Many people won’t forget this Arsenal squad from the 2022–23 Premier League season. It will be remembered as the team that, out of the blue, transformed itself from a top-4 bottler to a genuine title contender in just 12 months.
Arsenal would have lifted this season’s Premier League title, but Manchester City has made it their mission to win it every year under the master Pep Guardiola. Many Gooners take solace in the fact that lessons have been learned and that, come next season, key steps will have been taken to see them manage to outwit Manchester City to the League crown.
As many Gooners continue to be optimistic about next season, Robbie Fowler has terrible news for them. In his Mirror column, he drops two reasons why Manchester City will still reign supreme next season.
Young Quality Squad Still Available
Many don’t acknowledge it, but Guardiola’s squad is still young. Only four players in Manchester City’s squad are over 30 years old, while six other players who’ve played over 20 league games are below 23. These six, plus Ruben Dias and Rodri, who are above 23 but below 30, indicate that Guardiola still has a young side to help him conquer the league for years. Fowler admits that the big thing about Manchester City is that they’ve got a brilliant squad and know how to maintain it young, unlike Liverpool, who this season showed they need to learn how to bridge the gap between youngsters and older stars. Yes, Arteta also has a young squad, but it isn’t as good as Manchester City’s. But for the Gunners, I guess there’s room for improvement.
Guardiola Knows How to Refresh His Squad and Will Do So in the Summer
If Guardiola can lose Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Joao Cancelo, and Zinchenko in the same season and continue flourishing, he can replace anyone. Thus, in the summer, Fowler argues, don’t be surprised if quality signings are brought in for Riyadh Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan to refresh the squad and give them the strength to again go for the league title.
The summer transfer window will help Arteta bridge that gap, but even if he gets the quality in, he shouldn’t take Manchester City lightly; they have everything to threaten his ambitions still. Don’t drop points against Manchester City; match their results, and you can probably have a shot at beating them to Premier League glory, but don’t think it is a certainty that we can overtake them with just one more transfer window…
Darren N.
Mikel Arteta buzzing after Newcastle United 0-2 Arsenal – This game was all about pride..
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Yes, if we sign someone like Osimhen, Vlahovic or Watkins. De Bruyne will be 32 years old and hopefully Man City won’t sign Maddison to replace him
We don’t need any CF
What we need is players like caceidor, Rice, saka competitor and a new CB
We need another option upfront to receive Ramsdale’s long passes, so we could escape the big teams’ high press more easily and attack with various methods
De Lauretis has said yesterday that Victor O is not for sale,then you have Vlahovic at Juventus which have consolidated their 2nd place and qualification for the CL.lastly,I can’t see Villa/UE letting Watkins leave unless there is a players swap plus cash, which would involve ESR.
Jonathan David, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Kelechi Iheanacho, Alexander Sorloth or Youssef En Nesyri could also be an option
gai, do you rate Iheanacho that highly then ? Sometimes I think he’s reasoably decent , but other times not. He has a way of playing that I think confuses defenders. They underestimate him. If I was still playing I would assume I could mark him out of the game, because to me , he looks half asleep all the time. Do you know what I mean ? It’s a shame that DC-L became so injury prone. It’s sad when young talent hits a brick wall. Three sesons ago I thought Ricardo Pereira (of Leicester) was on fire, absolutely brilliant attacking full back, but he then got a very bad injury and has never been the same since (this has nothing to do with your initial point – I’m just rambling).
I believe Iheanacho wouldn’t need a long time to settle at Arsenal, because he used to work with Arteta at Man City. As for Calvert-Lewin, he used to be a hot prospect before he got a grave injury
I recommend them because they would likely be okay to play second fiddle to Jesus
gai, not as hot on Jesus as others are. I find him frustrating at times. Glad we have him but he isn’t the prolific goal-getter that a real centre forward should be. Very good for the squad, but I’d like to see a killer striker down the middle. It’s great, though, that so many of the lads have scored regularly. The fact that we’re playing without a real CF suggests to me Arteta believes in doing things the Guardiola way (think back to the last few seasons). Only now has Haaland (a real CF) been installed.
All this is probably obvious to everyone I guess.
Kelechi iheanacho ?
Sometimes I wonder if you are an Arsenal fan
Siamois, are Juve still under investigation for irregularities?
That would scupper their plans and the Italian FA seem to move much quicker than the English FA with City’s alleged misdemeanours.
@Ken1945,from what I read despite getting their 15 points back,Juventus may face further points deductions through a different case/investigation.they had 15 points deducted at the end of January, Juventus lawyers appealed and got the points back this month.the Italian justice seems to be working quicker.
City has a top academy, and can sell youngsters from academy or successful loan players, even first team players if they do not want to stay, like Cancelo or Silva. We need not just track what Man City is doing, rather think what we can do. We need to keep Tierney, a 4th CB ahead of Holding(if Tomiyasu is the backup, get a young backup RB), 2 midfielders and 1 out and out striker.
Sell : Balogun, Nketiah, Mari, Pépé, Tevares, Lokonga, Soares
Whoever argues against the reality of how cheating has greatly influenced the league and football worldwide doesn’t know anything.
