After their struggles this season, it has been little surprise to see the naysayers come out and say that Arsenal are heading down a slippery slope towards obscurity and footballing irrelevance. Everybody’s favourite talkSPORT pundit Adrian Durham, even declared that the Gunners could be relegated if Mikel Arteta tried to bring in his Manchester City principles to the Emirates.
But are the Gunners well and truly in the mire? Yes, their defence appears to be as worse as it’s ever been with 27 goals conceded in 17 league games before the clash against Everton. And yes, their attack hasn’t fared much better either, with just 24 strikes to their name – just one more than newly-promoted Aston Villa who are languishing above the drop zone.
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But for all those woes, the north Londoners have the nucleus of an incredibly exciting, and young squad. Not to mention the lavish amount of investment made in the likes of Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney and William Saliba in the summer (the latter arriving for next season). It is therefore telling that Arsenal have once again gone for a ‘head coach’ in Arteta, than a ‘manager’ in Carlo Ancelotti.
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The Gunners simply need someone who can coach the players into being as good as they can be. The academy at the north Londoners is thriving, and they have a generation of talent bursting at the seams to leave their indelible mark on the first-team. The likes of Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah, just to mention a few. That is a core of a team that would all have come through Arsenal’s youth system, and still need important footballing education on the training pitch to realise their potential.
And when looking at the first-team squad itself, Arteta has quality players in most areas. Hector Bellerin and Kieran Tierney when fit and firing could form a potent full-back partnership with their pace and youth. Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi are still only 23 and 20 respectively. And in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, they have two proven goal-scorers at this level, with both netting well over 150 career goals.
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So whilst the narrative may look to paint this picture of doom and gloom, and impending misery, Arteta’s task at Arsenal isn’t as difficult or as daunting as people seem to want to make out. Emery’s reign at the Emirates took the side a step back, particularly in the first half of this campaign. But if the former Manchester City assistant can galvanise the troops, he will surely be confident of taking two steps forward and silencing the doubters.
Meanwhile, Arsenal fans react to their former summer transfer target’s commanding display.
