With the recent successes that Mikel Arteta has brought to our club, many have been left hoping that he is going to be the manager that could take us back to being a European giant. At the time of writing this, Arsenal are boasting an 8 game unbeaten record, and the majority of our fanbase are beginning to feel almost euphoric about the club’s current situation. However, this success comes paired with an expectation. An expectation that within the coming few years, Arsenal will be consistently achieving top four finishes to attain a Champions League place, and that we should be challenging for our first league title since the great Invincibles of 2004.
In this article, I’m going to discuss whether this is a realistic expectation to have of Arteta and his squad, and I will show some reasons for this maybe being easier said than done.
I think that it is firstly important to note the youthful age of our current first team squad. We currently have a first team squad that is the youngest in the league, with an average age of 25.3 throughout the entire squad, which includes only a few ‘veteran’ players – only Aubameyang, Lacazette and Xhaka are consistent starters of above this average age. Elsewhere in the team, the vast majority of our players are under this age.
Hale End has proven to be one of the most prolific academies in England yet again, as our youngsters Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka have both reached the England National Team for the November internationals, joined by Aaron Ramsdale, with Ben White being unfairly left out (in my opinion). Having an average squad age as low as this can only be a good thing when it is twinned with the results that we are currently experiencing. Being on such a win streak while most of our first choice starters have not even reached the peak of their powers yet.
I personally believe that given the current state of this youthful yet talented squad, we should be challenging for the league title within the next 5 years or so. Notice though how I say challenging. I think it would be irrational at this point to say that we should definitely be winning the most coveted domestic league in the world in 5 years time, as we will be competing with other world class teams.
However, we should certainly be in a position where Chelsea, Liverpool and City are all fearing playing us in the league as we pose a real threat to their own title chances. If we can challenge these teams in all of our fixtures against them in the league, and we can keep enough consistency against the other teams, I truly believe that we should be in a position to challenge for a league title, provided we meet these criteria.
Following on from this point, I would also like to show appreciation to the recruitment process that Arteta and his team are currently undergoing, and I think that Arteta’s recent promotion to Manager from Head Coach has helped this. It is safe to say that we would not be in the position we are without the summer signings that we saw in the summer, as controversial as they were at the time. This is clearly shown by our recent starting XI’s. Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, and Ben White have all cemented places in the first team consistently, while Nuno Tavares and Sambi Lokonga have provided real competition for Kieran Tierney and Granit Xhaka – this has been highlighted by the role that they have both played in the absence of their competitors.
It is also important to not neglect Martin Odegaard’s role in the squad, as while Lacazette is in fine form and seems to have taken his spot, Odegaard is always brilliant when coming off the bench, and has also had some great performances when in the starting 11. This shows that Arteta and his team have clearly been heavily researching the players that we have purchased, and made sure they would be a suitable fit to our team, as it cannot be luck that all of these players have had such an impact.
If Arteta’s team keep scouting players of a similar level, our squad depth will simply improve. Squad depth is going to play an integral role in any push towards the top of the Premier League table, for we must prepare for any absences that could come to the squad, as shown by the injuries to Kieran Tierney and Granit Xhaka this season, and the potential departure of Pepe, Aubameyang, Partey and Elneny to AFCON early next year. I think that if the club continues to recruit at the level it has been, then Arteta should have all the pieces to the puzzle of a Premier League and European giant.
However, despite these positive aspects that suggest an upwards trajectory for Arsenal in the next years, there does seem to be a slight sense of some potential changes to come in the next few years. I say ‘potential’ changes, as I think there is one that has been advocated for by fans for many years now; the Kroenke out movement. I myself have thought for many years that Kroenke is not the right man to be owner of Arsenal, as I think that the way he treats Arsenal in comparison with the LA Rams, his other major investment, has been extremely one sided.
While we were going through a torrid time under Unai Emery, swiftly followed by his departure from the club, Stan Kroenke was sitting in America drawing up new stadium plans for the LA Rams. However, despite supporting the movement that Stan Kroenke needs to sell our club, this is a major change that could impact the club massively. I strongly believe that many fans become too ‘trigger happy’ when it comes to making changes at our club.
