Early season report card: How the Gunners look heading into the international break
Early season report card: How has Arsenal's season gone so far under Mikel Arteta?
By Adam Le RouxAnd…. Breathe!
With the international break upon us, we can finally have some time to reflect on the season so far and relax after seven matches in the last three weeks.
It’s already been a season of highs and lows for the Gunners, with sparkles of the spectacular, mixed with some dismal displays you probably want to forget.
And after the 3-0 humbling by Aston Villa at the Emirates on Sunday, the two-week break has probably come at the perfect time for Arsenal, with some much-needed time to get back to their best before heading to Leeds United on November 22.
With this being Mikel Arteta’s first full season in charge, there will still be question marks from certain sections of the fanbase as to whether he is the right man for the job, so let’s take a look back at the season so far and assess where they stand.
Dean Smith’s side swarmed the Gunners all over the field on Sunday, leaving them looking devoid of ideas in possession and unable to register more than a couple of shots on target in the 90 minutes.
It was a bad day at the office for everyone in a red and white shirt that day and saw Mikel Arteta’s side head into the international break off the back of three defeats in their last four Premier League matches.
The mockery Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley seemed to be making of the home defence looks to have swayed a lot of Arsenal fans thoughts on the man at the helm, with Arteta’s honeymoon period as boss seemingly over.
After some encouraging displays at the start of the season, with victories over West Ham and Fulham, the fixture list, as much as anything, hasn’t been kind to the Gunners, with four consecutive matches against last season’s top five sandwiched into a hectic fixture schedule.
But make no mistake about it, this time last season Unai Emery was being hounded out of the club, despite a better points return after eight games, and even managing a victory over Villa in the process.
There is only so long that Arsenal fans will remain loyal to the man in charge, regardless of his pedigree, if he isn’t getting the results on the pitch. The sound reverberating round the Emirates had fans been allowed in on Sunday doesn’t bear thinking about.
Victories over Leicester and Liverpool on penalties has seen Arsenal progress to the last eight of the Carabao Cup, with a quarter-final tie against Manchester City scheduled for just before Christmas.
And if the Gunners can progress, it will mark the first time they have reached the last four of the competition in three years and could give them a chance of another piece of silverware.
On the European front, three wins out of three sees Arteta’s side sitting pretty at the top of Group B, with the chance of all but assuring qualification next time out against Molde.
The Norwegians were seen off 4-1 in Arsenal’s last European game, following victories over Dundalk and Rapid Vienna, but it hasn’t been all plain sailing, as the Gunners have had to come from behind in two of their three group stage games so far, with Bernd Leno the culprit on both occasions.
But all in all, it has been a successful season in the cup competitions to date, and the utilisation of all members of the squad in these games has given more hope that the young talents emerging at the Emirates are something to look forward to.
Joe Willock has seized his chance in the Europa League games he has featured in, and caught the eye with an energetic performance against Molde, although he is still yet to feature in the Premier League this season.
We all know the quality Bukayo Saka can produce, and he has done so frequently down the left side, while the brief glimpse of Folarin Balogun looked promising against Dundalk.
In a period where results haven’t been going our way, there won’t have been too many people that tuned into the match against Manchester United with optimism.
But the display from the Gunners that day is proof that when they are on their game, they can match the majority of sides in the league, and are more than capable of standing up for themselves.
Every player on the pitch played their part in a crucial 1-0 victory over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stealing the headlines with the match-winning penalty with 20 minutes left to play.
Arteta had got his gameplan spot on that day and gave every Arsenal fan belief that they can kick-start their season and push back up towards the upper reaches of the league.
With the Premier League being as tight as ever, it only takes a couple of victories to put yourself back into contention, and with Leeds and Wolves next to come before the North London Derby at the start of December, the next few weeks after the international break will give us some idea of where this season is heading under Arteta.
With the international break upon us, we can finally have some time to reflect on the season so far and relax after seven matches in the last three weeks.
It’s already been a season of highs and lows for the Gunners, with sparkles of the spectacular, mixed with some dismal displays you probably want to forget.
