Are Arsenal For Real This Year?

Arsenal is approaching this World Cup break having lost only one game. Their wins include Liverpool, Chelsea, and Tottenham, among others, and have hammered out results, but will it last?

This is unfamiliar territory for Arsenal Football Club, at least of late that is. They sit at the summit of the Premier League right now, and this has many people asking, are they for real? Is this Arsenal team sustainable? Could they actually win the title this year?

The short answer is, nobody knows. The Premier League is not won in November, especially with such a peculiar season that includes a World Cup in November and December. The injuries have already started to take their toll on teams, and with such a short turnaround to the World Cup (and after), most injuries at this time in the season will likely place players’ World Cup hopes in doubt or keep them out once the Premier League resumes.

Right now, however, Arsenal is in a nice spot, a spot even they perhaps may not have imagined themselves in, heading into the World Cup.

There are quite a few ways to look at this, with the first being some major transfer business:

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Starting in the offseason this past summer, their recruitment was uncharacteristically swift. Arsenal and the board of directors were not messing about. They went out and got two Premier League winners from Mikel Arteta’s former team, Manchester City.

In Gabriel Jesus, they got a hard-working striker who can score and create, who can link play well and can provide hold-up play as necessary. This has taken some of the load off the younger players and it shows. While he is currently enduring a scoring drought, there is no denying he improves this Arsenal side.

In Oleksandr Zinchekno, they have an innovative left-back who slots into midfield perfectly when in possession ( the position he more often plays for his country, Ukraine). While his injuries have kept him out a fair portion of the season, there is no denying the quality and much-needed depth Zinchenko brings to the LB position for the Gunners.

Fabio Viera, another product of Porto who has come to play in the Premier League, provides quality depth for Arsenal’s creative midfield department. Similar to Zinchenko, injuries have made it so Arsenal fans have only seen a limited glimpse of Viera, but with time, he will prove to be a solid rotation player in this squad.

Arsenal fans will likely argue they are still missing more depth if they are to compete for all trophies come the business end of the season, but the players they have brought in are a solid start and Arteta’s football is looking bettor off for it.

Flexibility

With these players added to the squad, and their playing history, it has also allotted Arsenal and Arteta certain flexibility that they didn’t have previously.  Zinchenko is a Pep full-back, through and through. He certainly isn’t a traditional full-back, but rather one Pep has transformed into one, similar to Fabian Delph a few seasons ago. He is calm in possession, cool under pressure, and works hard on both sides of the ball. If Arteta wanted, ZInchenko could slide right into midfield from the first whistle, and he would hardly look out of place.

Ben White, who was a solid central defender last season, has played the majority of his outings at right-back this year due to Tomiyasu’s injuries, and my word has it worked! It’s unconventional, but it works.

Jesus, who prefers playing up top as a true number 9, roams across the front three freely, and drops deeper when needed to link play and make space for others. His natural skill and ability on the ball add a dynamic that was missing, even when Aubameyang and Lacazette were the main guys up top.

With added depth, comes an improved ability to rotate the team.

Last year, it was clear that the squad Arsenal had wasn’t able to cope, as they fell just short of reaching the Champions League spot, a competition they haven’t featured in since 2016. Their late-season form showed a tired squad, who by all accounts, still overachieved given the average age of their players.

Now, there are more options, and some quality depth, so when rotating the team for cup competitions or due to a busy schedule, there remains increased confidence that a new set of players can get the job done and give the others a proper rest (maybe a little less so now they have exited the Carabao Cup… but you get the point).

Trust 

Mikel Arteta has been given something not many managers at a Premier League club get – trust (and time). In fact, in a recent article published by Emily Salley, the average tenure of a Premier League manager sits at just 2 years and 4 days, with Arteta coming up on his 3-year anniversary of being appointed at the club.

In that same BBC Sport article above, it’s worth noting that if you take Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp out of the picture, the average stint drops to 1 year and 169 days.

After winning the FA Cup in his first season with Arsenal, you could say the following seasons were tumultuous and most definitely not what the team and the fans were looking for. Back-to-back seasons finishing in 8th, no European Football, Arsenal was in a rough patch, to say the least. However, the board of directors at Arsenal have stuck it out with the former Arsenal midfielder.

It was clear to most that there was a genuine direction Arteta was taking this team, and the trajectory was up. Even without the necessary personnel to play the way we are now witnessing, it was still visible.

The board acknowledged this, even when fans were crying out for Arteta to be sacked, and it looks like their faith in their former player is well-placed.

The question remains, will Arsenal go all the way? Their points tally certainly seems to tell a promising story, but there remains plenty of football to be played, and with Arsenal back in Europe, that adds even more pressure on their squad. Will Arsenal lift the Premier League trophy in May? Let us know your thought