreal knocked us out. There are those who think it’s a good thing we have no European football next season, but I’m not so sure.

For a start it’s difficult to attract players to the club with no European football to tempt them and there’s also the loss of revenue from TV money, prize money and gate receipts (when the fans return). We played seven home games in the Europa League last season and that’s an awful lot of money lost to the club to give those games up next season. The biggest miss could be the inability to give youngsters and fringe players their chances in European group games and those games were where the likes of Saka, Smith-Rowe and Martinelli cut their teeth.

We have a huge summer ahead of us with the possibility of quite a few players leaving the club and the need to sign some new players too. Despite doing so badly for so long we ended up only six points off the top four and we have the makings of most of a very good team in my opinion. We need to add the right players to improve that team and Arteta needs to allow the players to play with a little more freedom too, but there’s no reason why we shouldn’t at least put in a real challenge for a top four place next season.

If I had to sum up last season I would say it was desperately disappointing in the main with some glimpses of real promise and possibilities for the future. Arteta has been given a chance to redeem our second eighth place finish in a row, but failure to improve next season will surely signal the end for him. I want things to work out for him, but I can’t say I’m overly convinced they will.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Positive Signs As Arsenal Beat Brentford

Arsenal kept their winning streak going last night as they won 3-1 at home to Brentford to progress to the last 16 of the Carabao Cup. Unai Emery was able to make nine changes from the team that won 2-0 on Sunday against Everton without seeming to affect the way the team played. The only changes he didn’t make were Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal who had to play with no alternatives to them due to injuries.

Thankfully it looks like the injury situation could be sorting itself out with Sokratis Papastathopoulos available for the game against Watford on Saturday and Sead Kolasinac on the bench last night. We should see both Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Konstantinos Mavropanos back in the fold quite soon too with Laurent Koscielny hopefully following in early November. All of those players returning and the form of some of the players who are getting a game in the Europa League and Carabao Cup should give the manager a few selection headaches, but I can’t see him worrying about it too much.

On the bad news front it is being reported almost everywhere that there is no longer a contract on the table for Aaron Ramsey and he will be a free agent next summer. Hopefully the club intend to do everything they can to keep him, but they might have to consider selling him on the cheap in the January transfer window if he still won’t sign up. It won’t be easy to convince him to leave in January knowing he can go for free in the summer and command a huge signing on fee.

The manager has to decide whether he sticks with a player who looks determined to leave or he goes with those who want to play for the team. Both Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan played well last night and could possibly fill the role Ramsey fills at the moment and Emile Smith-Rowe has to be a consideration for back up in that role too. Ideally I would like Ramsey to stay, but if he is determined to leave then the manager has to contemplate whether his heart is in it or not.

For a change in recent games last night we were very impressive in the first half and fell away after the break. Brentford are a good team and when they pulled a goal back they sensed nervousness in us, but they never really capitalised on it. The late introduction of Alexandre Lacazette, Lucas Torreira and Ramsey helped us to see the game out with Lacazette adding a late goal to the brace Danny Welbeck got in the first half.

We’re through to the last 16 with teams like City, Chelsea and Spurs through too and the draw takes place at the usual time of 9pm on Saturday night. I can only imagine that time is to suit the sponsors of the competition, but I certainly won’t be glued to the TV or radio waiting for our next opponent. As good as it was to win last night it was only in the Carabao Cup and it’s of very little importance in the grand scheme of things.

The game against Watford on Saturday is far more important and keeping that winning streak going is of utmost importance. They have started the season well and they’re a point ahead of us, but we could make up some real ground on the pacesetters with Chelsea and Liverpool playing each other on Saturday evening. Hopefully we can get those three points against Watford and continue our progress.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal v FC Vorskla: Europa League Preview

With three Premier League wins in a row behind them Arsenal make the jaunt into Europa League football again tonight when FC Vorskla come to the Emirates Stadium. I can’t profess to knowing too much about tonight’s opponents and no team can be taken too lightly in European football as City learned to their expense last night. Whatever our opponents might be like we are again one of the favourites to win the trophy and we have a manager who knows what it takes to do it.

Arsene Wenger used the group stages to blood young players and give game time to those more senior players who weren’t getting it last season. I expect Unai Emery to do exactly the same this season with the team gradually improving as we go further into the competition. He has plenty of good players on the bench at the moment and he should add them to a few youngsters who could do with a game too.

We can expect to see Bernd Leno make his debut in goal after we spent so much money on him in the summer and I'm looking forward to seeing how he copes with how the manager wants the team to play. Petr Cech is struggling with the ball at his feet at times, but it seems we bought Leno because of his ability to use his feet among other things. If it goes well for him tonight I still don't expect him to dislodge Cech for a while yet, but the day must surely be coming.

In defence injuries mean we might have to play Nacho Monreal and one of either Shokdran Mustafi or Sokratis Papastathopoulos alongside Rob Holding and Stephan Lichsteiner who will be making his full debut tonight. Lichsteiner is a very strong defender who would get in a lot of Premier League teams, but Hector Bellerin will probably keep his place due to his youth and his attacking ability. It's good to know we have a player of Lichsteiner's quality available if Bellerin is injured or has problems with his form.

In midfield we should get to see the full debut of Lucas Torreira and he's a player who must be chomping at the bit for his first start. He has been very impressive in his substitute appearances so far and he has to make a first team place his own very soon for the good of the team. As much as I like Matteo Guendouzi I think Torreria has the ability to drive the team forward from midfield and he is exactly what we need in the team at the moment.

We should also see Mohamed Elneny get his first chance to show what he can do this season while Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will probably play too as they didn't start at Newcastle last Saturday. It looks like a pretty strong midfield to me and certainly one which should be able to dominate the game. I wouldn't be surprised if Torreira doesn't last the 90 minutes with Sunday's game against Everton on the manager's mind.

That should leave Danny Welbeck to lead the line with Emile Smith-Rowe playing somewhere between the midfield and attack unless the manager decides to pick Eddie Nketiah instead. I'm a big fan of Nketiah and I think he has a very exciting future in the game, but it's very hard for a young player to break into a team with strikers like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette ahead of him. I'm a big fan of Smith-Rowe too and from what we have seen before I don't think either player would be overawed tonight.

Hopefully we can get the campaign off to a good start in front of a fairly good crowd, but the Europa League group stages are hardly the things dreams are made of. We need to get back to the main table of the Champions League as soon as possible for the good of the club and for the money it brings in which cannot be overstated. It's much easier to attract top class players to the club with the promise of Champions League football and the longer we're out of it the harder it will become to get back in. One way to do it is to win the Europa League of course and we most certainly have a manager who knows how to do just that.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.