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.

The 2017/18 Season Review

A long and difficult season finally ended on 13th May as Arsene Wenger took charge of his last game as Arsenal manager against Huddersfield Town at the John Smith's Stadium. We thought the 2016/17 season was bad enough, when we finished outside top four, failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time under Wenger, not least because we finished behind Tottenham for the first time in 22 years. Nevertheless, Arsenal won the most points to finish outside top four in the Premier League history, just missing the fourth spot by one point. Many believe that the FA Cup win at the end of the last season saved Wenger's job and led to his two-year contract extension, but the key factor was that the Frenchman was still capable of turning around his team's form in April by switching to three-man defence and giving the team a new focus.

In fact, that has become the pattern associated with Arsenal in the past few seasons. Our form dipped in February and March for a strong season finish in April and May. So for the 2017/18 season, we hoped for the same turn around in form, but it never happened. Even Wenger's announcement of his departure couldn't inspire an upturn in our miserable away form because he never understood the reason behind it. Arsenal finished their 2017/18 Premier League campaign in sixth place, their lowest finish in 22 years, with their fewest points of 63 in the 38-game era. By the time the season finished, we were used to all these unwanted stats. The Gunners were the only club in England's top four divisions not to pick up a single away point in 2018 until the last game of the season. The run of seven losses was our worst away record since 1966. Arsenal's slow decline in the recent years was as clear as black and white. As a man who loves numbers and stats, like all economists do, Wenger must have realised that he is no longer the man who can take the club forward.

Looking at the squad, we went through a number of changes in personnel this season. Arsenal welcomed the then club record signing Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon and captured Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer, while Oxlade-Chamberlain left us on the deadline day of the summer transfer window for Liverpool for a handsome sum of £35 million. Gabriel's departure for Valencia raised many eyebrows as our pool of defenders continued to thin out, with Mertesacker announcing his retirement at the end of the season. Szczesny was sold to Juventus for a reported fee of £12.2 million after spending 2 seasons on loan with Roma, while our then second longest-serving player Gibbs left for West Brom on the arrival of another left-back. Keeping Alexis Sanchez was widely regarded crucial for Arsenal's title aspiration, but it turned out to be a destructive element in the dressing room. Wenger's plan backfired as Sanchez lost his motivation after Chile failed to qualify for this summer's World Cup in October.

The January transfer window was our busiest ever. Walcott, Coquelin, and Debuchy left for Everton, Valencia, and St-Etienne, respectively. Mavropanos was the first signing of our new head scout Sven Mislintat. Sanchez joined Man U in a swap deal, which saw Mkhitaryan moving in the other direction. Arsenal broke their record for the second time in the same season to bring in Aubameyang. In the three-way deal also involving Chelsea's Batshuayi, Giroud joined Chelsea, looking for more playing time ahead of what is potentially his last World Cup. Ozil finally signed a new contract to end all speculations, which also marked the end of Arsenal's rigid wage structure, along with the arrival of high-wage earners in Auba and Micki.

In a season when we saw more lows than highs, Aaron Ramsey topped the Player of the Season votes conducted by Arsenal website, followed by Nacho Monreal. It is a cause for concern that the Welshman is yet to be offered a new contract, going into the final year of his current contract next season.

On a more positive note, we saw some of promising youngsters coming through the ranks and the group stage of the Europa League set up an ideal stage for that. Among those up and coming talents, Maitland-Niles saw his stock rising, particularly after being named Man of the Match at Old Trafford.

The other bright spot of the season was the signing of a potential 20+ goalscorer in Auba. Despite having not played in an entire month of January, Auba hit the ground running since his move from Dortmund. He racked up 10 goals and 4 assists in 13 games. It makes you wonder how we would have fared  if he hadn't been ineligible for the Europa League due to an absurd UEFA rule which has since been abolished. His successful start to the life at Arsenal should be a platform for Arsenal to build on next season.

The 2017/18 season marked the end of era as Arsene Wenger's 22-year tenure came to an end. As much as we appreciate what he did for the Club and what he achieved with the Club, it was clear that Arsenal need a change. Wenger left unaddressed defensive issues for far too long. Players were feeling too comfortable whether they win or lose. The supporters were growing tired of the way the Gunners play, which is too intricate, too slow and toothless against well-organised defence.

Ivan Gazidis made it clear that a new manager will not have the same authority Wenger had. The roles of the incoming manager are expected to be limited to those of a head coach. With a new management structure in place, it is interesting to see how much control the new head coach will be allowed to take. Wenger was well-known for his frugality, which frustrated us supporters. But was it his policy or did he not actually have money to spend? Rumour has it that the incoming coach will be given a war chest of as meagre as £50 million before any sale of players. The truth will be unveiled. Whoever Arsenal appoint as Wenger's successor, all the supporters should get behind him and be positive about the club's future. Negativity in the past couple of years has really hurt the club.

Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0

Arsenal were on a winless run against Chelsea stretching over nearly 5 years, bar their 1-0 Community Shield win in August last year. We also failed to score in any of the last 6 meetings and had players sent off against them more than any other club (7). Per Mertesacker, Gabriel, Santi Cazorla and Kieran Gibbs (for a mistaken identity) falling victim to Chelsea's tactics in those games were all fresh in our memory. All the players were more than aware that they had to keep 11 men on the pitch this time round. Despite these "inconvenient facts", the north London side were on the up, with newly found confidence from back-to-back emphatic wins away from home. That was the source of our belief that this season could be different.

