Arsenal finished second and then second. Now they will finish second. “I think we are in the right trajectory,” said Mikel Arteta. But if it is important for managers to maintain an impression of progress, he was not simply citing league position. The Premier League table can indicate that Arsenal have both stood still, in terms of position, and regressed, in their points tally. The Champions League suggests they have made a seismic step forward. Arsenal, the conquerors of Real Madrid, keep company with the best and yet win nothing themselves.
“In the last three seasons there is one team that has been better than us in total points, which is Manchester City, which is the best team in the history,” argued Arteta. Liverpool’s Premier League title, however, did not require any points procured before the 2022 World Cup. Arsenal’s season has instead been something of a holding year, encouraging in parts but not others, postponing long-held ambitions for another year. Arteta’s argument is that injuries have delayed them. “I’ve seen teams finishing 8th, 10th, 16th when they have smaller issues,” he said; it sounded uncoincidental that Manchester United are 16th, and Tottenham were recently, but Arteta claimed to have neither of the underachievers who will contest a European final in mind. Arsenal are not far off their combined points total; they are also 12 adrift of Liverpool’s.
“We had a dream,” said Arteta when on the pitch making in his end-of-season address to supporters. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do it for many circumstances. But make sure that chasing a dream doesn’t get blurry.” There is an enduring question if, through that blurred vision, Arsenal can see a Premier or Champions League title on the horizon, or merely an illusion of one.
Whichever, Arsenal will chase the dream. Co-owner Josh Kroenke pledged in the programme: “We plan to invest to get behind winning and doing better next season.” Perhaps it could be a big summer in the transfer market, a £150m or £200m window. Arteta insisted there still isn’t room for error or scope to overspend.
“We have to be very smart with the decisions that we take,” he said. “We need players because the squad is really short, and on top of that we are losing four or five players that are going to end [their] contracts, and their loans are finished.”
There were farewells on the pitch for Kieran Tierney and Jorginho, each granted a late cameo against Newcastle; the pace of change in Arteta’s thinking has left each overtaken. There was no valedictory outing for the unused Raheem Sterling, whose lone goal in his loan spell came against League One Bolton. The borrowed back-up goalkeeper Neto will go, too. There is a question if Arsenal, who have struggled to sell well in recent years, can cash in on Oleksandr Zinchenko, and for a suitably sizeable sum.
It leaves many a vacancy in the squad. There was the presumption that Martin Zubimendi woud be arriving, even if the offer of a new contract to Thomas Partey could cast some doubt on that. If Partey stays, there could seem greater needs. Whether or not he does, Arteta will have to resist the urge to stockpile more left-backs.
Arteta and Arsenal may have been insufficiently smart last summer, getting their priorities wrong. It can seem overly simplistic to say sides need a striker, but the supporters who wanted a goalscorer had a point, Kai Havertz made his return in the final quarter of an hour against Newcastle; that he has been out for three months, in which time Mikel Merino scored seven times as a stand-in striker, suggests Havertz’s total of 15 could easily have been a more-than-respectable 22 had he stayed fit. The midfielders masquerading as strikers are not the entire problem; far from it.
Arsenal can be blunt and stale at times, looking too structured and slow, at risk of running out of ideas. Newcastle was the 18th league game this season in which Arsenal have scored none or one; Liverpool have got under two in just six. It took a moment of brilliance from Declan Rice to wrench the deadlock open and Arsenal look too reliant on the £105m man.
They have subcontracted too much of the creativity to Martin Odegaard and he has had an off-year. There are times when they need more incision from the left flank. Gabriel Martinelli has stagnated and can be negated by deep defences. Leandro Trossard has been a terrific signing and yet should really be a squad player, not the man with the fifth most league starts.
Arsenal can’t delay the signing of a striker any longer. It is unlikely to be Alexander Isak, especially if Newcastle join them in the Champions League, leaving Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko looking the likeliest candidates.
Yet it would be a test to stretch the budget far enough to find a high-class left winger – Nico Williams could have the air of another Arteta dream – and a creative midfielder as well as a new goalkeeper and either Zubimendi or another alternative to Partey.
A further test goes beyond the identities of signings. Arsenal’s draw specialists require more wins; a side who have slipped off the pace need to demonstrate that, with fewer injuries, they have the mentality and creativity to reach 90 points.
Next season feels a tipping point for the Arteta project. The second half of Arsene Wenger’s reign offers proof there are times teams are neither advancing nor regressing, but simply standing still. But that doesn’t last forever. It also shows their long-term planning does not always yield a Premier or Champions League.
“I will do my very best,” he said. “I will give my life here. I will give everything. I will get every drop of everybody there, squeeze it to get the best. But promise? I cannot promise.” But he can continue to dream, and he will.
