Arsenal Have Not Underwhelmed, They Have Overachieved This Season by Patrick S
At the start of the season, Arsenal were dismissed as top four contenders. Most football experts in all media outlets in England were utterly dismissive of Arsenal’s top 4 prospects. In August 2022 for example, out of the 23 BBC Sport football pundits, only 8 thought Arsenal would finish in the top 4 and none of those thought Arsenal would finish higher than 4th!
No one tipped Arsenal to be title contenders. So for Arteta’s men to be running champions Man City this close with only a handful of games to the end of the season, shows just how far the Gunners have come. Mikel Arteta and Edu were very clever in the way they constructed this Arsenal team through the clever signings they made, and that has showed given the brilliant football Arsenal have played until now.
As things stand, Arsenal have guaranteed their participation in next season’s Champions League and as a result, achieved their primary target for the season with 5 games to spare.
Interestingly, they have benefited hugely from the enormous pressure that comes with competing for the league title, and next season they’ll be a year older and a lot more experienced, and will therefore be better equipped to last the distance next year.
I’ve seen some people claiming that if Arsenal missed out on winning the title this season, they might not have the same opportunity in the next ten years, opining that other teams will get better. I find that absolutely ludicrous!
Do they think that as the likes of Man United, Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea try to get better next season Arsenal will only sit back and look on? Of course not! Arteta’s team is full of very young but hugely talented players who are nowhere near their prime. The likes of William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Smith-Rowe, Aaron Ramsdale, Martin Ødegaard and others, will only get better
As far as I’m aware, plans to strengthen the team ahead of the 2023/24 season are already underway, with The Athletic’s David Ornstein reporting that Arsenal have drawn up a four-man shortlist consisting of West Ham’s Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo, Chelsea’s Mason Mount and Ajax Amsterdam’s Ghanaian hotshot Muhammad Kudus to strengthen their midfield.
There’s talk of a new striker coming in too to increase options upfront, while others are reporting that Arsenal are still actively pursuing Bayer Leverkusen’s French winger, Moussa Diaby and that his club are ready to sell him.
That’s not to mention Spain’s sensational 18-year-old right-back, Ivan Fresneda, who nearly joined in the winter window. Were those to join, Arsenal would not be a team to mess around with, no doubt about that!
So, have Arsenal underwhelmed this season? Absolutely not. Any team destined for sustained success is built over a period of time, and whoever cares to see can clearly see that Arsenal under Arteta are on a serious upward trajectory. They started this season with a target of securing Champions League football and Champions League football they’ve secured and, against all odds, gave themselves a chance of winning the title, against all odds!
The chance to win it may have gone away from them this season, but the experience the players have achieved from being title contenders will stand them in great stead next season, as they launch a more serious challenge for the title.
Have they overachieved, therefore? Absolutely!
Ssekatawa Patrick
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Yes. We have achieved our target which is top 4. But wasn’t it the same target for last season? It’s taken is 2 seasons to achieve the target for 1 season. I would rather say we were “HIGH FLYING” this season rather than “over achieving”. And guess what. “HIGH FLYING” will hardly fill the pages of history.
Capitulating last season’s ending as well as this season’s ending due to THE SAME ISSUES shows there are still serious problems not resolved
Last season target was to qualify for any European Cup, not Champions league precisely
No it was not. Arteta himself said he wanted Arsenal back in the C L inside 3 years, which was last season.
He did, but the task was bigger than most people thought.
Overachiever
Funny, a Leicester team from no where won the league, it’s about finishing the story, that Leicester team would have come second and be remembered as a wonderful season for the size of the club but they saw the opportunity and grabbed it, this opportunity will not come around every season, many clubs were having a terrible season we were fantastic and created a healthy enough lead that should be able to see us through the line but failed, in few years time this could be remembered as a squandered opportunity.