And after the 3-0 humbling by Aston Villa at the Emirates on Sunday, the two-week break has probably come at the perfect time for Arsenal, with some much-needed time to get back to their best before heading to Leeds United on November 22.
With this being Mikel Arteta’s first full season in charge, there will still be question marks from certain sections of the fanbase as to whether he is the right man for the job, so let’s take a look back at the season so far and assess where they stand.
Villa was a killer
First things first, we can’t avoid the obvious scenario Arsenal find themselves in right now - coming off the back of a 3-0 defeat to an Aston Villa side who only survived relegation on the last day of last season and were royally played off the park in doing so.Dean Smith’s side swarmed the Gunners all over the field on Sunday, leaving them looking devoid of ideas in possession and unable to register more than a couple of shots on target in the 90 minutes.
It was a bad day at the office for everyone in a red and white shirt that day and saw Mikel Arteta’s side head into the international break off the back of three defeats in their last four Premier League matches.
The mockery Jack Grealish and Ross Barkley seemed to be making of the home defence looks to have swayed a lot of Arsenal fans thoughts on the man at the helm, with Arteta’s honeymoon period as boss seemingly over.
After some encouraging displays at the start of the season, with victories over West Ham and Fulham, the fixture list, as much as anything, hasn’t been kind to the Gunners, with four consecutive matches against last season’s top five sandwiched into a hectic fixture schedule.
But make no mistake about it, this time last season Unai Emery was being hounded out of the club, despite a better points return after eight games, and even managing a victory over Villa in the process.
There is only so long that Arsenal fans will remain loyal to the man in charge, regardless of his pedigree, if he isn’t getting the results on the pitch. The sound reverberating round the Emirates had fans been allowed in on Sunday doesn’t bear thinking about.
Fighting on all fronts
Away from the Premier league everything is looking rosy, with the Gunners still competing in both the Carabao Cup and the Europa League heading into the festive period.Victories over Leicester and Liverpool on penalties has seen Arsenal progress to the last eight of the Carabao Cup, with a quarter-final tie against Manchester City scheduled for just before Christmas.
And if the Gunners can progress, it will mark the first time they have reached the last four of the competition in three years and could give them a chance of another piece of silverware.
On the European front, three wins out of three sees Arteta’s side sitting pretty at the top of Group B, with the chance of all but assuring qualification next time out against Molde.
The Norwegians were seen off 4-1 in Arsenal’s last European game, following victories over Dundalk and Rapid Vienna, but it hasn’t been all plain sailing, as the Gunners have had to come from behind in two of their three group stage games so far, with Bernd Leno the culprit on both occasions.
But all in all, it has been a successful season in the cup competitions to date, and the utilisation of all members of the squad in these games has given more hope that the young talents emerging at the Emirates are something to look forward to.
Joe Willock has seized his chance in the Europa League games he has featured in, and caught the eye with an energetic performance against Molde, although he is still yet to feature in the Premier League this season.
We all know the quality Bukayo Saka can produce, and he has done so frequently down the left side, while the brief glimpse of Folarin Balogun looked promising against Dundalk.
When it’s good, it’s really good
Arsenal fans may all be licking their wounds right now, but the memory of a first Premier League victory at Old Trafford in 14 years will go some way to putting a smile back on their face.In a period where results haven’t been going our way, there won’t have been too many people that tuned into the match against Manchester United with optimism.
But the display from the Gunners that day is proof that when they are on their game, they can match the majority of sides in the league, and are more than capable of standing up for themselves.
Every player on the pitch played their part in a crucial 1-0 victory over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stealing the headlines with the match-winning penalty with 20 minutes left to play.
Arteta had got his gameplan spot on that day and gave every Arsenal fan belief that they can kick-start their season and push back up towards the upper reaches of the league.
With the Premier League being as tight as ever, it only takes a couple of victories to put yourself back into contention, and with Leeds and Wolves next to come before the North London Derby at the start of December, the next few weeks after the international break will give us some idea of where this season is heading under Arteta.
