The 2021/22 Season Review

Despite missing out on the next season's Champions League football, we believe that we made a marked progress in the "process" in the 2021/22 season. Fifth finish was three places higher than last season's 8th, while our point tally of 69 was 8 points more than last season. The improvement we made this season was clear to see. We are moving in the right direction.

Spending nearly £150 million in total, more than any other Premier League club last summer, we signed Benjamin White, Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Odegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and Nuno Tavares. With them all aged 23 or younger, Arsenal's summer transfer activities underlined the Club's intention to build a team that will grow together over the long term. Arteta also aimed to create a positive vibe and a new culture in the squad with emphasis on energy, commitment, passion, and industry, by building a team around young players keen to improve, including the Hale End graduates such as Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Row. On the pitch, our footballing identity emerged in an aggressive and energetic style of play with focus on high press led by young forwards. We felt a unity in the squad for the first time in a long while this season.

No European football meant that we were allowed to spend more time on the training ground and field a settled team every weekend, which helped grow the players' understanding with each other and accelerated progress in the "process."

The biggest positive to take away from this season was a repaired connection between players/the Club and fans. Arsenal supporters were vocal both at home and away. Two fan-driven initiatives came to fruition at the Emirates. On the final day of the season, despite the disappointing end to the season, most of the home supporters stayed behind after the game for the lap of appreciation. The mood surrounding the Arsenal faithful significantly improved this season, when the full capacity of crowd returned for a full season for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Our 2021/22 campaign saw ups and downs. Following three straight defeats from the opening games, we went on a run of 10 unbeaten games in all competitions, including eight wins. Newly found solidity in defence was a platform on which to build our game in this period, as we established the settled back five of Ramsdale, White, Gabriel, Tomi and KT. We had achieved a remarkable turnaround in form from the bottom of the table at the beginning of September.

However, with the youngest squad in the Premier League this season by far (average age of 24 years and 308 days), inconsistency was an inevitable issue. Some point out a notable pattern in our form, in which our defeats often came in clusters this season. A poor result affects the confidence of young players more than those experienced, leading to further defeats. In addition, the fact that we only won 4 points from losing positions all season, with only one win when conceding a first goal, can also be attributed to the youthful nature of our squad that lacked the ability to overcome adversities. This is something Arteta needs to put right next season.

The biggest disappointment was obviously missing out on a chance to return to the Champions League, by letting our lead in the race slip and allowing Tottenham to finish above us (some feel the latter hurts more than failing to qualifying for the Champions League). We can blame poor refereeing for a 3-0 defeat in the crucial north London derby, while injuries and tired legs took their toll in a 2-0 defeat in our penultimate game at St James' Park, which virtually ended our hopes of finishing in the top four. Some blamed fragile mentality of the inexperienced team under the pressure. If they are right, this young team should fare better next season, with this difficult experience under their belts.

After an early exit from the FA Cup competition, Arteta decided to cut the size of the squad further in January. Many criticised the move. In particular, not replacing Aubameyang was a huge gamble to take, but we can understand that the club hierarchy feared for making a familiar mistake and ending up with even more deadwood, had we settled for somebody well down on the list, after missing out on our reported primary transfer target, Dusan Vlahovic. 

We think that Arteta made the right decision on the handling of Auba. His form in front of goal wouldn't have helped us secure a top-four finish, even if he had stayed beyond January. In fact, it's safe to say that his honeymoon period with Barcelona was over as his goal-scoring form dramatically tailed off towards the end of the season, scoring only twice in Barcelona's last 9 games. As for the players that we allowed to leave on loan in January, it is questionable if any of them would have helped our cause at the business end of the season. The only exception was Calum Chambers, who could have been useful during our defensive injury crisis at the crucial time of the season. In our opinion, any wage bill we saved or proceeds we received from the sale cannot justify the decision to sell the versatile defender with only 6 months left in his contract.

For all the progress we made this season, to be brutally honest, the Europa League is the level that we deserved. We all hate Thursday night football and the Thursday-Sunday turn-around may prove damaging to our challenge for a top-four finish next season. However, it opens up another path for us to qualify for the following season's Champions League by winning it. Our exciting academy players can get a chance to play competitive football in the group stages, which would have been impossible in the Champions League. Fringe players will also get more game time to keep them sharp and improve. Lokonga is expected to be one of the major beneficiaries. Arteta will be forced to rotate his squad during compressed Europa League group stages due to the World Cup this winter. By the manager's admission, we will need a larger squad to cope with the extra workload of European football. Injuries to Thomas Partey, KT, and Tomi exposed our lack of squad depth. We also have to ensure that there will be sufficient cover for each position before the summer transfer window shuts.

In the 2021/22 season, we came so close to achieve a top-four finish. Our young team should only get better next season, with a season-long experience of playing together and going through good and bad times as a team.