Our best performance against city has come from the Fa cup and on that night we had Trossart,Vieira,Tierney,Nkettiah rob holding all starting while city had their full squad but we played so well that city managed a one nil Victory, what I saw that night was a team set up to man mark city players all over the pitch AnD they struggled to the extend gadiola had to change tactics in the game, the point was the team had what they needed to cross the line but was let down by the manager tactically and squad management skills, last year we experienced same lost 3 in a row went to Stanford bridge with a back 3 and got the win
At this point of the season, it’s not about principles, it’s not about dominant football, it’s about 3 points this is called the business end of the season when everyone is fighting, city didn’t do much against Fulham yesterday other than grab the points, it’s not about trying a flirk, skills or showing that you are the best team, it’s about going out there and bringing the points by any means thats what it’s all about at this time of the season if that has been in our managers mind we would not have lost all these points we recently dropped from a position of strength
It was Arsenals to lose. But naivety crept in.
We play same style as city, only thing is they are better at it. So when meeting them, change tactics to defensive and counter attacks, but the manager thought we could match them boy to man. Leading two against West Ham and continue to play as if the game is still nil/nil.
I would say the manager could have done better with game management. He failed the test
His only win against city was in an fa cup we just played on the counter and won, that’s what I admire about Madrid they play in any way that gives them the W at the end of the day history only remembers the winners.. There is nothing wrong in knowing ur teams weakness and playing to their strength, if the players available have shown they can’t play the way you want then play to their strength, till everyone is back every team is looking to exploit opposition weaknesses
You are right. History only remembers the winner. History could have remembered us as 2022/2023 PL champions and not we top the table for most weeks.
Are we into the CL to be eliminated and fall back to Europa league? I would still prefer the PL trophy.
You are right Gun down.
Poor game management. It’s all about points not style. If you are leading 2 up. Change tactics immediately and use defensive plus counter attacks.
You are absolutely right.
Arsenal made a formidable start to the season. We took the lead in the table. When the league resumed after the WC break, everybody was concernbed about how we would cope, when starting up again, and we would be without Jesus.
Again we stood up to the pressure, and just kept going.
It is because the progress is built on a solid foundation laid over the past couple of years, and there is every chance, we can do well again in the coming years.
Yes, more can be expected next season from the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea. But, every season is always the same. Some “big” teams will underperform, also next year.
We are, where we are in our own right and not because others have faltered.
Arsenal behind the league champion since 2017.:
2016/2017 #1 Chelsea, Arsenal #5, 18 points behind.
2017/2018 #1 Man.City, Arsenal #6, 37 points behind.
2018/2019 #1 Man.City, Arsenal #5, 28 points behind.
2019/2020 #1 Liverpool, Arsenal #8, 43 points behind.
2020/2021 #1 Man.City, Arsenal #8, 25 points behind
There’s no doubt that we have almost closed the gap, and I believe our progression will continue next season 🔴⚪️
Sorry, I forgot the 2021/2022 season.
#1 Man.City, Arsenal #5, 24 points behind.
There is no divine right that we wouldn’t fall 20+ points behind the winner next time or win it, ask Liverpool, it’s hard to predict the future the one the that we should be worried about is how we trow the top 4 away last season and proberbly learned nothing this season by proberbly trowing away the title again in similar fashion…
Well, I don’t believe we will be 20+ points behind next season. We have a young team with potential to get better, and I’m sure we will recruit more quality players next summer. Liverpool have and old team and haven’t been clever enough with their recruitments lately.
We are not throwing away anything but have to realise that other clubs are stronger. Man.City has still a much better squad than us, but we are getting closer.
Personally I don’t like deficit mentality, man city been better than us is not the reason we are failing, tell me the difference between the way we are failing now and what happened last season, it’s almost similar fashion when the team needed help the manager failed them, do you believe that even next season we will be better than season?
That’s a question I want you to sincerely answer… If we Lose the title please it has nothing to do with the quality of city it’s purely of our own making.. I understand that people want to remain positive but let’s be realistic why we are failing short and tackle our own demons
I never thought we were going to win the league this season, which I have said many times.
Why do Man.City win the league year after year and reach the semifinal or the final of CL almost every year. Man.City is probably the best team of the world and they bought the best striker in the world to make them better, and he has already made 50 goals for them this season.
There’s a reason why we haven’t won the league since 2004. The main reason is that other teams are better than us like it or not. Yes, I believe that we will be a top team next season as well, what we have will be better next season.
