Five years ago this week, two of Arsenal’s most powerful executives arrived in Manchester in the dead of night and knocked on Mikel Arteta’s front door. Much to the distaste of Manchester City, Arteta’s then employers, Vinai Venkatesham and Huss Fahmy were there secretly to close a deal that would bring him back to north London.
It was a moment that has since proven to be one of the most significant in Arsenal’s modern history. Those late-night talks, and Arteta’s subsequent appointment as Arsenal head coach on Dec 20, represented the starting point of a new era at the Emirates Stadium, and the beginning of the transformation of one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Much has changed since then, not least in Arsenal’s corridors of power. Venkatesham and Fahmy were part of a four-man executive team that led the search for a new head coach, along with head of football Raul Sanllehi and technical director Edu, and all four of those men have now left the club.
More than ever, Arsenal FC is also Arteta FC
Of the five most influential decision-makers at that time, only Arteta remains. Now the manager, rather than the head coach, his power has grown with each season. Such is his standing at Arsenal that he is currently playing a major role in the recruitment of a new technical director. Five years ago, it was the technical director who recruited him. More than ever, Arsenal FC is also Arteta FC.
Arteta, to be clear, has earned this influence. It should not be forgotten how desperate the situation at Arsenal had become before his arrival: this was a club of warring players, furious fans and precious little hope for the future. No man has played a bigger role in the revolution that has taken place in north London. No man is more responsible for the undeniable progress that has been made since the winter of 2019.
And yet, on the five-year anniversary of his appointment, there is a growing sense that Arsenal have once again reached a critical juncture. The recent departure of Edu, perhaps the second most important figure in their rebuild, has only strengthened the feeling that one chapter is ending and another is beginning.
Targets have shifted and expectations have changed. The demand of Arsenal and Arteta is to win major trophies, and anything less will now be considered a failure. These are Arteta’s own demands, too, but it all contributes to a change in the context and atmosphere around him and his team.
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Against Everton last weekend, for example, there was genuine tension in the air at the Emirates. As the home crowd groaned at Arsenal’s inability to find a winning goal, Arteta twice appeared to clash with the fans behind his dugout. He evidently wanted more encouragement for his players, while those dissenting fans wanted to see more dynamism and spark on the pitch.
For sections of the fanbase, these anxieties are triggered by a fear that Arsenal have not kicked on as many thought they would this season. After four years of consecutive progress in the Premier League, including back-to-back title challenges, Arsenal’s results have dipped in recent months. In the league, their points-per-game and goals-per-game are the lowest they have been since 2021/22.
The frustration among supporters is made more extreme by the dramatic collapse of Pep Guardiola’s City. The great enemy of the past two seasons has finally been weakened, but Arsenal are currently not in position to capitalise. As their progress has slowed, it is instead Liverpool and Chelsea who have pushed on.
There is, to an extent, a difference between the perception of Arsenal and the reality of their performances. Their underlying numbers in recent weeks, for example, have been as impressive as almost any previous point in Arteta’s tenure (in their last three league games, they have conceded chances worth a total of just 0.47 expected goals).
Their squad is deeper, stronger and better than it has been for arguably two decades, and freakish red cards and a series of unfortunate injuries have affected their results this season. The two-month absence of Martin Odegaard, especially, was a brutal blow.
When the only measure of success is winning a major trophy, though, these smaller details become lost. These days, the big picture is all that matters. Supporters have trusted in the process, and now they want results. Those fans also know that winning the Premier League requires near-perfection and in recent weeks Arsenal have too often fallen short of that, especially in the final third. Three league matches have now passed since they scored from open play.
In moments such as these, Arteta’s critics accuse him of placing too much emphasis on control and not enough on attacking invention. The Spaniard would argue that goalscoring opportunities are created because of their control of matches, but it is also evident from Arsenal’s transfer business that they have generally prioritised dominance over flair.
In the last five years Arsenal have spent around £700 million on new signings, but only around £135 million of that has been on forwards. This is, by far, the least of any of the traditional ‘big six’ sides.
The lack of investment in these attacking areas is, in part, a reflection of the growth of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli since Arteta’s appointment. But it still speaks volumes of Arsenal’s strategic approach that they have built from the back, rather than targeting more players capable of producing a “magic moment”, as Arteta calls it.
In the eyes of many supporters, and indeed in the eyes of certain key decision-makers at the club, the summer transfer window was the time to recruit a forward who could offer another dynamic. For various reasons, that did not work out. Arsenal ended up not with Benjamin Sesko, the exciting young Slovenia striker they targeted, but with another new defender and a box-to-box midfielder.
In all, they spent around £100 million on goalkeeper David Raya, defender Riccardo Calafiori and midfielder Mikel Merino. The forward line was strengthened only in the final hours of the window, when Raheem Sterling arrived on loan from Chelsea. Sterling has hardly featured since.
Unlike in previous seasons (Gabriel Jesus in 2022, for example, or Declan Rice in 2023) there has not been a new arrival who has instantly and inarguably improved the starting line-up. Fans do not doubt that the squad is stronger than it was, but they do question whether the team is better. It all contributes to a fear among supporters that momentum has slowed at the time of maximum opportunity.
How does this all pan out from here? On current form, Arsenal will fall short in the league. But they are still capable, as they showed last year, of producing a winning run that could blow all of their opponents out of the water. When their attack clicks and their passing game flows, they can be an unstoppable force. It should not be forgotten that they scored 91 Premier League goals last season, beating the club record they had set the previous year (88).
The only certainty, really, is that it is no longer the same club that Arteta joined five years ago. Many of the key figures of the past – Edu and Venkatesham among them – have gone, and there are new faces and new relationships to maintain. Tim Lewis, executive vice-chair, and Richard Garlick, managing director, are now in charge of the business.
The club doctor, Gary O’Driscoll, and hugely popular physio Jordan Reece have also left, both for Manchester United. Emile Smith Rowe, one of the poster boys of the early years of the Arteta revolution, now plays for Fulham.
Arteta has been known to compare Arsenal with a rowing boat, with all members of the club needing to pull in the same direction if they are to succeed. In his five years, many of those oarsmen have changed, and the boat itself feels different on so many levels. But Arteta himself remains at the helm, navigating waters that seem to be increasingly choppy, as he looks to complete the long journey towards major honours.
_**Culled from yahoosports.co.uk**_