The 2026/27 Season Preview

We will begin our defence of the title with a home clash with Coventry on Friday, 21 August 2026 in a curtain raiser of the 2026/27 Premier League season. It's normally a tricky game against a newly promoted club on an opening weekend as they carry the momentum and spirits of a successful season into a new one in top flight of English football, which is full of promise and excitement at the beginning. However, we have a home advantage of playing in front of passionate supporters on the back of an equally successful season. We expect the boys to show what the last season's champions are made of. Let's hope that our key players will be fully refreshed from their World Cup exploits and ready to go for another long season following the Community Shield against the FA Cup holders on Sunday 15th. . Also, hopefully, all our potential new signings will be fully integrated and ready to hit the ground running following a very short pre-season.

Our opening fixtures look difficult again. The curtain raiser will be followed by a trip to Villa Park on the following weekend. Last season's corresponding fixture saw us fall to an agonising last-minute loss to the hosts, so this is likely to be another tough challenge. Our tricky first five fixtures continue with Chelsea at home, Sunderland away, and Brighton away in September, when we will embark on the Champions League and Carabao Cup journeys for the new season.

With our arch-rivals surviving a drop last season, north London derbies will be played on 5 December 2026 at the Tottenham Spurs Stadium, and on 1 May 2026 at the Emirates. Eze must be licking his lips at England's camp in the US now for the prospect of further increasing his goal tally in Arsenal colours.

Our last Premier League game will be a home clash with Brighton on 30 May 2027. It is nice to end the season at home with a lap of appreciation to conclude the long season together with the fans and the families of players and coaching staff. Obviously, the 2025/26 season was great, but it would have been even better if we had had our final home game on Sunday afternoon at the Emirates.

Let's hope the 2026/27 season will be another successful one for us. Following is the full Premier League fixture list.

AUGUST
Fri 21 Coventry City (H)
Sat 29  Aston Villa (A)

SEPTEMBER
Sat 5  Chelsea (H)
Sat 12  Sunderland (A)
Sat 19  Brighton & Hove Albion (A)

OCTOBER
Sat 10  Leeds United (H)
Sat 17  Nottingham Forest (A)
Sat 24  Everton (H)
Sat 31  Liverpool (A)

NOVEMBER
Sat 7  Hull City (H)
Sat 21  Newcastle United (A)
Sat 28  Manchester City (H)

DECEMBER
Wed 2  Brentford (A)
Sat 5  Tottenham Hotspur (A)
Sat 12  Bournemouth (H)
Sat 19  Manchester United (H)
Sat 26  Crystal Palace (A)
Wed 30  Fulham (A)

JANUARY
Sat 2  Ipswich Town (H)
Wed 6  Brentford (H)
Sat 16  Hull City (A)
Sat 23  Newcastle United (H)
Sat 30  Manchester City (A)

FEBRUARY
Sat 6  Liverpool (H)
Wed 10  Ipswich Town (A)
Sat 20  Fulham (H)
Sat 27  Manchester United (A)

MARCH
Wed 3  Crystal Palace (H)
Sat 13  Chelsea (A)
Sat 20  Sunderland (H)

APRIL
Sat 10  Coventry City (A)
Sat 17  Aston Villa (H)
Sat 24  Bournemouth (A)

MAY
Sat 1 Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Sat 8 Leeds United (A)
Sat 15 Nottingham Forest (H)
Sun 23 Everton (A)
Sun 30  Brighton & Hove Albion (H)

All dates are subject of changes (apart from the opening day fixture against Coventry which has been confirmed to be broadcast on Sky Sports). 

The 2025/26 Season Review (2): Players

 Arsenal spent £247.8 million last summer on a total of 8 new signings. 

Kepa Arrizabalaga was our first signing. He arrived on 1 July 2025 on a 3-year contract after Arsenal met the £5 million release clause in his Chelsea contract. It looked to be a bargain for a player with his experience and track record. As a back-up keeper, he fared alright, but Arteta might think twice about playing him in goal, if we reach another domestic cup final next season.

On 6 July 2025, Zubimendi followed his compatriot Kepa on a long-term contract in a deal reportedly worth around £55.8 million. This signing was always expected since he turned down Liverpool's offer in the previous summer. He was once touted as the Signing of the Season. However, by his admission, the vigour of the Premier League eventually took its toll as physical and mental fatigue set in in the latter part of the season. He lost his starting place to resurging MLS in the latter stage of the season. Still, winning the title in his debut season while appearing in each of 38 Premier League games is no mean feat. Hopefully, a new signing in midfield will ease his workload next season.

Next, Christian Norgaard joined us on 10 July on a 2-year deal for a reported fee of £10 million. Arsenal attempted to extend Partey's stay, but the plan fell through and we turned our interest to then-Brentford captain. It looked an astute signing, and he didn't put a foot wrong all season. Unfortunately, Arteta didn't seem to trust him very much, with the result that his playing time was limited. Arsenal may go to the market to find a Partey replacement once again.

Noni Madueke arrived on 18 July on a 5-year contract amid strong protest from a corner of the Arsenal fanbase just because he was a Chelsea player. A reported transfer fee of £48.5 million seemed a bit steep for a back-up player, but squad depth was this transfer window's mantra. As it turned out, his signing was key to our title challenge due to Saka's injury lay-off, which was more frequent and longer this season. Madueke proved to be a valuable attacking option, who provided unpredictability and directness, although he struggled to produce end-products at times.

