Now that Arsenal’s attackers have had some games and sessions to work with Viktor Gyokeres, there’s quickly been a realisation. That has been the need to play early passes. It isn’t something their attackers have been too accustomed to, given the team’s preference for control and Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka’s tendency to go inside.
Mikel Arteta insists on smart players, however, and they know to get that timing right.
It might be an apt theme for the season. When Arsenal pressed ahead on Gyokeres over Benjamin Sesko, the phrase used by the club was that it was a signing for “the here and now”. In other words, to win now; to finally bring almost five years of work to fruition. The club even have a Premier League trophy silhouette on the wall at the training ground, ready to be filled in, such is the will to finally deliver that trophy for the first time in 22 years.
And yet the obvious follow from “here and now” is whether there’s any sense of “now or never”. Such a question perhaps indulges the more intense noise around Arsenal – some of it created from within – as well as the doubts about Arteta himself. They don’t always sync with the basic facts.
Arsenal have enjoyed almost unimaginable strides from 2020, when they looked a basket case that were almost a lost cause. Arteta has made them a serious team again, just looking to make that leap from second place and semi-finals to major trophies.
Club executives don’t actually talk of “final steps”, since “the context changes from one season to another”, but the aim is to build the squad to “a certain level”, controlling what you can control.
That’s just one other reason this feels a decisive campaign. After three successive seasons of second places, the gaps in the squad were obvious. Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta knew exactly what was needed.
And while there have previously been elements hugely out of Arsenal’s control – like facing Manchester City at a state project’s most imperious – that wasn’t quite the case last season. Liverpool stole in when Arsenal probably felt it was their moment.
The club feel the reasons for that disappointment were obvious, from injuries to being subject to brief “refereeing zealotry” over new rules, but they were otherwise in a good place. Hence Arteta’s derided comments after the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. He was serious. The squad is at a good age and well set up.
Liverpool’s title victory nevertheless strengthened the idea that Arteta’s Arsenal are fated to never get over the line.
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English teams with three successive second places |
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1890-93 – Preston North End, won title in 1888-89 |
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1946-49 – Manchester United, won title in 1950-51 |
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1969-72 – Leeds United, won title in 1968-69 |
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1998-2001 – Arsenal, won title in 1997-98 and 2001-02 |
While the idea of managers or teams as “winners” is often overstated and overlooks important context, what is really relevant is how such labels can become self-fulfilling if players start to believe it. That is all the more relevant when Arteta himself is so big on psychology. The Basque is all too aware of such talk, even if he will never admit it, specifically because a key idea is to never manifest doubt by publicly articulating it. Doubt is poison.
This is also where the sense of “now or never” is more valid.
Virtually everyone at Arsenal is hugely hopeful about this season, but it hasn’t been impossible to envisage a situation where more disappointment heralds a tailspin. That can happen to good teams together for some time who don’t quite get there, most notably Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur.
It’s just as well the dressing room is buoyant going into the new season. That mood certainly manifested in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. Even opposition manager Ernesto Valverde described it as “another level” and “simply outstanding”.
This is the vision that Arteta wants. The issue will be sustaining it, which is where last season’s flaws are more relevant. Arsenal had been criticised for regressing from the relentless all-angle attack that first saw Arteta’s side rise, and occasionally derided as a set-piece team.
Staff explained that such compromises were necessary due to the many issues, especially “injury clusters”.
So far, they have solved most of those issues, in particular, a dependence on specific overused players, which exposed a lack of depth and variety. While the team was still at a top level when key players were there, any drop-offs exposed remaining elements missing.
The long-awaited signing of a striker has naturally been the headline, but many within the club feel the most important arrival is Martin Zubimendi. Everyone immediately saw he is a midfielder of another level. Zubimendi just instantly offers assurance, crucial for a club occasionally caught on the break. His intelligence also means Arteta gets his ideal of a midfield with multiple possible configurations. That is a quality the Basque especially appreciates, given the amount of time he spends obsessing over minute details in opposition sides. It’s also something that’s been overlooked in the forward search, and why Arsenal set a limit of around £65m. The idea was never a fixed No 9.
Kai Havertz’s understanding of the pressing system will still see him used a lot, especially in big games. Staff have even envisioned plans where Havertz is picked over Odegaard, with the German and Rice forming an especially physical challenge.
While Noni Madueke’s signing has surprised some in the club, he is viewed as one of those options who can provide multiple solutions – especially as an alternative for Saka. Madueke will also ensure there aren’t the same expectations on Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman, who are both expected to have even more impact. Arsenal staff have obviously tried to protect Dowman, but quickly realised there was no point trying to quieten excitement surrounding the 15-year-old.
At the other end, Cristhian Mosquera bolsters one of the strongest defences in Europe, where Riccardo Calafiori’s pre-season has also offered encouragement.
Arsenal still want to bring someone else in, either Eberechi Eze or another option on the left. Such a wait has played into a lingering frustration in a generally positive summer. The club want to sell first, which is in keeping with the policy of never being close to the limits of the PSR.
Such “good citizenship”, as one Arsenal executive puts it, does fray against that one remaining question.
The guiding mindset at Arsenal is “control”, with the manager wanting solutions for every possible issue you can think of. Arteta even sets the temperatures of the ice boxes.
But what about the elements you can’t imagine? What about a game-changer?
Arsenal’s business has been very measured and forensic, in contrast to Liverpool, who spent in a way no one expected. Arsenal haven’t signed a Florian Wirtz. They didn’t push on Alexander Isak.
This is no idle speculation, either, since Arteta obviously had considerable interest in the Swede. Arsenal actually switched plans earlier this year when they felt that Isak wouldn’t force his way out of Newcastle. What must they be thinking now? Should the Madueke and Gyokeres money have been used for this one grand signing?
Or might that actually be too much unpredictability, when all Arsenal need is that bit more control to get their hands on the title?
The difference might well decide the season. It’s not necessarily now or never, but the time might never be better.