Last season we finished the season with 69 points, now we have 75 and still five games left.
Well it’s your opinion and some valid point there too…
One can also argue that it’s not always about the players maybe city have the best manager in the world also, who make everything tik, personally I believe if gadiola managed our squad this season we would have won the league, everyone has been complaining about city’s spending the truth is others like united and Chelsea have spent equally as much.
Football every season is different with it’s challenges that we finished 1 point below city doesn’t mean next season we win the league, doesn’t even guarantee next season city will be the best team… Liverpool pushed city for season’s look at them this season, they can win it this season, I don’t like predicting the future, we can prepare our best but others will equally prepare, these closed gap doesn’t mean we are automatically disposed others as title contenders
You can look at it in many direction.
Even if we have our best recruitment next season city will still probably have the better squad, this season what happened last season that ended our top4 hope repeated again, if city win the league eventually, how does that have to do with the quality of city?
I believe we have a very good foundation and I’m optimistic about our future and this is my objective. Let’s finish the season before we are making any conclusions.
How can you say we have a good foundation and be optimistic?
According to the “realists” on JA we have bottled it, our captain is not good enough, our players are overrated, we have no plan B, we have failed this season, every other manager is more experienced and has better tactics. In fact, there really is no hope because this season is over, MC are better, MU are better and next year we have no chance again because everyone else is going to be better. It’s been a terrible season and the future’s bleak.
@ Gun down…life is not that complicated at all, people only make it hard to live in for themselves.. in real life if you don’t like the way things are shaping out in your place of work and you’ve got no power to change things…the best thing is for you to look for another job… The same goes with supporting a club. if Arsenal as a club or Ateta are so useless to the extent that you’re sad with our performance this year .. you’re free to support Man City the better club … At least it’s free to support any club … It’s normal to complain but it’s annoying to keep repeating the same thing over and over when you can at least get your happiness from elsewhere…. Where you able to achieve all your personal goals for this year even when you put in all your possible best … That show’s you that, what you thought to be “Your best” might look like a “Your mistake” to others … Life can definitely overrule any plan and hardwork … At any time…
I hope we get the two English players Ornstein’s touting. They’re best of mates and look to be in need of “a new challenge”, or whatever they call it these days.
Arteta is still learning on the job, and has almost completed his best season, and will get better, and the team along with him.
We’ll challenge again. This season has been quite a ride.
Nice saying Jax 👍
Yes. But the second place isn’t guaranteed yet, because we still have to play against Chelsea/ Newcastle/ Brighton and we will have two more games after that
And one of those games after that is Nottingham Forest who beat Liverpool the other day and drew with Man City previously, walloped Brighton last week. Their lowly position doesn’t seem to matter when they’re at home.
They will put in extra efforts if they still have a good chance to stay in EPL
Liverpool beat Forest 3-2
On the 22 October Forest beat Liverpool at home 1-0. It’s their home form I was talking about.
Yes we have over achieved from what we have done the previous seasons where we have underachieved. Like last season we have finished higher than the season before but also like last season, we have failed to take a opportunity. 4th last season was ours and we threw it away. 1st this season was ours and we threw it away. Now i hear some people say, dont get gready!!!!! Well i am not gready just a little worried about the soft under belly that still exists. There are reasons why we have capitulated this season and it was not due to injuries ( all though they dont help ) it was due to the way we cant sustain our form under pressure. Our set up is flimsy and the way the manager and players handle it is not very inspiring. Well done for second but lets not get all gushy.
Why are we saying overachieving, please let’s be realistic
A season that saw Chelsea and Liverpool spend most of their season mid table, a season that united are 3rd or 4th playing in two cup finals with a manager in his first season at united, a season that saw Newcastle probably ending in top 4, outside city and wobbling Liverpool with aging squad we and city are the most stable club currently, mind u even in the mist of all these we are probably ending trophyless, knocked out at both cups at earliest possible, just made it past the Europa group stage and sent home… The truth is if city were to win the league then it’s a big missed opportunity, I can’t see many top clubs dropping this low next season
Take a look at the whole picture and tell me where arsenal would have finished and be see as progress, below united and Newcastle who finished last season below us and who have managers that is less than two years and one year with their clubs respectively.