On 24 July, Cristhian Mosquera joined us on a long-term contract for an initial fee believed to be £13 million. Despite his tender age, he was already regularly playing for Valencia. Following Tomiyasu's departure, we desperately needed a versatile defender. Despite his mistake in the Champions League final while playing at right-back, he has a massive potential to be the next Saliba.

Amid calls for an out-and-out striker since last season, Viktor Gyökeres signed a 5-year deal on 26 July for a fee of £55 million. He was meant to be given  time to acclimatise himself to the new environment, but Arteta had no choice but to throw him into what was described as the toughest opening fixtures after Havertz's injury during our first game of the season against Man U. The Swedish striker had virtually no preseason preparations as he refused to join the Sporting training camp in an effort to push through his move to us. He lacks technical quality, when compared with his team-mates, but he ended the campaign as our top goal-scorer (14 in the Premier League and 20 across all competitions).

On 23 August 2025, Eze completed a move to his boyhood club Arsenal for an initial fee of £60 million plus a potential £7.5 million in add-ons, on a 4-year deal. He became an instant fan favourite after making a last-minute U-turn from his move to Spurs, and became a legend after scoring a hat-trick in his first north London derby and a brace at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Despite those heroics, he remains an enigma to us. There is more to come from him once his role is established within this group of players.

Finally, Hincapié joined us on 1 September on a season-long loan with an option to buy reportedly set at £45 million. In an effort to ensure the compliance of UEFA financial fair play rules, Andrea Berta engineered an ingenious deal with Bayer Leverkusen. He seamlessly filled Big Gabi's shoes when the Brazilian was injured, while as a left-back he offered a more defensively secure option and played a more traditional overlapping full-back role, going forward, as opposed to an inverted and more attacking left-back in Calafiori, who pops up everywhere, including in centre-forward positions. The Ecuadorian's loan deal is set to be made permanent anytime now

These new signings, some of whom appeared to be too expensive for a back-up player, proved to be imperative to sustaining our title push over the season. The aim of the summer transfer window was to build a squad that do not suffer a significant drop in quality when first-choice players were injured. 

Indeed, we seemed to have suffered more than a fair share of injuries this season, in particular on the offensive side. Saka and Odegaard, combined with White at right-back, were our best attacking unit in the past seasons, with telepathic understanding of each other's movements, but these three hardly played together due to their respective injury woes. 

While new signings were trying to find their feet and build chemistry with their new team-mates, our established forward players struggled to re-discover last season's form. Known as a clinical finisher in the previous seasons, Trossard seemed to have lost his goal-scoring touch. The season-defining goal against West Ham in May was his first in 2026, which spoke volumes for his lack of form. Maybe his private life was affecting his performances, which finally improved during the run-in. Martinelli's output also dipped this season, except in the Champions League (6), with just one goal in the Premier League to his name.

We missed Merino during the run-in. When Arteta fielded him in midfield alongside Zubimendi and Rice in a 1-0 defeat at Anfield at the end of August, the manager was criticised for a "negative" approach and "defensive" setup against the reigning champions. However, Merino's eye for through balls in the final third is as good as any traditional No. 10. On top of that, he proved last season that he can be deployed as a centre forward. Merino was a big loss in the title race, although he managed to come back just in time for the last game of the Premier League.

With no stand-out attacking players this season, our defensive players won accolades. Raya won the Premier League Golden Glove for the third season in a row, keeping the most clean sheets (9) in the Champions League, too. Some of his outstanding saves proved decisive in the title race. Challenging him for the Arsenal Player of the Season, Rice drove us to our first Premier League title in 22 years with his leadership and tireless work. Raya, Rice and Big Gabi are currently up for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award. These three Gunners were also named in UEFA's official Champions League Team of the Season. As well as the trio, Timber and Saliba also made the Premier League Team of the Season. Rice was magnificent in both campaigns this season, but his direct goal contributions seemingly suffered. The England international showed his attacking potential last season as a box-to-box player, while he was mostly deployed as either one of double pivots or a deeper role protecting the two centre-backs (as well as a right-back on two occasions) this season. Hopefully, we will be able to see more of the attacking side of Rice's game next season.

Having tied down Big Gabi, MLS, Saliba, and Saka to long-term contracts in the past 12 months, combined with an amazing talent in Max Dowman, who had a sensational breakthrough season, our dominance in the Premier League could continue over years. Our key players are in their prime years, as well. However, we cannot  stand still in our defence of the Premier League title next season. Arteta and the hierarchy are already planning reinforcement.

The 2025/26 Season Review (1): Matches

It's fair to say that the 2025/26 season was a successful season as we won our first Premier League title in 22 years. Rival team players and their fans mocked our penalty shootout loss to PSG in the Champions League final, but any club would wish to be in our position as the champions of the world's toughest league to win. 

The victory parade, which took place on Sunday, 31 May, saw more than 1 million people (according to the Islington Council) turn up to celebrate the historic win with the players and coaching staff. The streets of north London were lined with joyous faces after a 22-year wait. It was a day of a pure joy and love. The scale of the crowd highlighted how big our club is, while the event showed deep connections between the fans, the team, and the club, including the owner.

