Arsenal look a totally different unit to just over a year ago and Mikel Arteta’s men are now looking to reap the rewards for their hard work. The Gunners are enduring their best ever start to a season in the top flight, with nine wins from the first 10 matches, and they are 4 points clear atop the Premier League table.
Arteta and his side have come a long way since opening the 2021/22 season with three losses on the bounce. Arsenal ultimately produced an impressive recovery, albeit they were pipped to UEFA Champions League qualification by North London rivals Tottenham.
The Gunners have 10 points more than they had this time last season, with four wins more and two defeats fewer after 10 games this time around. At this point last term Arteta and his army were in 6th place with 17 points, now they sit top of the pile and are only looking ahead.
Arsenal were scheduled to host reigning champions Manchester City on Wednesday evening but the fixture was postponed last month to allow for the rearranged Europa League tie against PSV Eindhoven on Thursday. This means Arteta won’t cross paths with his mentor Pep Guardiola until January at the earliest, with the reverse fixture not until late April in what could be a hugely significant duel at the Etihad Stadium.
The Gunners have claimed 9 points from three fixtures they lost in 2021/22 – Brentford away, Crystal Palace away, and Liverpool at home. Arsenal’s only defeat this campaign came at the hands of Man United in what was a closely fought encounter at Old Trafford.
December marks three years since Arteta returned to North London, replacing Unai Emery who in turn was the chosen successor to Arsène Wenger but the current Villarreal coach lasted only 18 months at the Emirates Stadium. Arteta inherited a dressing room in disarray but the 40-year-old has done a laudable job in eradicating the toxicity and restoring authority in the Arsenal camp.
Arsenal have recruited well whilst also integrating the younger generation into the senior set-up. Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, and Emile Smith Rowe have all gradually become crucial first-team components under Arteta’s tutelage.
Not only has Arteta overhauled the playing squad but he has galvanised the entire club top to bottom. It’s clear to see the togetherness among everyone involved in the sporting project and needless to say the manager has the full backing of those above him, namely CEO Vinai Venkatesham and the club’s owners, the Kroenke family.
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Also working tirelessly are technical director Edú Gaspar (a former Arsenal player) and director of professional football Richard Garlick, who each play a substantial role within the first-team environment as well as overseeing the bulk of the club’s business in the transfer market.
Edú was appointed in July 2019, five months prior to Arteta, and the manager and technical director appear to have a truly close-knit professional relationship. Arsenal are making strides on and off the pitch and a lot of that comes down to the heaps of work Arteta and Edú are putting in behind the scenes.
This past transfer window Arsenal conducted some shrewd business, signing five new players for a combined sum around £125million. The Gunners’ expenditure in these three years under Arteta is in the region of £350million, slightly more than the club spent from 2017-2019.
Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko joined from Man City, where Arteta previously worked as assistant manager for three-and-a-half years. Both players have won four Premier League titles and they bring with them top-level experience from a world-class set-up under Guardiola. Zinchenko and Jesus have proven transformative signings for the Gunners, with the latter leading the line and fulfilling a key role pressing in Arsenal’s first line of defence.
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Arsenal also acquired Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira from Porto, adding extra competition to an engine room which already houses Martin Ødegaard, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and Mohamed Elneny.
William Saliba has almost been like a new signing and he is seemingly undroppable for the Premier League leaders. Bought for £27m in 2019, Saliba’s stocks grew following loan spells with Saint-Etienne, Nice, and Marseille in his homeland. Now his aura and impetus are being harnessed effectively and the Frenchman has so far been a revelation in the Arsenal backline.
The centre-back is under contract until 2024 but the club will be pushing to tie down the 21-year-old to a new long-term deal in North London. Arsenal are also looking to extend the stays of first-choice wingers Saka and Martinelli, both approaching the last 18 months of their current deals.
50 – Bukayo Saka is the first player to have been involved in 50 goals for @Arsenal under Mikel Arteta in all competitions, scoring 26 and assisting 24 since the Spaniard took charge. Acolyte. pic.twitter.com/DWKaHcH78g
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 16, 2022
One or two injuries may expose the frailty in Arteta’s ranks and could even potentially thwart any potential title charge, and so the Gunners may dip into the January market to maximise their options in the second half of the season.
Arsenal courted Douglas Luiz late in the summer window but Aston Villa rejected three bids for the Brazilian midfielder on deadline day. Last week Luiz penned a new contract at Villa Park until 2026. Wolves winger Pedro Neto was also linked with a switch to the Emirates but nothing materialised on that front.
Arteta and Edú have also continuously ousted players deemed surplus to requirements, including some of the club’s top earners in Mesut Özil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The relationship between Arteta and Aubameyang took a turn for the worse towards the end of 2021, when the ex-Arsenal captain was secluded from first-team training for a breach of conduct.
The management team made the decision to part ways with Aubameyang and at the end of January his contract was terminated, less than 18 months after the current Arsenal boss endorsed a new contract for the Gabonese worth approximately £350,000 p/w following the club’s FA Cup triumph.
(Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal via Getty Images)
David Luiz, Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Sead Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos are others who have been at the forefront of this Arteta-induced exodus from the Emirates. Of those players only Guendouzi (£9m) and Torreira (£5,5m) were sold for a fee, while the remainder all left on a free transfer.
Saka and Jesus are the Gunners’ top scorers this term, firing in five goals apiece, and both could feature when Arsenal face PSV on Thursday evening. Arteta will look to field a strong line-up but he will be without the injured trio of Elneny, Smith Rowe, and Zinchenko while Martinelli is doubtful with an illness.
Martinelli has found the net four times this season while skipper Ødegaard has contributed three goals. Aaron Ramsdale has kept four clean sheets in 10 league outings this campaign.
The Arsenal return to league action on Sunday as they travel to Southampton. Arteta’s men then meet Nottingham Forest followed by back-to-back visits to Chelsea and Wolves before the season goes on pause for the FIFA World Cup.
