Arsenal end season of peaks and troughs on a high note, but the bigger picture is a concerning one

Arsenal 5 Everton 1  
Premier League  
Sunday 22nd May 2022 4pm   

With Everton being safe from the drop and the inevitable news arriving during the first half from Carrow Road, Arsenal’s 5-1 win was a stroll in some the very pleasant May sunshine. The second half’s main interest was what was happening in the games that Liverpool and Manchester City were playing, as score updates came through on those phones that could get enough reception. 

Arsenal’s opposition had done what they needed to on Thursday evening, leaving Leeds and Brentford to play games that actually mattered. Their supporters were in the unusual position of not being too worried about a hammering, enjoying more the news that Liverpool were denied another title and letting off blue flares for amusement rather than celebration. A healthy home attendance showed up. Yes, a few empty seats, but nothing like some of the gaps we’ve seen at the fag end of some previous campaigns when there has been nothing to play for. And even the most optimistic Gooners could not have seriously expected Norwich to beat Spurs.

There’s not much to say about the game itself. Arsenal were given the opportunity to play their football by an Everton team that was excusably not 100% focused and made hay with the sun shining. Five goals – three in the second half. One conceded that no-one seemed too bothered about. Five different scorers with excellent finishes from Cedric and Odegaard after the interval. For the record, the others were from Martinelli (a penalty after Alex Iwobi stuck his arm out and blocked a shot), Nketiah and Gabriel.

Some are happy with the progress made this season. Mikel Arteta’s teams finished in eighth place the previous two campaigns, so fifth is indeed better. Some feel that this season was an opportunity missed – in terms of the chances of qualifying for the Champions League, with its attendant benefits for income, profile and status. Ultimately, there were two areas where things seemed to have hurt the team the most. The lack of experience and character in certain matches, where they were unable to fight for the right to play their football. The other was the lack of squad depth, and certain of the decisions made in January came back to haunt the club – the lack of a proven utility player (such as the loaned out Ainsley Maitland-Niles) and a reliable goalscorer (who could have netted as many as someone like Aubameyang managed at Barcelona) ended up costing more points than Arsenal could afford – only just, but all the same, football is about fine margins. 

To me, the big weakness that this season has revealed is Mikel Arteta’s inability to man manage. What would he have done with a player like Eric Cantona? There’s something behind his decision to continue not using William Saliba. Sometimes, you have to accept that millionaire footballers are not going to respond positively to the schoolteacher approach. Not in 2022. Yes, Alex Ferguson could use the hairdryer treatment, but he was flexible when he realized there were certain players he could not use it with. Granted, he too made mistakes and froze people out when they still had something to offer – Jap Stam being one example. But he was able to rebuild and regenerate his teams after failure. Critically, he’d learned how to manage before at other clubs. He did get a key break in 1990 when he could easily have been sacked. An FA Cup run saved his job. That patience paid off.

The Arsenal decision makers – in their move to award Arteta a further two seasons before this one had even concluded – have certainly shown patience that the current manager will either continue to improve things from a very low base or that they are happy with Arsenal just being in European competition, and that it does not have to be Champions League. I hope it is that they believe further improvement is possible. And given we have at least two more seasons of this project, I hope they are right.

I also hope my own belief is proved wrong. I honestly do not see Arsenal competing in the Champions League again until Arteta is replaced or that extra place becomes available at the end of the 2023-24 campaign. By then though, Newcastle will have established themselves amongst the credible contenders for a top four place. Manchester United will have got their act together. Spurs? Who knows? Chelsea still have Thomas Tuchel and although playing on a more even footing, have a deep enough squad to remain competitive. But fundamentally, what Arsenal lack is strong leaders on the pitch who can take a game by the bootstraps the turn things around when the tide is going against them. And a manager that can handle players who have a voice that might not tally with his own. I think we will look back on the Arteta years as ones of hope, in which young talent was developed, but ultimately, sold on, as there is no point in players of the quality of Bukayo Saka not performing on the biggest stages, not playing in games that really matter. And in truth, you couldn’t blame the kid if he did fancy turning out in matches for a club that had every chance of winning their domestic league and the bigger prize in Europe. 

The only reason Harry Kane is still at Spurs is because the club refused to let him go. He doesn’t want to be there. That blow is softened slightly by the fact he can play again in the Champions League next season, and that the team is now operating under a results manager who can do things like go to Anfield and the Etihad and come away with something. 

Arsenal have a manager still learning on the job – hence you saw what you did in the matches at Spurs and Newcastle, the inability to recover after the defeat at Palace. You could point to many games where the key points were dropped, but the ones that felt really frustrating were the defeat at Southampton – the Saints only win in their final 12 games of the campaign, and the weekend before losing at home to Brighton. Win either of those, and we’d be reflecting on the season as one of success. 

Ultimately though, it is the decision makers above Arteta who determine whether or not this is acceptable. And in that respect, they seem content. The lack of experience amongst them is a huge factor, the lack of a figure who has overseen a winning football club a massive handicap in Arsenal’s ambitions. Then again, for the Kroenkes, merely being in the Premier League seems a good long-term bet. Stan has given up even taking any notice, leaving it to his son. I haven’t bothered reading Josh Kroenke’s program column from yesterday, but I’ve heard enough from him to know it's all meaningless PR crap. Josh is a daddy’s boy ‘Rah! Rah!’ cheerleader where gravitas is concerned. No-one takes him seriously. Please remember that all funds pumped into the club by KSE are loans, and not Roman Abramovich style ones. 

Ultimately, sad as it is to say, Josh hasn’t got the first clue about how to run a football club, or the first thing he would do is get someone on board who can. This is it people. Arsenal are no longer contenders because they don’t have the right people at the club to make the decisions that can turn the thing around, at a time when others – through various means – are making competition harder. Liverpool have acted intelligently to get where they are now. Manchester City have bought their way to glory, although also, do have experience at executive level, and recruit well in the transfer market. Newcastle will crash the party soon enough. Manchester United have enough money to correct things there, although it does give a little satisfaction that their cycle of glory has taken a break for a few years now. Chelsea are not as badly off as you might believe, remembering the amount of talent that has been developing elsewhere (think Conor Gallagher). If Spurs can keep Conte, they will become better.

Arsenal can play wonderful football when they are allowed to. But they are too easily bullied when they aren’t. So we'll see good days and bad days, but ultimately, not too much in the way of success until that is sorted out. Arteta has had two and a half seasons to get his team able to play more than one way. Yes, on rare occasions, they have managed to win ugly. Generally though, if the opposition scores first, his players wilt. And until this powder puff aspect can be addressed, nothing’s going to change. 

Enjoy the summer people. 

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