Arsenal title challenge this season is not over. Chelsea is next.
Our dip at a crucial time was a combination of factors IMHO.
1. Lack of proper rotation. No need to reshuffle starting 11, start 2 or 3 different players while starting one’s in form.
2. Injuries to key players at critical times.
3. Not dropping players out of form
4. No plan B or change in approach or play when the team is clearly struggling.
5. Players can’t dig themselves out of a crisis, and our leaders aren’t leading when the team falters.
Still a lot of work to be done next year. The mental aspect still an issue, and a plan B when things go sideways.
Can’t approach every game with the same tactics, even Pep and Klopp change things up when needed.
Yes, we haven’t closed the tremendous gap but it’s definitely decreasing. We are lacking squad depth and haven’t the best squad either, but we are moving in the right direction.
Well DP, there are plenty who will disagree that we haven’t got squad depth. I don’t think we have squad depth or sufficient quality from those who are fit. It is overlooked that Tomi has a long term injury.
It is disappointing that some of our recent signings are looking less convincing. Two off on loan and Vieira looking lightweight this season.
Agreed with SOME of the signings Sue. Tavares, Lokonga both on loan and looking way below th4elevel we hoped they might reach Viera too looks totally unsuited to English physical game. Three poor signings.
You win with some signings, you lose with others and that is normal!!
Right now we lack squad depth but by August it will be stronger surely!
Well said @ Durand.
Total agreement with you.
Squad depth is a myth!!!!! And a poor excuse. The last four games, the ONLY first team regular missing was Saliba. If we are that flimsy then we will never win anything. One player out does not allow squad depth to be a valid excuse. It is a poor excuse and not THE reason.
I avoided saying this because I knew people will attack me, people saying injuries makes me laugh
Maybe I will make an article about our struggles but maybe that too will be seen as a negative article
It probably will be (seen as negative), but a fully fit top-quality squad is obviously key to success over the whole season.
That’s your opinion and not mine. Do Guardiola share your opinion 😁
No Didrik, its fact, Saliba is the only first team player missing these last four games and we have had a healthy bench in all areas.
Unlike you Reggie, I didn’t think Arsenal could go the whole season without a dip in form.
Saliba has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season and among the league’s best centre-backs. His importance to the team is highlighted by how many goals Arsenal conceded on average before and after he was injured.
I don’t think Saliba’s absence is the whole reason, but our defense has definitely become more vulnerable during his absence.
YES IT HAS nobody is denying that. The problem is, are we so finely tuned that one little piece goes missing andxwe collapse? Or have we got no plan B, or are we so flimsy one piece missing, its good night irene. Because that has what has happened. The squad is still in good shape, the team not so.
We aren’t good enough and we have never achieved 90 points during a season. Man.City has achieved 90 points several times, and when you need 90 points+ to win the league you can’t make many mistakes. We have had a tremendous EPL season and has almost closed the 30 points gap between our clubs. I’m optimistic about our future and I believe we will get better next season. COYG
DP, agree, but the problem for next season is that Liverpool and Chelsea can’t be as poor as they were this season, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Aston Villa are on an upward trend, with good managers and have owners willing and able to spend, while clubs like Tottenham Hotspurs, Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford and Fulham will be more than nuisance value.
Next season should be very competitive for the Champions League places and Arsenal will have the added demands of competing in Europe, plus hopefully greater attention to the domestic cups.
I don’t worry about next season I believe we will get better become a regular top club again. If we are second best this season we should aim for the title next season. Just think about the journey we have had last three years…
There could yet be a twist in this season, as City have two potential trip-ups for their final games. Unpredictable Brentford and wonderful BHA may be our saviours yet.
It’s not over as long as we do not drop any more points, but I’m sure the players are quite aware of this.
Are you guys not tired of this?
We are out of all competition and wobbling, we keep predicting city have this, they play that and are in fa cup final and semi finals of the UCL, we play a game every week and look so jaded still..
Agree GD, we are out of form and city are bang in form. Where do these people think this massive turn around is going to come. AND SAME PEOPLE SALIBA IS STILL OUT so your theories make no sense.