 Arsene Wenger named unchanged starting XI from the side that started in a convincing 4-1 victory over Hull City at KCOM stadium last Saturday. Wenger's experiment to deploy Alexis Sanchez as a centre-forward continued even after Lucas Perez opened his goal-scoring account in the mid-week EFL Cup tie against Nottingham Forest. Olivier Giroud was only fit to start on the bench after recovering from a toe injury he sustained in the Champions League game against PSG. The exclusion of Granit Xhaka from the starting line-up raised a few eyebrows after the Swiss international scored two stunning long-range goals in the last 2 games in a row. However, for what was expected to be a feisty meeting, more experienced Francis Coqelin seemed a better choice to us, given Xhaka's dubious disciplinary record in the Bundesliga.

The game got off to an intense start fit for a London derby. When Koscielny took down Diego Costa just outside the box, the visitors appealed for a penalty. Alexis capitalised on Cahill's error in the 11th minute to coolly chip the ball over Courtois into the net. 3 minutes later, Theo doubled the lead by slotting home a Bellerin cross after a well-worked  build-up. We had waited for a league goal against the London rivals for the last 3 seasons. Now we got two. On 40 minutes, the goal tally increased to three. Ozil turned Kante (this match-up between the two midfielders was dubbed as the key battle of the game prior to the match), initiating a sweeping counter-attacking move. Ozil released Alexis with his perfectly-weighed pass and the Chilean picked out Ozil at the back post with a fine cross. Our passing was sharp and crisp, with quick movements throughout the pitch. The boss described it as an "nearly perfect" first half.

The second-half may have been a little quieter affair as Arsenal were happy to sit back and trying to attack on the counter. Perhaps, that's the reason why our possession was surprisingly low at 49% despite the dominance. We should have added a couple more goals, but Arsenal's inclination to overplay was to blame. Nevertheless, Arsenal were in total control. We stayed strong not to get Chelsea back in the game. Diego Costa cut a frustrated figure as Koscielny and Mustafi totally negated his threat and totally ignored his theatricals. Overall, it was a very strong team performance from the Gunners. We outplayed Chelsea in all areas.

The only negative was Coquelin's injury. The French midfielder was taken off in the 31st minute due to a knee injury. After the match, Wenger revealed that it was the same knee he injured last November. On that day, Coquelin was replaced by Mikel Arteta, who scored an own goal in his cameo appearance before being taken off through an injury to himself. The game ended in our 2-1 defeat to West Brom. It used to be that an injury to a major player would result  in a lesser player coming on but we now have strength in depth especially in midfield. On this occasion, Xhaka was introduced to fill the void Coquelin left, seamlessly integrated into the team. Coquelin's injury is a blow, but we now have some depth in the squad to mitigate it. Xhaka will probably be a starter in the absence of Coqulin, which should put an end to an argument as to whether Wenger is right to not start the £35 million signing. Elneny can also share the responsibility.

It took some time for us to get going this season, largely because of injuries and Euro 2016 exertion to the key players. Wenger may deserve criticism for the late arrival of reinforcement, but we are truly up and running now, with the Koscielny-Mustfi partnership starting to look a real force. Hopefully, we can build on this impressive performance. Before we get back to the Premier League action, we have a must-win home game against FC Basel on Wednesday night.

Players ratings

Cech: 6

With his former club registering no shot on target until 75th minute, he had little to do. But when he was called upon, he produced a brilliant save to deny Batshuayi's shot.  

Bellerin: 8
Delivered a perfect cross to set up Theo's goal. Used his pace well to make a last-ditch tackle on Pedro at a crucial moment.

Mustafi: 8
He has started proving a great signing for us as he has begun to form a solid central defensive partnership with Koscielny. Made 3 tackles, 6 interceptions, and 5 clearances.

Koscielny: 8
Took no notice of Costa's provocative actions. Kept him quiet throughout the game, together with Mustafi, with the result that Diego Costa only had 2 touches in the box. Made 3 tackles, 4 interceptions, and 7 clearances.

Monreal: 7
His positional play was a cause of concern for us in recent games, but he coped alright in this game. As usual he made a lot of overlapping runs down the wing.

Cazorla: 8
His powerful shot drew a fine save from Courtois in the early stages. Made more passes (85) than any other player on the pitch, with a 88.2% accuracy.

Coquelin: 7

Played well until he got injured. Made 1 tackle, 2 interceptions and 22 passes with a 86.2% passing completion rate in his 31 minutes on the pitch. Hopefully, his injury is not too serious. 

Walcott: 9

As Wenger predicted, he is a different animal this season with a renewed hunger. The difference this season is his defensive commitment. He takes a great pleasure in keeping a clean sheet as if it was his foremost priority. Worked hard, tracking back, covering the right-back, and pressing the Chelsea players. Scored Arsenal's second goal. Unlucky not to score another. On another occasion, when he should have gone for a goal, he instead over-hit a cross for Alexis.

Özil: 9

Made 72 passes, including 3 key passes, with an impressive 90.3% accuracy. Good finish to complete the great counter-attacking movement he initiated. He even contributed to defending as well, making 2 tackles and 2 interceptions.

Iwobi: 8

Picked out Bellerin's run in the build-up to Theo's goal. 

Alexis: 9

Scored a goal and set up another. He was at his best in this role, showing his pace, composure and skills.

Subs

Xhaka: 7

Replaced Coquelin in the 31st minutes. His incisive pass to pick out Walcott's run on the right-hand side nearly paid off. Made 3 tackles, 1 interception, 3 clearances and 49 passes with a 93.9% passing success rate.

Gibbs: 7
Came on for Iwobi in the 69th minute to shore up the defence. It was also Wenger's offensive tactical change to respond to Chelsea's 3-men defence. While Iwobi tends to cut inside, Gibbs stays wide and runs to the byline, which stretched Chelsea's narrow defence. Astute substitution from Wenger.

Giroud: 6
Replaced Alexis in the 79th minute. He had a simple  task of keeping the ball up and failed to accomplish it.