Is Arsenal’s development REALLY phenomenal?

Arsenal’s captain Mikel Arteta has been at the club since the summer of 2011 and he is really impressed with our massive improvement in that short time. The Spanish magician missed most of last season through injury but it seems the 33 year-old will be given a one-year extension by Wenger and if so he will probably retain the captainship.

So now he has given his captains end-of-term report on Arsenal.com, and it seems that he has been extremely impressed! “The development of this group in the last three or four years has been magnificent,” he said. ”To get to a stage where we are now, the people we have in the dressing room, the way we behave, the way we believe, the way we play for each other and look after each other is phenomenal.

“That’s not up to me, it’s up to all the players and all the effort from the staff and everyone involved at the club. So I’m very pleased with what we’ve got.

“I’m not a captain that likes to do everything by himself. We’ve got players and characters here that are very good for the group and I keep them involved all the time. It’s not about my ideas or my beliefs, it’s about getting a taste of what players need.

“They are different ages and different cultures and they come in at different times as well. With processes that we go through during the season, I get a lot of help from the lads.”

I am sure that he is right that the team spirit and the culture may well have improved in his 4 years, and Arsenal even improved their points total every year until this season….
2011/12 3rd 70pts
2012/13 4th 73pts
2013/14 4th 79pts
2014/15 3rd 75pts
…but our position in the League pecking order hasn’t changed that much in the four years that Arteta has been here. I know we are all extra confident of pushing on next season, and really challenging for the League title, but I can’t help thinking back to this time last summer when we were all thinking exactly the same thing….

17 Comments

  1. I would love by the end of this coming new season the stats show 2015/ 2016 1st place 94pts! Coyg!

  2. OFF TOPIC. Ozil 4 Assists, Arsenal just need a World Class striker, DM and Cech. Missed watching my team, UP GUNNERS. Cant wait for pre season.

  3. I think we have come far Specialy second part of 2014/5 season, for the first time in years I believed we can win and expected to win every game who ever we played now that’s a progress in my eyes anyway but when I see Barcelona play and players then I know how far we are from Wining CL

  4. Sometime I think (or you can say dream) that will Arsenal become super power like Barca or RM?
    Can we win treble of CL,PL and FA? Will there be a time when other teams fear Arsenal?
    Will there be time when people call us greatest team(like Real, Barca)?Will any Arsenal player win ballon o ‘dr?

    I hope and pray for that time. I know it is possible in future but not at least in coming few years.
    I am die hard gooner and will always support Arsenal even if we get relegated but still dream for best.

    1. Never know. Someday we might just churn out the next Messi from our youth system that’s a born and bred gooner so wouldn’t even think of leaving us for Barca.

    2. For now, we continue in the nightmare where we are not a super power, will not win a treble for maybe 20 years, don’t strike up much fear in our opponents and our team cannot be great for the foreseeable future nor can one of our players win the ballon d’or or even be in the top 3 candidates.
      Look at the team sheet…we have Giroud.

  5. Been seeing a lot of leaked photos of the new home kit, not bad but for some strange reason I prefer the home socks to be red not white or at least a new hoop design. Either way I sure hope this is the kit we lift the League trophy in come 2016.

  6. We will improve next season only if we sign a quality GK, CDM and ST. We are always 2-3 players away from being champions.

  7. I’m confident in our team. 3 additions and we have every chance of winning the league. Whether we get those additions remains to be seen.

    But right now, other than those 3 additions we need, I can look at other top teams and think our players are just as good as theirs. At Arsenal, we haven’t been able to do that for a long time. To me, that’s progress.

    Our defence isn’t as good as Chelsea’s, but it’s still very good if you look at goals conceded, especially considering Coquelin and Kosc weren’t there for a lot of the season. And it should improve with Gabriel coming in. Our fullbacks are good. Monreal is solid, Bellerin is fantastic going forward, could improve defensively, but it’s his first season, of course he will improve. So a decent defence, plus a new GK?

    Midfield. Who has a stronger midfield than we do? I don’t think any team does. Coquelin is up there with Matic, Cazorla may not get the assists Fabregas does, but I rate him around the same. And Özil is miles ahead of Oscar. And that’s not even mentioning Ramsey, or Rosicky. I would like to see more power in our midfield at times though, which is why I’d like another option at DM, plus it would give more depth to cover for Coquelin.

    Wingers? Alexis is as good if not better than Hazard, I don’t care what Sky pundits say. Hazard looks pretty with his dribbling, but Alexis scores more, defends better and assists just as much. Walcott is much better at attacking than Willian, but defensively he isn’t as good, but overall I’d take Walcott.

    Striker? Yep, we’re straight up beat. Giroud is good but Costa is better. We need a top striker to compete. End of.

    1. Agreed with everything you said.

      Just FYI though. There is no debate about Hazard and Sanchez. Alexis is a lot better

  8. As time passes players are getting snapped up ie. Dybala, Martinez, Khedira. Benzema wants to stay at Madrid. Schneiderlin probably go to United, Kondogbia probably to Milan.

    Players left to consider- Ranging from excellent to Average

    Strikers: Cavani, Lacazette, Benteke, Higuain, Reus, Greizmann, Morata, Manduzic

    DM/B2B: Vidal, Krychowiak, Gundogan, Gonalons, Carvalho, Gustavo, Bender, Schweinsteiger

    We NEED a DM and another quality Striker to compete with Chelsea and probably United/City

  9. Griezmann would be good. Stuck him on the right so he can cut in on his left ( the yang to Alexis’s ying). He can offer a nice no of goals as return.
    Put Walcott up top if like I think Wenger isn’t after a striker and sign a Quality DM.

    Cech In between the sticks and we are good to go.

    1. Totally agree and I’ve been saying this for a while as well. We need a left footed striker slash winger for the RW for proper balance of the front 3. Wenger already said he’s putting Walcott up top and he already started in our last 2 games and even though fans are crying out for a WC ST the signs are pointing that Wenger is thinking quite the opposite. Griezmann is that guy or if it’s an up and coming then Fekir. Deep down would love Bale though and I’m sure Ramsey wouldn’t mind either, would be priceless if we could bring him back to the “RED” side of North London.

      1. Bale would definitely do it lol

        Reus or Greizmann would be amazing too

        But one thing is sure. We NEED one more special/top quality attacker to compete with Chelsea. Also one mote defensive specialist.

        Just two more signings in addition to Cech. That’s all we NEED.

  10. GK , GK , GK we don’t need one we have 2 maybe 3 decent options, on the other hand on the striker OG can play wonders at times (usually against lesser teams) but today he hardly touched the ball against ALBANIA yes ALBANIA…. is his inconsistency is our weakest point….we don’t need to spend our LIMITED resources buying another GK we need to put everything we’ve got in a striker OG is a luxury SUB but far from being World Class

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