Like other seasons, this one also had its ups and downs. Staying at the top of the table for 248 days and amassing 26 wins and 85 points in total in the Premier League, as well as reaching the Champions League final without losing a single game on the way, finishing the Carabao Cup campaign as runners-up, and reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals, there were more highs than lows this season. However, looking back, defeats seemed to have defined this season more than wins. Declan Rice's iconic phrase "It's not done" after a devastating 2-1 loss at the Etihad epitomised our title challenge this season. The defeat came after a damaging 2-1 loss to Bournemouth at the Emirates a week earlier. Given Man City's history, in which they pulled off long winning streaks before winning the titles, our title hopes appeared on the brink, but Rice had other ideas. Also, Arteta called for a reset and vowed to win all of the remaining games. After the setback, we went on a 5-match winning run before the end of the Premier League season, while Man City dropped points at Everton's new home and at Bournemouth. In the end, we won the league with a game to spare, finishing the campaign 7 points clear of second-placed Man City.

That said, it wasn't pretty how we won the league. As supporters, we had to go through a hard watch for a number of games this season. Those 1-0 wins in the run-in were particularly difficult to watch. Our style of play often came under criticism. However, we had been playing an easy-on-the eye football for a number of years previously, especially in Wenger's post-Highbury era. Even under Arteta, when we scored the club record number of goals a couple of seasons ago, we still fell short of winning the league. It was an entertaining football for neutrals, but chaos never wins you a championship.

After ending as runners-up for three years in a row, Arteta turned to a pragmatic approach. He built a platform on our strengths, defensive solidity. With the ball, control was the keyword this season. Slow build-up play often frustrated us, possessional dominance and the control of the game were an integral part of our game. Mikel also weaponised set-piece routines. Set-pieces were an effective tool for finding a breakthrough against low blocks of defence, and our set-piece routines evolved throughout the season under the guidance of Nicolas Jover. Short corners were the latest experimentation. Those routines frustrated us at the beginning, but eventually proved successful as Eze's stunner from a short corner delivered precious 3 points in a crucial 1-0 win over Newcastle at the Emirates. 

Perhaps Arteta would have liked us to play our trade-mark free-flowing football. However, for several reasons (largely due to injuries to our key attacking players), we could not deliver that. We even struggled from time to time to string a couple of passes together, but we still found a way to win in a majority of matches. They used to say "winning ugly is a trait of champions". Apparently, it doesn't apply to the Arsenal. Arteta and his side had to put up with unfair criticism (or "noise") all season. Ultimately, our resilience and determination were the difference from the previous seasons that enabled us to get over the line. At times, this team seemed little improvement over the last season's in terms of performances, but they finally ended our long wait for the Premier League title.

Pragmatism allowed Arteta to finally get over the line. After getting the monkey off his back, the manager may turn the focus from results to performances next season. After the heartache of the Champions League final penalty shootout loss, this group of the players are now even hungrier for more glories.

We will look at individual players' performances next time.

The 2024/25 Season Review

The 2024/25 season was a frustrating season for us, leaving us with no trophy and a second-place finish in the Premier League for the third year in a row. By Arteta's admission, we went backwards this season in the domestic league, with 74 points won, 15 goals fewer than last season (89), 79 goals scored vis-a-vis last season's 91, and 34 goals conceded against last season's 29. 

Major reasons behind the regression were a number of long-term injuries to key players and two-tier refereeing. 

Our attack on the right-hand side was a driving force for last season's club record number of goals scored. This season, all of Saka, Odegaard and White were sidelined for a long spell in separate periods, which meant that the trio played together only a handful of times. Odegaard struggled all season to re-discover the last season's form. Our frontline was decimated by injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Havertz, which kept both of them out of action for a long term. Tomiyasu, a versatile defender, only featured for 15 minutes throughout the season as he underwent two knee surgeries in a season. Big Gabi's hamstring injury at the beginning of April ended his season prematurely. Also, an ankle injury cut short Timber's season. The Dutch defender was having an impressive season despite having to play through pain. White's return to full fitness finally allowed Timber to undergo a surgery. Saliba also missed the final game of the season through a hamstring injury. Towards the end of the season, Arteta repeatedly stated that his side had nothing left in the tank, which appears to be true.

Even new signings were no exception when it came to injuries. Merino's Arsenal debut was delayed for two months due to a fractured shoulder that he suffered in his first training session. Calafiori also spent his fair share of time in the treatment room. 

Secondly, a number of sending-offs cost us dearly. Critics may point out the lack of discipline, but we seemed to have been on the wrong end of decisions on far too many occasions. The new rule of a yellow card for kicking the ball away to delay free-kicks or throw-ins was scarcely seen being applied later in the season, after both Rice and Trossard were sent off against Brighton and Man City, respectively. It seemed that if there was any rule to punish Arsenal, it was applied. A clash of heads between Saliba and Joao Pedro of Brighton ended up with a penalty decision against us. Also, Lewis-Skelly's alleged foul that started outside the box led to a penalty awarded for Everton. Unlike these decisions that cost us points, Lewis-Skelly's later rescinded sending-off did not affect the result, but Michael Oliver's outrageous decision consolidated our belief that the referees have a different standard for officiating our games. Without VAR, we could have finished just 2 points behind the champions Liverpool.

