After a very tough start to the season when we lost our first three games, there were times where the Arsenal fans were calling for Mikel Arteta’s head and saying that we had no chance of success with a bunch of kids untried in the Premier League.
Now we have made it to the end of the year and Arteta has got all these “kids” playing like seasoned pros and are improving steadily as they play more games together.
People forget that the previous summer we had bought both Gabriel and Partey, and both of them were hardly fit last season, but are now like new signings alongside the youthful arrivals of this summer. So basically Arteta brought nearly a whole new team together after our injury and Covid-ravaged start to the campaign.
One thing that seems obvious is that the new team are enjoying their football, and the fans have sensed that and have got behind the team. Thomas Partey, who seemed to take the longest to settle into the rhythm of the Premier League but has now found his feet at last. The ex-Atletico midfielder described the new feeling in the camp after the 5-0 drubbing of Norwich.
Partey told Arsenal.com: “It is very enjoyable, I enjoy a lot playing with them,”
“They are good talents, a lot of people around that can play with them and they have a lot of quality in front of goal and they can score at any time, so it is a joyful moment playing with them.
“We feel very happy. This is a game we really enjoyed. We have had a couple of games now where the team is doing very well and performing and I think this is what we have to keep doing.
“I think we are working harder, we are doing what we have to do, everyone is playing their role very well and that is the mentality that the coach wants us to play with and enjoy on the field and that is what we are doing.”
The biggest test of how much more happy and confident we are will come next week, when we face the Champions-elect Man City, after which Partey will be off to AFCON.
Let’s see if he gets on the plane with a smile on his face….
THE JUST ARSENAL SHOW – Dan Smith has a rant over Arteta and ‘Players Welfare”