If you told most Arsenal fans at the beginning of the season that they would finish in 5th place they would have been pleasantly surprised. However, considering the position the Gunners had put themselves in there is significant disappointment that Arsenal have finished outside the top four for the 5th year running. Arsenal started the season with 3 defeats to Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City respectively. Manager Mikel Arteta was under early pressure and the team lacked confidence. A nervy 1-0 win over Norwich was the beginning of a change in fortunes for Arsenal with a considerable improvement in terms of performance and results. There where hiccups along the way, most notably back to back defeats to Manchester United and Everton, but Arsenal found themselves in the top 4 at Christmas. There was real positive and a cautious optimism that Arsenal could once again be playing Champions League football next season. After almost 2 years of playing in empty stadiums there was also was also the novelty of having fans back.
Arsenal start to 2022 was generally fairly poor in term of results but a New Years Day defeat to Manchester City saw Arsenal give one of their best performances of the season and arguably should have gotten something from the game. January also saw Arsenal get knocked out of both domestic cups. However, February and March were far better months as Arsenal won 6 out of 7 games. Arsenal showed a steely determination in 1-0 away victories to Wolves and Aston Villa in which the central back partnership of Ben White and Gabriel Magalhaes showed its strength and Arsenal showed an ability to maintain control and temperament in difficult circumstances. There were still issues going forward and Arsenal struggled to really kill off games but Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard impressed in this period. Without wanting to veer into irritating cliches April was very much a month of two halves. The Gunners started the month in hugely disappointing fashion. The 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace was dispiriting with Artetas side struggling to have any imprint on the game. They followed that up with 2 further defeats to Brighton and Southampton respectively. This period proved costly in the end and Arsenal showed weakness when it comes to responding to defeats. Arteta and his young side cannot afford these sudden slumps in form. Losses are understandable and ultimately inevitable. However, the current trend of 1 loss turning into 3 or more cannot continue. Arsenal have to learn to respond mentally and tactically to deflating defeats. Back to back wins over Chelsea and Manchester United gave Arsenal hope but ultimately the season ended in disappointing. In particular, the 3-0 defeat away to arch rivals Spurs was one of the low points of the season.
So whats the overall verdict? Was it a season of failure or success? In truth, there is not a straight answer to that question. Ultimately, Arsenal achieved their goal of qualifying for European football. However, based on where they found themselves for much of the season, 5th place feels a little bit underwhelming. Despite that Arsenal have made significant progress this season. There is real optimism to be found in the performances of a number of players. Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka, Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli have all had good seasons and made progress. Eddie Nketiah also impressed towards the end of the season coming in for the disappointing Alexandre Lacazette. Arsenals consistency of performance has generally been much better. Despite the lack of goals, there is a greater fluidity with Arsenals attack. Arsenal have scored the 4th most expected goals this season, 72.2xg according to the excellent Scott Willis. (https://www.crabstats.xyz/arsenal-season-review-strikers/) . The fact that Arsenal scored just 61 goals showed how desperate the need for a top quality striker really is. Overall, Arsenal have a had a positive, progressive season that ended in disappointment. Now that Arsenal have achieved their initial goal and qualified for the Europa League it is more important than ever that they build on that so they can continue their improvement into next season.
TheGoonerStation 