If everyone was allowed to cheat, we too would have probably bought players like Chelsea are doing and have a squad to match or even better what City has.
That said, I still know City weren’t responsible for our throwing away 6 points in three games which would have guaranteed is the league. Bottling is the name
When Man City won the title under Mancini, it was like welcome fresh air (to me). However, they have more than overstayed their welcome.
An excellent squad but not gods. In my opinion we should be comfortably winning the title this very season. Age had nothing to do with it as the media wants everyone to believe. Our own fragility at times got in the way and will probably ultimately prevent us from taking the title. Hopefully we’ve got the excuses out of the way in preparation for next season, because look at what we achieved yesterday. Everything is possible as we too have fabulous players. Man City are very good but they are topable (is there such a word) ?
Have to agree. Despite what the article says about their quality, we have been the best team this season. We are the architects of our own downfall, throwing away 6 points in three very winnable games. That’s got nothing to do with City’s quality
Absolutely right dgr8xt You got it in one. I do so love when people agree with me. It’s terribly good for my ego !.
🎯
I told a friend not so long ago,without taking any credits away from City.if City were to win the PL,it would feel more like Arsenal losing it than City winning it ,if that makes sense.with few games left,we had our destiny in our hands.had we got more points out of those 3 games,the City game would have become almost irrelevant.
Most definitely so. That’s why it hurts so much that we will probably miss the boat this season. If City win the title by literally 1 or 2 points it will be most regretful for us . “Non, Je ne regrette rien” ??
I think the short answer is “Yes” if that transfer window goes very well. A top quality striker, 2 top quality midfielders, and maybe a defender and that’s a squad that can challenge for the title again next season,.
I believe Arsenal showed they can compete for the title with this squad + additions. I believe the pressure got to them this season as it did last season to secure a top 4 spot. But look at the growth from last season to now. The goal was top 4, and they smashed it. The title would have been amazing, and they should have secured the points they dropped to do it, but now they’re at the stage that they can hopefully hold their nerve next year.
The league is always hard, and nothing is certain, but I think they’re building the mentality to know they can go to almost any ground and get a result.
They need additions in a number of spots, and I hope they do find solid cover behind Saka to give him a breather throughout the season when his form dips.
Tbf city area almost invincible with their policy. They have won the last 10 and will be 14 in a row if they win all games. 16 from the last 18. There are no teams through prem history including the invincibles or any Fergie or marinho teams that could match this rich city deep team era. We have given it a fine effort, dropping a few points… It happens to all teams and always has done so to suggest not winning a few games is a failure is ridiculous… And what about the Brentford var decisions etc where we should have actually won….
This team has been excellent this year, as good as any arsenal team so we should be proud and hope we can continue to push and improve with age and squad depth. Coyg!
Did anyone notice St. Totteringham’s day this year? It says a lot about the way the guys are playing that it passed without comment.
Donald
Poor old Lillywhites, they’ll be out of the scene completely next season when Harry is gone. I’m not mocking though, because I have no animosity towards them, believe it or not. The cockerel will be silent for a while.
Mock them They deserve it.
Instead of backing up your best manager in modern history who was operating on a shoestring budget yet challenged for the league, always finished in the top four and played a champions league final with Harry Kane on pain killers, Daniel Levy chose to sack Pochettino. Worse still, out of sheer pride, he has refused to dial Poch’s phone when the manager wants to return even in their capitulation.
Mock them o say. They deserve it
Ooooh that’s cold. True though. I’ll actually miss Antonio Conte who I find fascinating to watch and listen to. He always reminds me of a Mafia man from the ’80s. Ice-cold blue eyed stare etc. A bit like Alain Delon in mafia movies (I know Delon is French). That confrontation with Thomas Tuchel was the funniest “punch-up” between two managers I’ve ever witnessed. I can watch that time and time again. Alas both ended up sacked. Boo hoo hoo.
The two examples given, can so easily apply to The Arsenal.
1. We have the youngest squad in the PL, with more excellent players to come from the Hales End academy.
2. We proved that MA and Edu are really getting their act together, after some disastrous signings early on.
The last two windows have seen excellent signings at very good prices… Jorginho and Trossard to name just two.
If we end up losing the title by four points, how can anyone say their is a massive amount of ground to make up?
We will improve OUR squad this summer and just take a look at the table and see how far we and city are ahead of the rest!!
Both Trossard and Jorginho weren’t out first choices.had we had our way,we would have signed Mudryk,Caicedo/Luiz.we cannot deny that luck played a part.
Siamois, the players were not deemed to be worth the money that was paid or wanted by the clubs in question.
The way in which The Arsenal acted so decisively, suggests to me that they had already got the message and put plan B into operation.
No luck there for me, just excellent planning.
@Ken1945You’re right,not worth the money asked,I also momentarily forgot that we actually walked away from the negotiations,my bad.
We could but we at least need 5 players in 1 transfer window which is not possible actually..