Winning by stretching rules or using lawyers to find weaknesses in UEFA´s Financial Fair Play Regulations. Football has become a dirty business and Man.City should have been stopped long time ago.
Agree DP, but money talks with football; you only have to look at the track record of the English FA and FIFA (look no further than the award of the World Cup to Qatar).
As for Manchester City, a serial offender under FFP, financial penalties are a joke and just gift money to the governing bodies, while loss of points, relegations etc are a pipe dream.
Yaa your right it’s not over ,let win all the games and we see
While we have improved from last season ,it will seem like a waste if we do not go on to win the league having been 8points clear ,also while we have improved other teams have been awful this season that won’t be the case next season and I feel we may have missed our chance if we come second .
Half a billion spent on players we should be seeing improvement anyway ,so to say we have overachieved is an overstatement IMO .
8 pts clear with plenty of games to play against City was nothing! We all knew that they could win 10 on the bounce playing in third gear.
Amazing job managing to get that lead in the first place. I’d be disappointed if another team caught us, but not City. Even an amazing Liverpool team over a 4/5 year period could only finish above City once.
Straight to the point, good reading, Jen.
But you skirt over the fact we should have took 6-9 points from 3 games that we should have won (Liverpool being the exception) .you have to remember that city have their eyes on the big one and have been playing midweek also ,while we went out of EL against a really poor team so there was no excuse not to beat Southampton and West Ham IMO ,while it’s great we have put up a fight this season it also stinks of last season when we completely folded when top 4 was so easy to get .
If we finish second it will be on par with the bottle job from last season ,let’s see how long the owners put up with that after so much expenditure,he will get next season no doubt but there won’t be anywhere to hide from him or the excuses that arise so often reagarding his tenure here thus far .
Let’s hope city take their eye off the ball and we somehow go on to take the title .
Do you believe that Arsenal started the season and considered themselves title contenders? Did you expect Arsenal to play 38 league games without dip in form? I never expected us to win the league because we haven’t the best first eleven or squad. I felt sad in five minutes time, but realised that Arsenal can never compete with a shady club stretching UEFA’S Financial Fair Play Regulations. Football have become a dirty business and I hope Arsenal never will be like Man.City. COYG
So you clearly don’t except Arsenal are allowed one bad run of results? From your comments, it’s perfection or nothing else for the entire season with the youngest team in the league, that weren’t meant to be anywhere near the title.
👍 Dan, draws, plus loss to Everton were critical.
It’s beyond me anyway that the tone has changed.
Well pointed out that we have done so well to be where we are.
The minute there is a downturn Arteta is to blame. Weak mentality. No rotation. Bottlers and so on but excuses are made for every team who are below us for being out of sorts and who will be better than us next season. . This is a regular football season like all seasons when anything can happen… except that at the moment our arch rivals right now have almost been in a class of their own for 4/5 years
Well OFC Arteta is to blame just as Emery and Wenger before him were too ,I don’t get you’re point sue .
Yes we have improved but there was absolutely no excuse to lose so many points in the last 4 games ,I’ve been right behind Arteta and the team all season but I will call out this manager and team when I believe they have let us down ,which they have .
Would be nice to get out of moderation Pat ,maybe blame old jonny boy for my outburst last weekend ,out of sort by me but had a bad week personally .
But I won’t stand crap from him or anyone else .
Sorry Dan. You are both in moderation till 28th May. I can’t wake up to crap like that. I need a rest
Well I come back on the 28th may then
Yes Dan, both of you can comment, but will have to wait for my approval before comment is posted…
It’s funny how you keep complaining that there’s no excuse for dropping so many points over the last 4 games (Arsenal’s only genuine bad run so far by the way), yet there’s no realisation and acknowledgement that Arteta had done a phenomenal job getting us into that position prior to the Liverpool game in the first place.
For some bizarre reason, you’re defining Arteta’s season on these 4 games and ignoring the insanely good job he did in the first 29 games.
He’s made mistakes for sure over the last few games, but it’s not his fault what Ramsdale doing what he did against Southampton, or Saka missing a crucial pen.
Stop being so negative all the time, and focus on the huge progression we’ve made.
