The biggest achievement is not our position in the league by AndersS
I admit it. I am more optimistic about Arsenal than for many years. Not so much because we are currently in top 4 or because Arteta is in charge. No, it is because I sense bigger things may lie ahead!
For the past 10-12 seasons, we haven’t really looked like potential winners of the Premier League.
Man City and Chelsea have dominated in winning titles.
I don’t think anybody believes City and Chelsea would have done it without the major investments from their respective owners. It must be fairly obvious, it is possible to “buy” your way from “middle of the pack” to the top if you are rich enough. However, it is not guaranteed. If we look at Man Utd, their spending on players have been well up there with City in the same period, but with a lot less success to show for it.
If we look at ourselves, we have in fact also spent quite a lot, also in the past 8-10 years before this season, and definitely more than Spurs and Liverpool. Yet, both clubs have managed to surpass us in the league in several seasons in a row.
Especially Liverpool have shown that, with the right moves, you can compete with the likes of Chelsea and Man City and become winners, despite spending a lot less. We have not shown the same ability in the league for many years.
I have my own theory on why this is. In the short version, it basically is, we (meaning the management and the owners) overlooked that we, from around 2008-10, no longer had a manager who was in a different class from as good as every other manager in the league, except Sir Alex. In the first half of his tenure, Wenger had training methods, tactics and a vision, which could leave the traditional British managers and “kick and rush football” standing on the platform when the train left. Many not knowing what had hit them.
Wenger did all this without spending more on players than our competitors did. But it could only last until many had woken up, and new methods again had clubs like Spurs and Liverpool moving at a faster pace than ourselves.
Eventually we not only got caught, but we were also surpassed by Spurs and Liverpool, and Liverpool has basically left us standing on the platform without a plan for what to do.
They hired a manager with a playing style not seen before in the Premier League. He also had a plan, and most importantly, the club has seemingly been behind him all the way. I am not sure the fans have been. In the process, the club twice has sold their arguably best player at the time. First Suarez, then Coutinho. I am sure many Liverpool fans were upset both times, and just imagine, if something similar happens at Arsenal. I am sure, we would see fans claiming decisions like that would be because of our owner’s presumed greed and his lack of care for Arsenal. Both claims often seen here on Just Arsenal. Personally, I find them somewhat simplistic. Kroenke has allowed plenty of spending over the years, and as mentioned, more than Liverpool. So, greed has not resulted in Kroenke taking money out of Arsenal, handicapping us in relation to Liverpool. If anything, I think Kroenke can be criticized for not seeing that we were slowly being overtaken by clubs, who had a better plan and possibly a better manager, than we had at the time. Whether that was lack of care for Arsenal, or simply too much confidence in a manager, who in the earlier part of his tenure was head and shoulders above nearly every other manager, I don’t know.
Once we dropped out of top 4, I think we still hadn’t realized the situation. Wenger was backed to immediately “rectify” things, and I suspect both he and Kroenke had the belief it would happen. When it didn’t, confidence in Wenger had dropped so much, he had to be replaced. But I believe, we still hadn’t quite come to terms with the “power shift” in the league. Emery was given the task to bring us back into top 4, more or less straight away. Not until it was apparent he wasn’t going to succeed, did it really sink in, we could probably not straight away catch up with teams, who for a number of years had been improving at a faster pace than us.
A longer term and more comprehensive plan was needed. It would not be a plan to hope to become the 3rd club after City and Chelsea to get an owner who could buy us back into contention. Some may hope for it, I don’t, but either way it cannot be a plan to rely on, as it is basically out of our control. We needed a more realistic plan.
It seems to me, Arteta, the management and the owner have been on the same page in devising a promising plan. Most notably shown in our transfers. Money has been invested in young and very promising players, who can blend well together, and who seem to be “all in” on the project.
Many questioned our summer transfers. Why not spend the money on a couple of established stars, instead of several young players, where none of them were thought to make a huge difference alone? A very relevant question at the time, I would say. Now it looks like a very clever decision indeed.
I will also go so far as to say, that although the Auba situation clearly wasn’t one that was planned, I do think, once it had come to the stage it did, from a strategic point of view, it made sense to let him go and not to rush into buying any new CF, who maybe could or maybe couldn’t help us short term. Decisions, I think have been taken in unison by Arteta, the management and the owner.
This is the main reason for my optimism. We seem to finally have a plan, which, if it succeeds, not only will turn us into title contenders sometime soon, but also will make us title contenders for a number of years, as our core players are very young. Whether Arteta can take us all the way is, of course, much too early to say. The beautiful thing is, if the plan is strong enough and many are behind it, it doesn’t rely on one person alone. Nor does it, in my opinion, rely on us finishing in top 4 this season. It will be a help if we do, and it is great to see how we are doing at the moment.
But I think that , no matter what, there is reason to be optimistic, because we have a promising plan which the whole organization is behind.
Maybe nearly all fans are as well?
kind regards
Anders S
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