End of the season. Staying ahead
A quick look back at the passed season followed by a quick look forward.
Champions of England. Champions League finalists, coming within a whisker of lifting the big ears. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, has it? Make no mistake, it’s been a massive season for Arsenal. A Carabao Cup final as well for good measure, and the madness of it all is this: had we nabbed that cup, we’d be talking about the greatest season in the club’s history—the double plus a European final.
It’s a funny old feeling. On one hand, looking at the trajectory, the heavy investment, and the patience shown to the manager, these are exactly the heights we expected to hit. On the other, it’s still a bit surreal to think our trophy lift will be in all the matchday previews come August.
I know I’ve been on Arteta’s back for large chunks of the campaign—some of you reckoned I was being harsh—and time has certainly made a few of my takes look a bit dodgy. But look, I only ever wrote what I believed at the time. You lot are smart enough to judge the situation yourselves; there’s no point me telling you “we’re the best side on the planet” if your own eyes are telling you otherwise. And let’s be real: there are still kinks in the system, issues with the approach, and maybe even with the mentality. It’s just that, this time around, they didn’t stop us from getting over the line.
We spent far too many games clinging onto a slender lead, grinding out results that were proper nail-biters. That win against West Ham—a late winner, Fernandes’ sitter missed, and a last-gasp VAR call—was the definition of squeaky-bum time. Then you had the wobbles in February and that mental collapse through late March and early April. If we’re honest, the title was secured partly because City couldn’t buy a win; if Everton had decided to go on holiday in that second half at Goodison, the title race could’ve swung the other way entirely.
And we still couldn’t turn those two cup finals in our favour late in the game. I’m hoping this “win by hook or by crook” mentality was just a temporary fix for this season and not something the manager thinks is sustainable long-term. I’m also hoping that this silverware gives the boys the belief to really go out there and dominate teams properly next year.
It’s worth noting that criticism in post-match analysis always seems louder. When we’re brilliant—like our work out of possession—I can only really stand back and applaud. But when there’s a glaring deficiency, I can dissect it, pull up the screenshots, point out the damage it’s doing, and suggest potential ways to overcome it. That’s how you end up with several paragraphs of analysis rather than a quick “well played.”
I’ve had a few lingering thoughts about that Champions League final too this week. I’ve seen the stick we’ve taken for defending a lead for 85 minutes, with folk calling it a “weak” strategy. While I agree that sitting on a one-goal lead for that long has never worked before, I don’t think that was a deliberate choice by Arteta. Once we scored, PSG turned up the heat, became more aggressive, pressed us into the dirt, and we simply couldn’t find an out-ball.
It’s only natural that under that kind of cosh, a team instinctively reverts to what they know best, what they are most comfortable at. We aren’t a natural counter-attacking outfit, but we are eleven disciplined lads who defend as one of the most coordinated units in the game. That’s what we saw on the night. I’ve gone into more detail in the post-match breakdown on exactly how PSG managed to shut down our attempts to break out.
I’m convinced Arteta wanted us on the front foot; you could see him urging the players higher up the pitch after the 70th minute whenever the ball went dead. The subs, especially Madueke for Saka, showed he was going for the win. Counting on a penalty shootout is a weak strategy. People call it a lottery, and while you can do your homework, train the shots and prep the keeper, the coin toss alone gives a 60% edge to the team going first. Since it is a gamble, a manager’s job is to win it before the spot-kicks start, and I was pleased to see Mikel try. The real issue, as I’ve said, was that the subs simply were not showing sufficient impact.
That final also highlighted exactly what we’re missing: an explosive winger to cause problems in the box and a proper ball-carrier to spark counters. It seems the club has already spotted this, given our early transfer links. If you’re looking for a “counter-attacking specialist and skillful carrier” in the Prem, Morgan Rogers is the name that screams out. He’s right at the top of the charts for quality ball-carrying and shooting. We’re hearing the same things about Morgan Gibbs-White, too.
