Gunners Goals: What would the fans love to see from Arsenal next season?
Arsenal had a fantastic 2023/24 campaign, being at the top of the league a significant amount of the season, just to lose it at the end with a mere two points.
It’s hard not to become bitter with a season like this, as the Gunners did almost everything right this year, but it’s still not enough to win the Premier League as Manchester City is just on a different level. Despite getting challenged year after year, they still seem to make it at the top of the league no matter what.
But we must not forget that it’s been a long time since Arsenal was in the title race, and it’s important to see the bigger picture, despite the tough title loss of this season.
While there are a lot of positives to focus on, it’s tough to be the runner-ups for a second year in a row.
Obviously, one of the reasons why Arsenal didn’t win the trophy is the points dropped against teams like Fulham at the start of the season. Of course all points matter, but if there’s one game that clearly made a difference, it is the brutal loss at home against Aston Villa where Arsenal lost 0-2. Another three points collected there and history might’ve been different.
The Gunners finished off the season strong though, with six straight wins to end the campaign, including wins against Chelsea (a respectable 5-0 win), Man United and Spurs. But mockingly, six straight wins aren’t enough when the biggest rivals for the title sails through the end of the season with nine straight wins.
Somewhat questionable signings (at the time), Declan Rice and Kai Havertz have taken the club in the right direction, but is there another gear for Arteta or is this as far as the “new” Arsenal can go?
As for the build up for next season, the likelihood of a sale of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale is high, with the Englishman losing his no.1. spot to Spaniard David Raya.
The former Sheffield United keeper Ramsdale is used to playing and he only made 6 appearances in the past season in the Premier League, being benched for the majority of the season. Arguably, Ramsdale is surpassed by the Spaniard when it comes to footwork as Arteta likes possession oriented football, and judging by the rumours, it is likely that Arsenal will sign Raya permanently, as he was just on loan from Brentford this past season. While Ramsdale is looking to leave for more play time, there are talks of a familiar face returning as Wojciech Szczęsny might make a comeback for the London club. The now 34 year old Polish goalkeeper left Arsenal for Juventus in 2017. A decent paycheck and Szczęsny might be alright with more benchtime. A small detail that speaks for this deal to happen is that Szczęsny counts as a homegrown player for Arsenal, as he was with the club for 11 years. On the other hand, will a 34 year old goalkeeper be alright with not being the no. 1?
While there have been a lot of successes at Arsenal this season, one player that comes to mind as somewhat underwhelming this year is Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian has been one of the more shining stars at Arsenal previously, but this past season he did not come to his right. If Arsenal can keep up this level of play, and Martinelli finds his former self, that might just be the next level of this Arteta team.
Besides the summer being busy with scouting, signings and what not, we will also see a number of Arsenal players competing for European Glory. From the Gunners we will see Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice for the England squad. England is currently one of the favourites to win. Can the Arsenal stars take England all the way? See all Euro odds 2024 here.
As for summer signings, it is said that Arteta is looking to sign the Ukrainan winger Viktor Tsygankov who’s currently playing for Girona. Tsygankov scored 8 goals and 7 assists in the Girona side that finished 3rd in La Liga, appearing in 30 league games.
Another rumour when it comes to summer signings would be Bruno Guimaraes, Newcastle’s key midfielder is said to be of interest to the Gunners. His contract with the Magpies runs until 2028 so it will be a costly affair if it were to happen, but FFP rules might force Newcastle to sell the Brazilian. It is said that PSG, Man City and Liverpool are also in the race for the midfielders signature.
If the Gunners manage to secure Guimaraes, there’s a good chance Jorginho will leave. However, simultaneously there are talks of Arsenal wanting to extend the Italian’s contract which technically expires this summer. This perhaps is telling of what Arsenal thinks of their chances of securing Guimaraes’ services at that very position. Meanwhile there are rumours of Juventus wanting Jorginho, and time will tell what will happen. Seeing Jorginho’s strong performance this past season. it is likely that Arsenal wants to secure the Italian for next season as well as the Euros are coming up and Jorginho might just sway some of the bigger European clubs.
As for expectations for Arsenal next season, let us hope the Gunners are in for another title race, but this time it leads to a league title. Our 2nd place in the league granted the Gunners a place in the Champions League for the coming season, with hopes of reaching further than the quarter-finals.
As for improvements for this Arteta side, there might be one or two positions that might get or need an upgrade, but in the bigger picture, the team is without a doubt good enough to challenge (and win) the league, and just a bit more reliability when it comes to bringing home the points – and a bit of luck…
I want us to continue challenging City to the last game. Keep close to Pep and anything can happen..
But also I want to see Arteta improve his Cup game record. It’s been abysmal since 2021. I want him to push us to the FA cup final and at least CL semi finals next season..
I agree, they seem quite fair goals in relation to the nearly 1 billion spent building this team.
We should continue to challenge for the title, regardless who the top teams are. We should be in the fight until the final few games.
Domestic Cup competitions have been embarrassing so far, and Arteta really needs to improve in these competitions instead of our repeated early exits.
Champions League competitions, and getting to the quarter finals and semi finals should be goals for next year. We competed well, and that should continue going into next year.
Lastly, and most importantly, Arteta needs to start using resources more; his bench and rotation and his abysmal record of promoting academy players. Change course from Checkbook managing to actual coaching up of players, rather than freezing out and selling for a loss.
I agree with your comment for the most apart from the “Academy player” point.
For me at the moment I care less about indulging with our academy graduates. I care more about Arteta putting out the strongest teams out there to win us major trophies. I want us to win a Title or Champions league from next season. Once we have won a major trophy then we can start indulging with out youngsters. It’s been too long since we won a title. We also need a champions league trophy, it’s a bit embarrassing for a massive global club as Arsenal to not have won at least one CL or Europa..
Back to the academy players. If the youngsters from our academy are good enough then Arteta will include them. The likes of ESR, Nketiah, Nelson, Willock, Balogun, Nwaneri, Patino etc seem to have been some of the best we have produced from our academy in the last 20 years. Apart from Wilshere and Saka I can’t remember of any Arsenal academy graduate that has gone on to become a solid first team mainstay..
The academy players have got to be good enough to be included in a big trophy challenging team.
Or may be Arteta should play them in the Carling Cup..
I agree with most of your points, especially that about the academy players.
A lot of those clamouring for Academy players have shown no perspective whatsoever. Academy players need to be really good to play. You can afford to gamble if you are in a number of situations:
e.g. an unassailable lead; a complete shambles when rebuilding; injury crisis. Gambling on unproven academy players in a tight PL campaign when up against some of the best teams in world football would be highly risky.
Bench and rotation is only a credible argument if you can more or less guarantee sustained high level performance. In order to win the PL you have to garner around 90 points or more. This requires players who you can count on from game to game.
Our domestic cup performances have not been great recently and this needs improvement. It is notable that some of our “fringe” players have been given opportunities in these competitions with uneven performances.
This to Goonster.
You are preaching to the Choir here..
You are my channelling my inner thought / sentiment on the whole Academy player talk.
😊👍🙏