It was good for while it lasted. Finishing on 80+ points, taking the title charge all the way till there are 2 games remaining, having a 40+ goal difference (for now) – these are things any Arsenal fan would have taken at the beginning of the season. And this was, on many accounts, a successful season, despite what our kind rivals and smart pundits would like us to believe. There will always be the what ifs like the draws with Southampton, Liverpool and Brentford, and losses to Everton and Brighton. But this season has shown a lot of promise. Saka and Martinelli are the wingers I would start over any other pair in the PL, Odegaard has been slowly evolving into the leader we are grooming him to be, our starting back 4 were solid when they played together, and Ramsdale has saved our necks on more occasions than I can recall.
It’s easy to find the negatives on hindsight. Our defense fell off a cliff with the injury to Saliba. Physical teams dominated us. We had no answer to City in both the legs. And Arteta didn’t trust the squad players enough to effectively use the 5 subs this season. Partey is a shadow of his self. Saka seems to have been tired despite having moments of brilliance. We have a history of stepping off the gas at the second half of the season, and this time, it was no different, although the drop off happened at a much later stage this season (March / April). This compounded by the fact that Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea were far from their best, second might seem like an aberration. And next season, we might drop off.
I honesty don’t think this season was an outlier. We have shown marked improvement every season. Our winter transfers were much better than previous seasons. We have shown an intent to strengthen positions that needed strengthening. And it’s easy to forget, the core of our team is still very young, and they are not at their peak yet, and in a couple of years, hopefully we will see them play at their full potential. We have taken the fight to City, a team backed by massive money and a multiple title-winning manager, and fallen a bit short. Tipping them will either require a perfect season or City dipping in form. And we are also returning to the Champions League where equally tough tests await us, considering that we didn’t do so well in the second tier Europa league. My expectation is fighting for all titles next season, having squad players that don’t drop off the quality of the team (both of which require smart and quick summer recruitment), a solid and effective Plan B for teams that try to physically impose upon us (I hope Arteta has the drawing board ready for this one), and maybe a more optimistic fan base that can block out the noise from the other supporters and biased pundits. The margins are going to be slimmer, the games tougher. 1 bad game might be the difference between a title and an empty cabinet once again. But I haven’t been this excited for our team for a long time. So let’s just get on with this season, finish on a high and then we start again next season.