Arsenal fans were famously told the ‘trust the process’ but they should have warned us that we also needed to be extremely patient.
Mikel Arteta and Edu are heavily involved in the day-to-day running of the squad and the transfers it seems, and the owners clearly believe in what they are building at present.
Despite opening the season with three straight defeats, whilst having failed to score a single goal, which has seen us drop to the foot of the Premier League table, there appears to be no pressure from the top on the manager.
At this point in time, we simply have to accept that Arteta’s job is safe, and with the club having backed the hierarchy to invest in the squad as they see fit this summer, that backs up the theory that the Kroenkes are happy with the management team.
The issue is that while Mikel Arteta is still learning how to be a manager, and with the club only backing the club’s new transfer policy of signing players who have the potential to raise their sell-on value and become future stars, as opposed to signing ready-made/proven players, we clearly aren’t focusing on bridging the gap on our rivals this season.
Having finished eighth last term, we go into the new season with a starting eleven which is no better than our last. I fear that we are simply relying on luck to climb back into the European places this season, but the club seem to be OK with that in the short-term.
While the other top teams worked on improving their first team, we worked on building a squad of players with the potential to improve and possibly make a profit from, and I think fans will have to be patient and know that we will suffer through some tougher times for at least one more season.
Is Arsenal’s best starting eleven any better than the one that finished last term in eighth?
Patrick