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.