1 CB
1 DM or CM
2 Wingers- Competition to Saka and Martinelli..
1 big strong and Powerful CF like Victor Osimhen
Dusan Vlahovic
Youssef En-Nesyri
If we these types of players then we can certainly take down City
I disagree that we need 2 wingers, as if we bought vlahovic (my first choice) then trossard would cover martinelli. But if this season has anything to do with it then our priority is a cover for saliba, and someone that can cover both xhaka and partey. We need depth to compete with city. Also, another right back that can play our system
But Trossard is short term competition…
He is already near about 29…
So we need someone below 25 or at least 25 who can compete Martinelli and Saka
Kedar there usually is a squad limit. I don’t see how Arsenal can accomodate Trossard and another left winger. I think Trossard is good for atleast another year and there’s no need for yet another player. Besides there are prospects in the academy and it’s always nice to have them play for Arsenal. In addition,Smith Rowe is a very able back-up to Martinelli. The priority is Saka’s back up
Do smart business, take Turam, rabiot, grimaldo, spend much on rice and savic, don’t forget zaha for free too. This gives you a large squad with small expenditure
Oooh thuram and rabiot would be quality. Very good players for no money. But the issue with bosmans is always unbalancing the wage structure, because they always alsk for more
Purely on the basis that Arteta has exceeded expectations, it means his players have exceeded expectations too. Nobody was predicting a top 2 finish. City have been given a run for their money and Arsenal have seen off the rest by quite a large margin.
I don’t know who will stay, go or arrive but I’m pretty confident that Arsenal will be up there next season, regardless of how much improvement is made by Klopp and co.
I need to be reminded because I might be missing something here. Has the 2022-23 Premier League already ended? I ask this question sarcastically because all the contributors here seem to indicate that Man City has already won the title yet they still have to play 4 games and Arsenal still has 3 games to go. Has the league ended prematurely? If this is the case how can anyone make a conclusion on the title? Why do people become so impatient that they lose focus of realities? Supposing Arsenal win all their remaining games they will be 90 points. On the other hand if City draw 1 and lose 1 game that will be 89 points. Has anyone looked at such a scenario or does someone think City are too good to lose any points? I strongly believe this situation is a possibility because City still has 7 games to play and against some tricky teams such as Real Madrid (twice), Chelsea, Everton (away), Brighton (away) and Brentford (away). Do some people realise that in such situations some unexpected incidents like injuries can occur? Well time will tell.
Pound for pound we wont get there just yet.
But if we spend in excess of that documented
£209 mil, we can catch them on paper this summer .
But Arsenal could need up to an entire campaign to develop that chemistry to compete with the Citizens pound for pound
I don’t see the point in bringing in inferior players like DCL, Thuram or Iheanacho. We should go all out for Toney or Kane to provide EPL ready competition for Jesus. We also need to reinforce the middle with two quality options. Rice and Latvia from Southampton would be quality business. Finally I would go for fresneda at right back, with Tomi returning it would mean either him or white could fill in at rcb. The only positions I would feel let us down after these signing would be lb and a Saka back up.
Liam, I agree about Toney and Kane. Before this season started I suggested Toney and an acquaintance of mine just laughed in my face. There’s that betting issue hanging over his head though. As for Harry, that would be great but he’d get massacred by Lilywhites fans. In fact his life would be at risk as Spurs are in such a state at the moment, they’d be extra bitter. Your namesake Mr Brady thought Harry too unathletic to be successful as he used to be a chubby lad. Liam discarded him. I think that’s how the story goes. Might be folklore. .
If our entire first team is fit for next season and with a few quality additions then there is nothing to suggest that Arsenal won’t be a close competitor next season
About us dropping six points. I don’t see it that way I reckon it was four points we threw away. The Liv game was 1 2 at half time and Liv got a deserved equalizer in the second. I say that that was a result for us, that it was a good point earned. Twas the other two games we blew it in, but City would still be ahead of us on goal difference had we won them both. I think we have to credit City some more as much as we have to lament our drop in form. One little slip and the pressure is back on, we’ve come very far
escapepod303 – please see my post to Gunsmoke on the Gary Neville page. I am convinced that you are right, but I think we’ll be even better than that.
I do not think catching City will be our problem next season.
They are out of our class!!!
I think our energy will be spent trying to stay ahead of Newcastle, Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool and Spurs!!!!!!
Sadly, I believe what will stop us will be the size of our transfer budget.
We need two really good players in Midfield.
Rice (hmm) and Caicedo will cost a combined $180m at least.
(Do Not Sell Xhaka at least for next season!!!!)
We need a back-up right back (and a new left back if we stupidly sell Tierney).
RB could cost $40m
We want another Center Half (right footed?)
CH could cost $50m+
We need a back-up for Odegaard (sadly not ESR, or Jorginho, or Viera)
Possible back-up for the Big O might cost $60M
We need a Right Winger to back up Saka.
RW could cost up to $60m+
I do think we need a big center forward who can play against the more physical teams.
CF would cost possibly $70m+
If we get $100m for all of our out-goings that might help, but not very much (Pepe, Tavares, Viera, Lokonga, possible Eddie and ESR, maybe Elneny too)
An estimated spend of $460m less the possible $100m from sales, ($360m) – that without their salaries!!!
So where do we cut our cloth?????