As much as the majority of us dislike Stan Kroenke, changing the ownership of a club is a big decision that could have big consequences. Stan Kroenke selling the club could have massive implications for our chances of success, as although it may be the right decision for him to leave Arsenal in the long run, the short run effect could be detrimental. Changing the ownership of an organisation as large as Arsenal Football Club would involve wholesale changes throughout the club, including the directors, scouts, and many other positions within the club who play an integral role in how the club is run.
These changes could end up damaging the club without the fans even knowing, as these internal changes could create such a different atmosphere within the club, and we may find ourselves thrown off of our game slightly. Now don’t get me wrong, I (sadly) do not think Kroenke is going anywhere anytime soon, however if someone like Daniel Ek did overthrow him, as brilliant as this may be, there is a slight uncertainty as to how smooth the change would be. However, I do not see this being a massive issue for the club.
In addition to a hierarchy change in the club, I believe that there are two player departures that could affect the club massively: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. Many may immediately think that losing these two players would not be a big issue, as I have already mentioned that our recruitment is currently looking very good. However, I think the loss of one or mainly both of these players would send shockwaves through the dressing room. Firstly, Aubameyang, our captain.
Now, many would say that losing Aubameyang wouldn’t be too much of an issue in terms of captaincy as there are so many leaders in our squad. Odegaard is the captain of Norway, Sambi used to captain Anderlecht, Tierney is one of the most vocal players we’ve seen in the Emirates era, and Aaron Ramsdale has joined the club with an unrivalled level of passion, dedication, and leadership. However, despite how this all may seem, Aubameyang is clearly a respected player in the changing room, no one seems to dislike him. I think that losing a captain in the dressing room must be such a strange phenomenon for the players, walking in one day and your captain isn’t there, and someone else has taken over.
I think everyone could agree that this would be a slightly unnerving feeling at first. I do not think that this would be the main issue with losing Aubameyang though, I think we would miss his presence on the pitch much more. Wenger brought in Aubameyang in 2018, and since this date he has scored 68 goals in 124 Premier League appearances for the Arsenal. As much as we may go on to sing another striker, this level of contribution will be difficult to match immediately, so I think that the loss of Aubameyang would be highly detrimental to the teams output
There is also a point to be raised with the departure of these two forwards, and that is the experience that they add to the squad. Are average age is already 25.3 for the first team with these 2 players, and if they left the average age would cause our first team to look like an U23 squad on paper. This may seem like a contradictory point to many readers as I praised the youth of our squad so emphatically earlier, but I think most would agree that it is important to have a balance of youth and experience within a squad.
It has previously been reported that Lacazette has been a role model for many of the U23 players breaking into the first team, as the desire and hunger that he has shown when playing in the red and white has been unparalleled. This type of player is particularly hard to replace, as not many can come straight into a club and show that passion for a team that they just joined, as this is a trait that Lacazette has developed over time at Arsenal. Losing Aubameyang and Lacazette would hurt us massively in my opinion, as this loss of experience would throw off the dynamic of the squad, and it would leave Arteta and Edu in a dilemma; should they keep buying youth for the future, or should they buy some experience as well (at a potential opportunity cost of paying high wages and fees)?
On Lacazette specifically, the play style which he possesses is one that is near on impossible to replace. The way he gets in front of defenders, frustrating them into fouling him is a skill that almost can’t be taught — it is an innate characteristic within some players. And the role that he plays when sitting behind Aubameyang, dropping deep into the midfield to collect the ball and create a chance, is one that not many players in the world can do as effectively as Lacazette. Therefore, if Arteta wants to replace Lacazette with a player with the same skill sets, I think this could be a very difficult task to fulfill.
If you have made it to the end, thank you for reading my first Arsenal article. I’m currently in Year 13 at school, so this has been very hastily written amongst several pieces of coursework so apologies if it seems a bit odd in places, but overall I hope you have enjoyed, and I hope that we will all see Arsenal lifting the Premier League in a few years (and a UCL as well)!