For those of you just joining us, allow me to briefly recap and set the scene for what was Project 21. On the back of a disappointing campaign in Mikel Arteta’s first full season as the Arsenal first-team coach turned Manager, much pressure was placed on the Spaniard to show the Arsenal faithful the Gunners were truly moving in the right direction.
I don’t think it’s unfair to say most Arsenal fans were underwhelmed by Arteta and Edu’s transfer business in the summer, despite some big money spending by the club, and then came game week 1. What a way to start the new campaign than by announcing moments before kick-off, Arsenal would be without Aubameyang, Lacazette and Partey. There was a brief moment of hope as fans began fantasizing about the prospect of Balogun and Martinelli running riot upfront before reality came crashing down and new boys Brentford, dealt Arsenal their first defeat of the campaign.
The same problems from last season had reared their ugly heads, and worst of all we would be coming up against Champions League winners Chelsea and Premier League Champions Man City next. Lukaku bullied Pablo Mari all game to seal the win for Chelsea. Arteta, so disheartened by what he saw, chose to drop Pablo Mari in favour of Sead Kolasinac at Centre Back. Kolasinac, may I remind you is the same player that Arteta and Edu have been desperately trying to offload for two seasons. This led many of the faithful to call Arteta’s judgement into question, including myself. Kolasinac’s involvement would be of little significance with the entire team putting in the worst performance of Arteta’s tenure, losing the game 5-0.
In just 3 games, Arteta was beginning to look undone, having only conceded 39 goals in the whole of last season, Arsenal had already clocked 10. For all the mountain of excuses you could make, missing players, transfer business not being concluded, it simply wasn’t good enough after a full season in charge.
I declared my wavering loyalty to the manager was on thin ice and looking at the fixtures ahead I knew exactly what Arteta needed to do to pull me back from the ledge. For Junior Gunners, they may not remember the days of looking at the fixture list and knowing bar the top 4 any other game would have been odd’s on in our favour. That is what I wanted back, for me to be able to look at the table and take comfort in the knowledge that Arsenal should be favourites against the majority of clubs. It hasn’t felt like that in along time, with some Arsenal fans even looking at a club like Aston Villa and feeling envious this season.
Norwich – beatable, Burnley – beatable, Tottenham – not allowed to lose! Brighton – beatable, Crystal Palace – beatable, Aston Villa – time to get a win against this mob Mikel! Leicester – tough game away but we can at least get draw, Watford – beatable. 8 games stood in the way of me relinquishing my tired support for Mikel Arteta. 24 points up for grab, all I was asking from Arteta was to deliver 22. Mathematically that meant Arsenal winning 7 of those game, with the allowance of a draw. Admittedly, this series of articles should have been more appropriately named Project 22, as 21 would suggest that I had made an allowance for a single defeat in those 8 games, which is the one thing I would not have compromised on.
Instead, Arsenal went on to go unbeaten in all 8 Premier League games, collecting 20 points, clinching 5th place and only conceding 4 along the way, not to mention beating Leeds and Wimbledon in our 2 cup games of the season so far. Ironically we would have been 1 point better off if we had lost 1 game rather than being held to draws against Brighton and Crystal Palace. I claimed that Arsenal fans should be worried with anything less that 21 points, which is a statement I am now willing to retract.
Arteta failed to manage the 22 points I needed, but he was successful in talking me off the ledge. To go from conceding 10 in 3 games, to 4 in 8 is a hugely significant turnaround, especially whilst Arsenal are still struggling to find the back of the net. What’s set Mikel Arteta apart from Unai Emery is that the players are well and truly on his side. Those underwhelming summer signings have done Arteta justice, proving he was right to place his faith in these young recruits and winning over the fans with their defensive resilience, none more so than the much-maligned £30m Aaron Ramsdale. “Martinez who?”.
At the other end of the pitch, Emile Smith Rowe is stealing the show. If you could take any positives from last season it would be the rise of Saka and Smith Rowe as Arsenal’s crown jewels. These young Guns are setting the tone for what we should expect from Arteta’s Arsenal. A team would usually look to their senior players for inspiration but it is this young crop of talent reigniting the fire in the bellies of Aubameyang and Lacazette.
The players are doing their best to make sure Arteta’s starting XI is decided for him, and that is what Arsenal and Arteta need right now. At the basis of Mikel Arteta’s philosophy is making sure everyone is giving every ounce they can on and off the pitch and as the man himself would put it, suffering for the club. That is what I am starting to see week in week out, players sweating it out for 90 minutes or more to make sure we do not lose games.
As I type this, Arsenal are 3 points above United in 5th place, the club is certainly moving in the right direction. The young manager has bested his more experienced opposite numbers, and learnt to manage games much better than we saw last season, humbling the likes of Dean Smith and Brendan Rodgers. Amongst Arteta’s peers is another former Arsenal captain doing his best not to lose games and making sure Arteta is well aware there are other suitors for his job if he is not careful.
tough ties lie ahead for Arsenal, we are yet to face off against the likes of West Ham, Everton and Wolves but the current run will have served the players well in boosting morale and confidence for these tough fixtures. Had Arteta managed to take all 24 points, Arsenal would be sitting a little more comfortably in 2nd place, but whilst some other games have gone our way to ease the pressure slightly, Arsenal can’t afford to take their foot off the gas. Every team in the top half of the table have the potential to make life a lot more nerve-wracking for us Gooners.
For all the good that we’ve seen, Arteta still has a lot of doubters, and I don’t think it will take an awful lot to undo all the faith he may have recently acquired. Arsenal have shown they can defend, now it’s time to show they can score. If we learnt anything from the game against Watford, it’s that Arsenal are still struggling to score. Arsenal have an expected goals tally of 14.3 whilst only having scored 13. Everyone else above us in the top 4 have an expected goals tally of 17+ and they are all exceeding expectation bar Manchester City who have uncharacteristically scored the least, but with a goal difference of +16 that won’t worry them too much.
Many will be worried that Aubameyang’s troubles are not yet behind him, and it seems so are Edu and Arteta, both already working behind the scenes to bring in new blood come January. There’s also concerns that the injury that kept Partey out of the Watford game might keep him out slightly longer than fans and Arteta will have hoped. Bar injuries and form, the toughest test for looks to be getting through January, when Arsenal will take on City, Burnley and Tottenham with their newly appointed Antonio Conte (if he’s still there by then), all without the services of Aubameyang, Partey, Pepe and Elneny.
For me, the unbeaten run has gone a long way to making up for the 4 points dropped. Arteta has proved with the right personnel, he can inspire this team to believe they are worthy of more than most will be expecting from them. With the Amazon Studio camera’s working behind the scenes, what more can their producers ask for than an underdog story and I for one am looking forward to seeing it unfold.
In my unwritten contract with Arteta, there is still one way left for him to make up not clinching 22 points…
…Win the next game at Anfield.
Until next time my fellow Gooners, keep up the support, our team needs us!
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