Jen, we have progressed but we should have won it. I didn’t believe we could, until the day we LOST 1-3 at home to City. That might sound strange, but we only went down because two of our players gifted it to City on a plate. We were better than them initially in that game and that actually gave me confidence because I thought (maybe naively) that we would learn from those mistakes. Unfortunately we didn’t. We have no discipline at the back and sometimes in midfield. That title was there for the taking. The cup was screaming at us to take it home, but we ignored it.
The loss of concentration for those 3 games was hugely disappointing DK and virtually ensured the title would slip away from us as I couldn’t envisage us beating City after that
Im just frustrated at the level of blame that has been bandied about after what has been a very good season so far. Perhaps it’s my ever advancing years that allows me to be more able to take the rough with the smooth and not blow a fuse if the wheel falls off – hopefully temporarily in this case.
Of course I want Arsenal to be numero uno. I still think Arteta and the team are evolving but are clearly not at the level of PG and his players and the depth of talent that sits on the bench.
Would Maureen have blown it from our position, NO. He would have parked the bus, played 12 in defence or done what he could to have ground out a draw at city. We didn’t even park our bike!!!!!
Would he have gotten us to the lead in the first place. Not very likely!
His record says yes!!
Whether you chose to accept it or not Arteta is the major reason we might not win the league this season and I bet his favoritism is causing problems behind the scenes.
Nonsense, Man.City is better than us and have been better than us for many years. In addition do they have a better first eleven and squad than us. How often has Arsenal achieved 90 points during a season? Whatever you think about Arteta, Man.City won both their games against us and will finish their season with more points than us. It’s sad that football is a game run by shady people.
We lost the league in the three games previous to the city game. City to us this season should have been irrelevant. We had it and blew it. Nothing to do with city.
We lost the league because one team is better than us and won both games against us. In addition are they able to achieve 90+ points year after year. We have almost closed the tremendous gap between our clubs, but to finish the league above Man.City, and all their famous lawyers are almost impossible.
Didrik, it’s not impossible. It was extremely possible at one point this season. When we went 2-0 up at Anfield it looked very possible. It’s our own fault. If we had the defensive solidity of Newcastle we would have won the league….. and easily. Even a club like Newcastle for instance, haven’t got a solid defence because of money, it’s because their manager and his team coached their players to defend properly. We on the other hand were too helter-skelter at the back and sometimes in midfield. Too many unessary topsy-turvey performances against vastly inferior teams shows that we were not solid enough defensively.
Both games against city didnt matter, it was the points against the likes of Everton, Southampton and west ham, that lost us the league, the city game would have been a free hit.
The year Leicester won the league, they lost to the second team twice that season, US.
Let’s win it next season, but we need to create positive energy around the club 🔴⚪️
👍Reggie, so near but no cigar.
🙄
So no responsibility from Arteta for getting us into that amazing position in the first place then? We must have had a different manager up until the Liverpool game then!
Agree Jen, one has to be evenhanded in assessing Mickel Arteta’s management, as he has got a lot right.
Damn Arsenal supporters are negative
Some Damn Arsenal supporters are too positive.
One can only be positive about this season because we’ve massively overachieved.
Imagine a team like QPR getting to an FA Cup final, but losing to a team like Liverpool or Utd in the final, then your own fans calling the players and manager out as bottlers. Disgusting!
Cant say ive seen those words.
No one can predict what will happen to underperforming big teams this season when it comes to next season because, Last season when we missed top 4, I remember we are all tipping many big teams to be contenders ahead of Us which will make it more harder for Arsenal this season to qualify for champions league. But what happened at last ? Who would have predicted such a bad season for Liverpool, Chelsea, even tottenham. we expect them to be contenders the way they finished last season. (Especially the way Chelsea splash out cash to buy players). But reverse is the case…. so in my opinion. Arsenal have gone beyond many expectations this season. Therefore, No one can predict what will happen next season as well. All we should hope for is a smart transfer window and far better season for our beloved club next season. COYG.
Totally agree with you, we should focus on ourselves and what we can influence. Is it possible for this team to get better next season? Absolutely. How many thought it was possible for Arsenal to be title contenders two years ago 🔴⚪️