Despite all these adversities, we still finished the season runners-up in the Premier League and secured a Champions League spot for the third consecutive season. Reaching a semi-final certainly points to an upward trajectory in our Champions League journey, after narrowly losing to Bayern Munich on aggregate in a quarter final last season on our return to the elite European competition. 

Quarter-final wins against Real Madrid over two legs were arguably the highlights of the season. Some say that an emphatic 5-1 win over Man City was also one of the best moments of the disappointing season. Even the "Arteta Out" camp cannot ignore the fact that the Spaniard made us hard to beat against traditional Big Six. We have been unbeaten against them for the last two seasons.

The gap to the champions was much closer in quality than the final standings of the two sides indicate (10 points), but we have a lot of work to do to finally win the Premier League. Firstly, we have to turn those draws (14 throughout the season) into wins. In particular, the league-high number of points dropped from winning positions was  shocking reading. With our defence still being the best in the league, scoring more goals will help us to turn draws into wins. Arteta stressed his desire for more firepower. 

Secondly, we need depth in the squad to allow more rotation so that key players can be protected from mental fatigue, as well as injuries. We need a stronger bench.

As Arteta said, it will be a big summer for us. Josh Kroenke is also making the right noises. Arteta now admits that we need prolific goal scorers. He is no longer illusioned to believe that everyone chipping in goals is the best way to achieve the goal. Havertz was on course to become a much craved for 20+ goal scorer before his lengthy injury lay-off, but we need a natural goal scorer to make an immediate difference.

Our transfer activities last summer were poorly planned and badly executed. The last-minute decision to allow Ramsdale to leave the club for Southampton forced us to bring in Neto from Bournemouth on loan. Sterling was also signed on a season-long loan from Chelsea. At that time, many, including pundits, thought it was a coup as the deal involved no loan fees for us to pay and two thirds of his massive wage bills were paid by Chelsea. However, as it turned out, he was no longer the player he used to be. He contributed absolutely nothing all season. In fact, having him on loan blocked us from bringing another player in on a temporary basis in January, when we were desperately short in numbers. Also, Nelson was allowed to go on loan to Fulham for more playing time, which left us short in numbers and quality for the coming season.

On the positive side, it was an amazing breakout season for Myles Lewis-Skelly. He came through the ranks and made a left-back position his own. 

Another stand-out player was Declan Rice. We were frustrated with his slow start to the season, but his influence grew as the season wore on. His attacking prowess developed as he was deployed more in a No.8 position. In a season when a number of our players failed to find their best form due to injuries, this was Partey's best season in Arsenal colours in terms of fitness. He can help Rice to develop further as a No.8. Let's hope that he and the club can reach an agreement to extend his stay at Arsenal. 

Another candidate for the Arsenal Player of the Season is David Raya, who won the Premier League Golden Glove award for the second consecutive season, with 13 clean sheets to his name. His distribution was a suspect at times, but his shot-stopping ability was exceptional. He pulled off stunning saves on a number of occasions. Few now question Arteta's decision to bring in Raya in place of Ramsdale, which was extremely unpopular at that time.

Hopefully, it will be an exciting transfer window as Arteta expects. Andrea Berta was appointed the new Sporting Director at the end of March, and is already at work. Expectations are high for him to pull off multiple high-quality signings this summer to take us to another level. Also, let's hope that we will have better luck with injuries next season. 

The 2022/23 Season Review

The prolonged 2022/23 season due to the World Cup being held in the winter was finally concluded on Sunday, 28 May 2023. We went close to winning the league, having spent 248 days at the top of the table. Yet we fell short in the end. Some, mainly rival fans, accused us of bottling it, but the truth is we simply ran out of steam when Man City found an extra gear. Doubters expected us to fall out of the title race when Gabriel Jesus came back injured from the World Cup. However, we kept our title challenge on track, with Eddie Nketiah stepping up in the Brazilian's absence. In addition, one of our three January signings, Leandro Trossard (Edu's masterstroke) provided more options to our attacking force. Expectations were raised as we approached the business end of the season still on top.

We can reflect on this season as a successful campaign, having achieved some impressive records, including points, wins and goal tallies. Also, our original season objective for a Champions League spot was met with 5 games to spare. Such was our dominance in the Premier League over the other 18 clubs, apart from the eventual champions Manchester City. St. Totteringham's Day arrived for the first time in 7 years as early as on 21 April.

Our stumble in the final few weeks of the season has put a damper on an otherwise hugely impressive season. However, progression and improvement this season was clear for all to see.  As supporters, we enjoyed the Gunners' free-flowing football for the majority of the season. The club record 103 goals in all competitions highlight that. Mikel Arteta summarised this season in one ward, "connection." The Emirates Stadium witnessed the loudest and most energetic atmosphere in its history. Many home fans claim that they have never seen a more frenzied scene than they did in our dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Bournemouth. Bringing the connection between supporters and the Club back was arguably the biggest feat that Arteta has achieved this season. It took him 3 full seasons to get here, by removing divisive players, such as Ozil and Aubameyang. The Spaniard has also played a significant part in turning around Xhaka's relationships with the Arsenal fans. In terms of results, we progressed from an 8th to 2nd finish during his tenure so far.

