Writing Off Arsenal is almost a thing of the past
Wednesday 30th March by Tom Ball
“Optimism should be reserved for this result. However, things turn very quickly for Arsenal. They should enjoy this moment but also bottle it up. They were faultless; regardless of Spurs, they did not step a foot wrong. If they continue this until May, they will be further up the table than many expected them to be after they were battered at the Etihad, bottom of the league, with no goals next to their name. They ended the relegation talk in these last three games. Now a push for continental football should be on the agenda.”
This was a conclusion to a piece written in September, just after Arsenal had torn their North London Rivals apart at the Emirates. The article touched on the vibrant and purposeful football Arsenal played but also how it could be the beginning of a more grim but also familiar tale.
Since that piece, The Gunners have won 15 of their 22 league games, only losing to Liverpool twice, Manchester United and Manchester City.
Arsenal has a history of turning up in bigger games, especially against their biggest rivals, but their form in favourable fixtures would always tell a different story.
The original piece also touched on this being a make or break season for Head Coach Mikel Arteta. Back to back eighth-place finishes in the last two seasons, and no European football for this season meant that there were arguments to say the club was regressing rather than progressing and that there were no excuses this season. No European football has proven an advantage for bigger clubs' league form; Chelsea's 2016/17 Premier League title win came in a season without midweek trips across the continent.
With the run-in well and truly upon us, Arsenal now sits in pole position for the top four, which nobody gave them a chance for this season. With Spurs keeping hold of Harry Kane, hiring Antonio Conte and Manchester United signing Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo after finishing second last season. Arsenal pipping them to that solitary Champions League place they are all vying for would be an achievement that completely turns around the universal opinion of Mikel Arteta as a manager.
They have done it while seamlessly embedding last summer's signings into the team and letting the man they gave over three-hundred-thousand pounds a week to 18 months ago leave for free.
The exit of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left some Arsenal fans concerned about the lack of goalscoring in Arsenal's squad. Their first-choice number nine, Alexandre Lacazette, often frustrates fans with his finishing.
However, Arsenal have arguably gotten better and have a clear role for every player in their squad - which is almost entirely rid of the old and expensive Arsene Wenger/Unai Emery leftovers.
We are all wondering where Arteta learnt the ability to cope without a clear goalscoring striker in his squad…oh yeah. With Erik Ten Haag on the cusp of a possible appointment at Manchester United and Xavi bringing Barcelona back, we undoubtedly see Pep Guardiola's transcending influence on the modern game before our eyes.
There is still a job to be done without completely falling into the writing-off Arsenal narrative. The Gunners are still yet to play Chelsea away and Spurs away - two games that could completely shift the top-four race. However, there is no doubt what Mikel Arteta has achieved. This is easily the club's best run of form since Arsene Wenger departed, and they have a squad and a group of players that is beautifully balanced and constructed, but the fans love them. That relationship has been very hard to come by in the Emirates over the last few years.
This is a massive moment for Arsenal as a club and its fans. While European away days next season was always the aim, nobody thought those away days could be to the Bernabeu, Allianz or Parc Des Princes.
The summer coming remains essential. You must always keep your foot on the gas, even if you're overachieving. How the club navigates the seasons ahead is crucial in their progression. If that fourth spot is there's coming the summer, then the more complicated task awaits. The gap between the top three in the league and the rest is still huge. Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea have as many losses combined in the league this season as any other club has individually.
Like in September, bottle this up, Arsenal, or whatever is left to bottle up. The job is not yet done, but you have done a pretty good one so far.