For 25 minutes on the final day of the season Arsenal's slim hopes of making it into Europe seemed a not too far fetched idea. Tottenham were losing 2-1 to Leicester and as it stood Arsenal were in Europe. They could make it into the illustrious Uefa Conference league , a competition not even Real Madrid have won. On serious note though ,Arsenal fans dared to hope. Well some of them but a majority we're content being out of Europe for the first time in 25years.
It was an old foe who condemned Arsenal to another eighth place finish and a season out of Europe. Gareth Bale struck twice in the final ten minutes to ensure spurs finished above Arsenal for yet another season. Over at the Emirates a two nil win against Brighton did little to appease the fanbase but Nicolas Pepe's return to form brought some optimism. It has been a rollercoaster of a season with highs and extreme lows for Arsenal but ultimately a season out of Europe was deserved.
Things have not been fine at Arsenal for sometime. You only have to look at the amount of executive changes that have taken place at the Emirates during & after Arsene Wenger's departure to realise what a mess they're in. From Ivan Gazidis , Sven Mislintat , Raul Sanllehi to the current regime under Edu Gaspar there has not been a consistent plan in place . The kroenkes have just been Chopping and changing with the hope that something works but it's clear they have no clue how to properly run a football club. They are business men.
Then the little matter of Sportify Co-owner Daniel Ekk . He declared his interest in buying Arsenal and it's already reported he has had two bids rejected . A potential takeover will be a long and tiresome exercise that will depend on the Kroenkes . A change of ownership could be what Arsenal needs.
Ownership of the club is a subject we could go on debating but we have little influence over what happens. It's easier to look at matters on the pitch and why it's been such a bad campaign for the gunners.
After a summer transfer window where the gunners landed star Atletico midfielder Thomas Partey , experienced Willian from Chelsea and acquired highly rated Brazilian defender Gabriel from Lille there was a rise in expectation. There was discontent at the sale of goalkeeper Emi Martinez albeit that was repressed by the faith fans had in Mikel Arteta. Having delivered the FA cup in his first season why not trust him? The fruitless pursuit of Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar was the big disappointment.
So What Went Wrong?
Let's look at what he numbers say. It's said numbers never lie. Thanks to footystats.com for the stats.
The premier league in itself doesn't lie , 38 games are enough to make a conclusive assessment of your season.
A second consecutive eighth place finish is no place for thirteen time premier league champions. But what is more concerning is how casual it is taken by the heirarchy. All fans hear is the intent to get the club back to where it was but nothing to show.
Let's Look Deep Into The Stats
Arsenal averaged 1.61 points per game , average form to say the least. This was however a rise from the 1.47 points per game in the 19/20 season. This gives Mikel Arteta's argument a basis. He claimed that Arsenal's points tally for this season was enough for a fifth placed season last year . Despite the positive increase it says alot about the strength of competition in the league.
Any Arsenal fan will tell you that their struggles have largely been in front of goal. They averaged 1.45 goals for which is only enough for a 10th placed finish. This was particularly evident when Arsenal went on that horrible 15 game winless run between September to December. Arsenal had 17 points from a possible 45 , relegation form. With just 5 wins from that and 8 losses fears were growing among both the fanbase and those outside the club. It was unthinkable that Arsenal would get relegated but as the saying goes , you're never too good to go down.
Arteta turned to youth in a bid to bring something different to this Arsenal side. It has worked wonders for them. Emile Smith Rowe was the catalyst of a revival , which helped Arsenal crawl back to even having a shout for Europe.The importance of the youngsters has been well documented so I'll not expound further there.
What may surprise a few is that Arsenal have been fairly solid in defense this season and largely under Arteta. Arsenal averaged 1.03 goals conceded , down from 1.26 the previous campaign. Again an improvement. That has Arsenal only behind Mancity and Chelsea in terms of goals conceded. An improvement worth building on next season.
Home form has been Arsenal's Achilles heel . The gunners recorded 8 wins 4 draws and 7 losses in 19 home matches , with first time defeats to Burnely , Villa , Fulham and Everton for years at the Emirates. It's been a dreadful campaign at home with home advantage dropping to -11% for Arsenal. Fans are obviously a factor but that form is simply not acceptable. Points per game at home was well below the overall average, 1.47 only good enough for a 9th place ranking. The away form has Arsenal in seventh place so it makes sense that Arsenal finished eighth. Possession was constant for the last two seasons at 54%.
Now to the famed Expected goals or XG which has become a popular metric to judge team's performances based on goalthreat. Arsenal averaged X1.5 XG a mediocre figure to say the least compared to Arsenal teams of the past. Liverpool topped the XG charts on 2.17 XG .
It was also a difficult season for Arsenal's main man, Pierre - Emerick Aubameyang. He ended up with 10 goals for the season tied with Nicolas Pèpè. It's only fair state we that he suffered Malaria which affected his overall season. It was a mixed campaign for fellow forward Alex Lacazette who after a torrid start finished as the gunners top scorer with 13 premier league goals.
It was Saka's campaign. The young gun has been Arteta's main soldier during this tough campaign. Saka started 32 of the 38 premier league games second only to goalkeeper Bernd Leno. That shows how much trust the manager has in him and why he is set to be one of the few current players who will be peripheral to what Arteta plans to do.
Positive Finish
Arsenal ended the season as the second best in form team in the league behind Liverpool. 5 wins from 6 could only secure a decent finish from what could have been a disastrous bottom place finish. It has been well documented that after the first 15 games Arsenal's form for the next 23 games was decent. Champions league form as it stood. With 13wins and 5 draws Arsenal improved but still not good enough.
What Next For Arsenal?
Mikel Arteta has spoken about being ruthless , for Arsenal fans we truly hope that is the case. To put it simply an overhaul would be what the club needs. A change of ownership would be an ideal scenario but that looks extremely difficult as it stands.
David Luiz has been the first exit out of the door and is expected to be followed by a host of senior players. Willian , Hector Bellerin , Granit Xhaka are all strongly linked with moves away , with Xhaka the latest to be a 20£m target for Mourinho at Roma. Nketiah, Maitland Niles , Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock could all be academy graduates who leave the club this summer. Willock particularly will be a difficult decision after impressing so much at Newcastle. He would want gametime after already proving what he can do but Arsenal would struggle to assure him of that given there will be no European football at the Emirates next season.
It's been a tough campaign for Arsenal but one that needed to happen. Things haven't been right for long and this campaign has been coming . The overhaul has been delayed for long enough, it's time to act! Mikel Arteta is not immune to criticism but I feel the problems started way before he took over and the campaign has been a consequence of bad decisions throughout the years. Arsenal are not oblivious to the fact that they hired an inexperienced manager who needs time but who can be one of the world's best.
A campaign out of Europe might not be as bad as those Thursday nights against shcshakak from Romania :)
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