Many pundits and journalists attributed our struggle towards the end of the season to William Saliba's injury. To make it worse, it came at the same time as Tomiyasu's season-ending injury (In fact, both happened in the same game against Sporting Lisbon). We might have been able to cope with Saliba's absence alone, by simply moving Ben White back to his familiar centre-back position. However, with Cedric Soares having already been loaned out to Fulham, White had to continue as our only senior right-back. Holding initially deputised for Saliba and performed the task to his best ability. But with Gabriel having to cover a vast area which Zinchenko frequently vacated, Holding's lack of pace was often exposed. It was difficult to fill the void Saliba had left without changing tactics, which Arteta refused to do. Even after an injury to Zinchenko, Arteta persisted in his style of play rather than playing on the strength of Kieran Tierney.

There is no denying that consistency in our early form can be largely attributed to stability in the starting XI, which helped grow cohesion and chemistry between players. However, going forward, we need more depth in squad quality and rotation to keep the squad fresh towards the end of a long season, something which we should learn from Pep Guadiola's approach. When our regular starters were injured, our back-up players proved to be significant downgrades or terribly out of form due to limited playing time.

Many supporters feel this season was a lost opportunity as competition is expected to be more intense next season after Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham all had a lacklustre (or disastrous in Chelsea's case) season, with Man U still in transition. Newcastle will be able to fully flex their financial muscles thanks to lucrative Champions League football next season. They will all strengthen their squads in the summer without doubt. We have a second youngest team after relegated Southampton, as well as the youngest manager in the Premier League. With the manager and the players a year wiser and more experienced, we will only get better next season. This may sound just like how this blog's season review ended last year, but remember what happened next. We raised our level to finish 2nd this season from last season's 5th. With well-planned recruitment this summer, we can challenge for the title again.

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. 

The 2019/20 Season Review

The 2019/2020 season was an unprecedented period on so many levels. The coronavirus pandemic saw the season extended over 11 and half months due to a 3-month suspension, which was triggered by our head coach Mikel Arteta testing positive for the virus. When the Premier League resumed on 17th June, all matches were played behind closed doors for the first time in the Premier League's history. We lifted the FA Cup for the 14th time in the competition's history with no fans at Wembley, no trophy presenter to hand over the Cup and medals, and no open-top bus parade to Islington Town Hall on the next day. Nevertheless winning the FA Cup was a considerable achievement for Arteta and the Team after such a short time. 

 

On top of these extraordinary circumstances as a result of the pandemic, we also saw the introduction of VAR to all Premier League matches this season, as well as a winter break. We must say that VAR decisions proved disadvantageous to us more often than in favour of us. Sokratis' perfectly legitimate goal against Crystal Palace was disallowed due to a VAR decision made by an Australian official with no Premier League refereeing experience. Auba and Nketiah both had the refs' initial decisions for yellow card upgraded to straight reds that resulted in their sending-offs and 3-match bans. These were only few examples of VAR's teething problems.

At the club level, it was also an unusual season. After the end of Arsene Wenger's 22-year tenure two years ago, we had three different head coaches in a single season. Following a series of poor results, Unai Emery was dismissed in November 2019. Subsequently, Freddie Ljungberg, who had been promoted to assistant coach from U-23 head coach at the start of the season, took charge as interim head coach. Unfortunately, we didn't see a "new manager bounce" that we hoped for, with Arsenal registering only one win, 3 draws and 2 defeats during his short stint as a caretaker manager. As Mikel Arteta was unveiled as a new Arsenal head coach in December, Freddie stepped down and assumed a position as assistant coach alongside three others whom Arteta brought with him.

Arteta impressed from the day one as he sent out clear messages in his first press conference. He emphasised "non-negotiables", which he strongly demanded from his players. The ex-club captain was fully aware of the difficult situations he was facing. Connections had been severely strained in the past few years between fans and players, as well as the club hierarchy, not least the owners, Unai Emery's tactical approach to each game was refreshing in his first season in charge, but his chameleonic gameplans left the players confused and the team without clear identity. His reactive and passive approach to games even against lesser teams was not received very well by fans. Language barriers didn't help either on and off the pitch. During the dismal times in the latter months of Emery's reign, the emergence of young players, including Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, was the only bright spot. 

Arteta was brought in to repair those broken relationships and to restore the club's traditional values and ethos. His immediate goal was to bring back the Champions League football next season, which was a big ask after having fallen behind the top four so far by this point in time. The appointment of the 38 year-old saw gradual improvement in our form as we eventually turned draws into wins at the end of January. Arteta called Granit Xhaka back into the team from the exile and transformed him into an integral part of the team. It was a remarkable turn around of trajectory as Xhaka was set to leave the club during the January transfer window. Mustafi is another player whose Arsenal career was resurrected by the new head coach after Emery made it clear that he was free to leave the club at the beginning of the season.

The first winter break in the Premier League's history allowed Arteta's philosophy further permeate into the squad during the warm climate training camp in Dubai, as well as giving the players a chance to gain required fitness for Arteta's high-energy pressing. It was also beneficial for Dani Ceballos, who was repurposed as part of double pivot next to Xhaka. Except for a heartbreaking exit from the Europa League following a 2-1 defeat to Olympiacos after extra time, Arteta seemed to have completely turned around our fortune before the coronavirous outbreak disrupted our domestic campaign.

We didn't get off to a great start in the post-lockdown period, with successive defeats to Man City and Brighton in the first two games. However, our identity under Arteta gradually took shape. The highlights of this period were arguably victories over the newly-crowned champions Liverpool and Man City in a space of  mere 4 days. In both games, we were very efficient. We grabbed our chances and defended the lead resolutely as a unit. Our defence was better organised and more disciplined. Many pundits used to say that we were the worst team without ball, but ironically, we struggled when we had the lions' share of possessions against Tottenham and Aston Villa. A new identity was emerging. During this period, Kieran Tierney's return to fitness played a key part, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang capped his stellar season with braces in the FA Cup semi-final and final. It was a shame that our club captain fell only a goal short of winning the Golden Boot for the second season in a row.

Compared to his predecessor, Arteta excelled in the area of communications. He prepared a gameplan for each match and took his time to explain each player's responsibility in it so that they can be accountable for their action. Arteta made the most of the lockdown period by communicating with each player or a group of players with the help of internet technologies.

By his admission, not all Arteta's decisions -mostly based on his gut feeling according to him- produced positive results. But that's part of the learning curve for him.

Despite all the encouraging signs and improvement, we only managed to finish eighth in the league after spending most of the season in mid-table. It was our worst league position since 1995, a fact that speaks volumes for our decline in recent years. We also failed to secure next season's European football through our league position. Only our FA Cup final win over Chelsea secured European football for the 25th consecutive season. The FA Cup success in the latter years of the Wenger era merely papered over the crack only to prolong the slow decline and delay the rebuild of the squad. However, we believe that this one will have a more positive effect, serving as the vindication of Arteta's vision.

The novice manager also stamped his authority. In that process, Guendouzi and Ozil fell out of favour, but Arteta always gave players a second chance if they were willing to change their ways. The best example was Maitland-Niles. Arteta publicly questioned his application and the academy graduate was left out of the matchday squad for some time. However, he worked hard in training enough to regain the head coach's trust as he got the nod ahead of Saka in big games such as the FA Cup semi-final and final. 

It was a difficult season for us, which started with the rebellion of the then-club-captain Koscielny and his subsequent sale to Bordeux even before the Premier League kicked off. After all we had to go through in the 2019/20 season, at least we are more confident now that we are moving in the right direction. Hopefully, the board will give Arteta the fund he needs to rebuild the squad and keep key players such as Auba and Ceballos.

 

The 2018/19 Season Review

Arsenal's 2018/19 season ended with a heartbreaking 4-1 thrashing by Chelsea in the Europa League final on 29th May. The manner in which we fell apart in 15 minutes of the second half triggered a knee-jerk reaction that was all familiar in the latter years of the Wenger era. Some Arsenal fans even went as far as to call for Unai Emery's head, in particular, now that Max Allegri, who was last year's favourite to succeed Arsene Wenger, has become available following his departure from Juventus. Perhaps, Emery was the victim of his own success. Combined with his proven record in this competition, meticulous preparations ahead of the final, arriving in Baku three days earlier than the Chelsea contingent, raised our expectations, after the Gunners' impressive performances and character shown against Napoli and Valencia in the previous rounds.

However, those people wanting a new coach should look at Pep Guadiola and Jurgen Klopp's first seasons, as well as the size of Emery's task compared with theirs. Those two managers failed to win silverware in their first campaigns, with Liverpool losing the Europa League final to Emery's Sevilla during Klopp's first season. Following the disappointing seasons, the two managers were allowed to spend big on improving the squad, identifying and reinforcing weak areas in each window over the new two to three seasons.

If we had had the 11-game winning streak after the opening two defeats against Man City and Chelsea (and further 11-game unbeaten run that followed it) at the end of the season instead of the early stages, a lot more fans would be reflecting on this season much happier than they are now. Nevertheless, this was an encouraging season under the new regime, in fact, better than many predicted.

Although we failed to achieve our objective of the season, a return to the Champions League, through either of a Premier League position or Europa League success, there were signs of progress.

We achieved the same points tally in the Premier League as the last season with seven games remaining. The late collapse in form saw us only collect seven more points from the last seven league games, but we finished just a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham and two behind third-placed Chelsea. Compared with the latter stages of the last campaign, when we were fighting to fend off Burnley's challenge for the sixth place, this was a clear improvement. In Europe, we also did one step better, progressing to the final.

One of the major improvements was arguably our results against fellow "top six". We doubled our a tally this season with 12 points. The highlights of those games include an exhilarating 4-2 win over Tottenham at home, a spirited comeback in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool at home, and a perfect performance offensively and defensively against Chelsea at the Emirates. We were unlucky not to complete a double over our north London rivals this season. Only the referee's failure to give us a penalty retake denied it, following Vertongen's blatant encroachment.

Also, in those games, the big atmosphere returned to the Emirates, which was lost during the last years of Wenger's tenure.

What Emery focused on during the preseason was improvement in fitness and it clearly paid off during the season as Arsenal players covered more ground than any other team in the Premier League. Pressing and work ethic are the big parts of Emery's philosophy. Although there is criticism on his style of football or lack of it, he put his stamp on the progress of the team in some areas.

Individually, Bellerin, Kolasinac, Holding, Lacazette, Xhaka, and Maitland-Niles all improved this season, as well as Iwobi to some extent. Academy players, such as Smith Rowe, Willock, and Nketiah, were given chances. All the new signings, bar Lichtsteiner, proved to have been successful. We thought the goalkeeper position was our least priority on the transfer list, but as Petr Cech announced his retirement at the end of the season, signing of a new keeper turned out to be a good call. Bernd Leno had to be patient at the beginning of the season, but when he had a chance through Cech's injury during the Watford game, the German grabbed it with both hands. Besides, his comfort with the ball at his feet suits Emery's style of play built from the back. His performances were far from flawless with four errors leading to goals, but he produced some eye-catching displays, including double save against Tottenham. Both Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira suffered a dip in form towards the end of the season, but they had an encouraging first season in English football and have time on their side, being at the age of 20 and 23, respectively. On the other hand, being on the wrong side of 30, Sokratis was always a stop-gap signing. It took him some time to get used to the tempo of the Premier League, collecting 12 yellow cards throughout the campaign, but it is great to have a defender who loves defending with passion.

It took some while for Emery to work out how to play Laca and Auba in the same XI, but the prolific attacking partnership was one of positive developments that came out of this season. Aubameyang ended his first full season at Arsenal as a joint Golden Boot winner, scoring 22 goals in the Premier League and 31 in all competitions, while Lacazette was named the Arsenal Player of the Season, with 13 league goals and 19 in all competitions to his name.

On the other hand, there were two areas the new coach failed to improve: defence and away form. We conceded more than 50 goals for the second season in a row. It was a frustrating process. Rob Holding had started to show signs of a significant improvement before he suffered a season-ending cruciate knee ligament injury in early December. He was arguably our best defender at the time, proved by the fact that we were unbeaten in all 11 games in which he started. Fortunately, Koscielny returned from a long-term injury, but it took some time for him to get back to the level he was at before the Achilles surgery. When we had just thought that we found the right defensive formula, after conceding a single goal in seven games in all competitions, we let in three goals in each of three games against Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester towards the end of the season. The capitulation in the Europa League final was a reminder of how fragile our defence can be.

Although we won two more away games than the last season in the Premier League, this is not an ideal form for a team that aspire to finish in the top four. Emery's away tactics seem to be too passive. His flexible approaches to different opponents have been refreshing after 22 years of a rigid Wenger strategy, but against lesser teams we need to impose our game.

All in all, we think our first season under Unai Emery was encouraging and the new coach should be given more time and money to build his own team. Most of the squad was inherited from Wenger. Emery's first task was to make the players more competitive as they had become too comfortable under the Frenchman whether win or lose. The Spaniard's high-profile struggle was the handling of Ozil. In the end, Emery did make the German playmaker work his way back to starting XI, but his disappointing showing in the Europa League final and his alleged fall-out with the coach cast a huge doubt over his future at Arsenal with two years left on his contract.

Emery refused to talk about the closed season and beyond in his post-match conference after the Europa League final, but he suggested that some players might have to leave. Whatever the next season's target is (most likely to be a return to the Champions League once again, unless Man City's place in the CL is transferred to us as a result of UEFA's ongoing financial fair play investigation), we expect a busy summer in spite of limited funds.  Emery is hoping to bring in a new winger for his favourite 4-2-3-1 formation, as well as defenders to rebuild the backline. We also need to a talent and character to replace a departing Aaron Ramsey. In the imminent departure of Danny Welbeck, a signing of a backup striker is required unless Nketiah raises his game significantly. Arsenal's transfer budget will be limited with no Champions League money to come in, but hopefully, the new shirt sponsorship will boost the kitty and the Club will recruit wisely.

Chelsea 3 Arsenal 2

Arsenal slipped to a second defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge yesterday after an entertaining (to neutrals) 3-2 loss to Chelsea. It was an amazing game, especially the first half, thanks to both sides' lack of defensive solidity. As Emery admitted in his post-match interview, his side is still looking for the right balance of defence and attack.

Pedro found the net just in the 8th minute. Morata extended the hosts' lead in the 20th minute, just after Auba missed a sitter at the other end. Arsenal's defensive line was as high as the half-way line, when Morata shrugged off Mustafi's shepherding to have a clear run at goal. With two centre-backs with little pace, this high defensive line was suicidal. 

After the blow of the second goal conceded, Micki spurned a clear-cut chance, failing to keep his shot low, but in 37th minute he made amends by drilling home a left-footed shot past Kepa from the edge of the box. The Armenian turned a provider 4 minutes later for Iwobi's equaliser. Arsenal were finding openings in Chelea defence. Auba squandered another glorious chance. Iwobi was also at fault for not converting a goal-scoring chance. We could have put the game out of sight before half time, had we put away all these chances. 

It was refreshing to see a substitution at half time as Xhaka, who was totally anonymous in the first half apart from being booked, gave way for Torreira. Emery cited the yellow card for part of the reason for the change. It was also clear that he was reluctant to start two young players new to the Premier League in Guendouzi and Torreira together at the heart of midfield.

Another bold decision we have never seen under Wenger was Ozil being subbed in 68th minute by Ramsey. Emery insisted that the change was purely tactical, but he could be ruthless enough to drop the Club's highest-paid player from the starting lineup.

Arsenal were hanging on deep in Chelsea's half and Laca was finally brought on in 75th minute for Iwobi, but it was the French striker's wayward back-pass that ultimately undid our resistance to give Chelsea a late winner. As we pushed for an equaliser, Cech had to pull off another brilliant save to deny Giroud in stoppage time.

It is a slow process of rebuilding a team. At least nobody questioned our character after coming back 2-0 down so early. Out of the two newly appointed head coaches, it was Sarri who came out victorious, but he was allowed to bring in a key player familiar with his system in Jorginho with a big price tag. Emery didn't have the luxury of that. Once his players have mastered how the new coach wants to play, hopefully they should start benefiting from what we were promised that Emery would bring to the club, such as meticulous game preparations using videos and game plans to nullify opponents' strengths and exploit their weakness.

We welcome West Ham on Saturday in a normal kick-off. Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal traditionally dominated in these fixtures against lesser teams at home. This is where Emery has to prove that he is taking the club forward not backwards. The onus is on both Emery and Pellegrini to get first points of the season next weekend. This will be a fascinating encounter for another reason as Wilshere and Lucas Perez face their former club for the first time.

Arsenal 0 Manchester City 2

Arsenal's new era began with a 2-0 defeat to Man City at the Emirates yesterday. It was a tough start to Unai Emery's side against the defending champions, who already beat last season's FA Cup winners Chelsea 2-0 in the Community Shield last weekend.

Cech was given captain's armband in the long-term absence of club captain, Koscielny, ahead of other matchday captaincy candidates, Ozil, Ramsey and Xhaka. Sokratis made a Premier League debut, paired with Mustafi in central defence, which did not come as surprise. On the other hand, Matteo Guendouzi's inclusion in the starting XI raised many eyebrows. The 19 year-old impressed in pre-season, having joined us this summer from a French second-tier outfit, Lorient, but this was a bold decision in light of the magnitude of the game.

It was extremely disappointing to see all familiar defensive frailty emerging so soon, after having been told that Emery placed his priority to improving defence in preseason. It took us only 14 minutes to concede a first goal of the season. Guendouzi failed to stop him getting a shot away, while Sokratis only managed to get a slightest touch on the shot. Besides, it is arguable if Cech should have stopped it going in.

Perhaps finishing the first half 1-0 was an improvement over the last season. We were still in the game until 64th minute, when Bernardo Silva doubled the visitors' lead. Lichtsteiner was too slow to spot Bernardo, who was given too much space in our box. City could have extended their lead further, when Guendouzi misjudged a bouncing ball and allowed Aguero to have a clear run. But Cech produced a superb save to deny the City striker. Cech looked uncomfortable playing the ball out from the back, but his counterpart, Ederson, looked even shakier. It was pity we couldn't take advantage of those mistakes. Mustafi had a strong case for penalty when he was grappled by Mendy. If Michael Oliver had seen a replay, he would have given a penalty.

As much as we lament our fragile and too open defence, we regret our offensive shortcomings. As Cech pointed out after the game, we lacked quality in final pass. We created enough chances to get an unlikely result at the end of the game, but the final ball let us down.

After the promising pre-season, this was a disappointing result, but it was only one game against the reigning champions. Lichtsteiner had a decent game in his unfamiliar position at the left-back, showing authority. When he came on for injured Maitland-Niles, we feared his lack of pace against Mahrez and Kyle Walker, but as soon as he came on, City seemed to have stopped attacking his flank. He even made himself useful in attack. Torreira looked tidy in possession after being introduced in the 70th minute at the expense of Xhaka. His pressing put off Sterling from crossing, while he got De Bruyne on the book. The Uruguay international nearly claimed an assist with his wonderful pass to release Auba behind the defence. Unfortunately, Auba's goal was disallowed for offside. Torreira should start, stationed in front of the centre-backs to give them protection. Guendouzi grew into the game after a few mistakes. He is the epitome of Emery's philosophy -energy, intensity and industry-, which probably earned him a starting place. It takes time for a foreign player to get accustomed to the pace of Premier League matches, especially coming from a French second division team. Sokratis did little to impress us. He was booked and gave away a free-kick just outside the area, which could have been a goal, had it not been for Cech's brilliant double saves.

As well as new comers to get used to the intensity and speed of Premier League games, the entire squad have to learn how to play Unai Emery's way. They executed high pressing well in patches, but the trouble was that after they had won possession back, subsequent passing was often disappointing. This style demands players to move the ball quickly under pressure. Against Man City, our players were often seen dwelling on the ball too long.

This game was the extension of preseason. Emery was still experimenting team selections and formations. Lacazette should have been introduced earlier, as he made an immediate impact after coming off the bench in 54th minute in place of Ramsey. Ramsey was not so effective in a more forward position than he is used to. Obviously, Arsenal are still a work in progress.

Long before Arsene Wenger's departure was announced, one of our members in the "Wenger Out" camp said he would be happy to see us outside top four for a couple of season, provided we parted with the Frenchman. Now we got changes we wanted, let's get behind the new coach. Emery's pressing football is a more modern style and his brand-new training regime is promising and seemed to have been well received by the players. He has been playing the right tunes so far. It will be a shame if only one game has spoiled all the positivity. It took Pep Guadiola a full-season's experimentation and an enormous budget to build a title winning team. It's crucial for his players and supporters to keep a faith in Unai Emery and his philosophy.