However, bringing in one of those two for their carrying ability likely means they’d occupy the front two of our 4-4-2 defensive shape. The stats suggest Rogers doesn’t have the touch to be a top-tier winger, which means a reshuffle is on the cards: either one of Eze or Odegaard makes way, Eze moves permanently to the left, or Odegaard drops into a deeper role—and I’m not sure he’s got the physicality for that.
Then you’ve got links to Bradley Barcola and the nearly-done deal for 16-year-old Monga to address that “explosive winger” problem. The tricky thing about being one of the best sides in the world is that any new arrival has to be a clear upgrade on what’s already in the building.
The irony is that we spent last summer chasing the exact same profiles. If you check the Gradient stats, Eze actually outranks both Rogers and Gibbs-White for shooting, carrying, and taking players on.
And Noni Madueke is as explosive as they come—there aren’t many who can beat him in a footrace. What we really need now is a winger who can turn that raw pace into cold, hard end product. Finding that is easier said than done. I’m not convinced Barcola—who fluffed two huge chances in the huge final, given his fresh legs—is a massive upgrade. Looking around the Premier League that I am more familiar with, Everton’s Ndiaye is the only one who really fits the bill, currently ranked 1st in the league by Gradient for that specific role.
It’s also worth noting that wingers would look differently in the different teams. Our wide men are expected to do a mountain of defensive grafting, often popping up deep in our own half. You see ex-PL players racking up silly numbers abroad and you have to wonder: how many would Saka bag if he was playing for Bayern next to Harry Kane? Luis Diaz (who never had a consistent season in England) is somehow in the European top 10 this year, which makes you think where Bukayo could reach in a more liberated side. You also wonder how many Martinelli would get running into space for Atleti. The defensive shifts Saka, Martinelli, and Trossard put in are massive, but it definitely takes a toll on their freshness when they get into the final third.
At the same time, I’m a firm believer that to stay at the top, to stay ahead of the pack, you need to bring in 2-3 genuine first-team contenders every single year. Guardiola mastered this to perfection, and it’s how City stayed in the hunt for everything year after year. I know what you’re thinking—City have the bottomless pockets to make that happen.
However, if you recollect, City was always keeping his best players in the squad, while most of the rotation applied for players who were non-critical for their performances. De Bruyne, Aguero, replaced with Haaland were the constants, but the wingers were on a revolving door—Mahrez, Sterling, Sane, Doku, Grealish, and so on. The reason? The league gets adjusted to the routines and patterns of players after playing many years against them. To keep asking new questions, you have to refresh your team and especially the attack. It doesn’t matter what Grealish cost and whether his price justified the output; he offered a new problem for defenders to solve. Even the “squad” players like Alvarez or Jesus would come in for a ten-game stretch and score enough to keep the title charge on track.
We are in this boat with someone, like Gabi Martinelli. I love the guy, I adore his character - he represents for me everything this beautiful club is about - passion, commitment, work rate on the pitch, support and pure happiness for the teammates. He’s also a very talented player and most of the European teams would be lucky to have him. At the same time, he becomes less and less efficient every year in the Premier League, because the defenders are getting more and more used to his style of play and his scoring numbers are heading the wrong way. Only one goal this campaign, but one of the most significant ones due to all the Gabi’s qualities mentioned above.
Swapping him for a winger of similar quality but a different style would give us a boost simply by the virtue of that “unpredictability” factor. Truth be told, that applies to all our attackers. If you look at who really laid the foundations this year, it’s Rice, Raya, Saliba, Gabriel, and Timber. Up top, none of them—including our “Star Man” Saka—had that same consistent, profound impact. I know Bukayo’s not going anywhere after the new deal, but I could honestly see us being successful next season without any of Eze, Odegaard, Havertz, Trossard, Gyokeres, or Martinelli (and definitely without Madueke and Jesus).
The tricky bit with a like-for-like swap is getting the right price. All six of those lads would walk into almost any team in Europe and be contenders to start, but the smaller clubs will try to lowball us while demanding a king’s ransom for their own players. There aren’t many clubs who can actually afford to pay us what these players are worth.
A final word on Andoni Iraola becoming the head coach of Liverpool this week. I’ve said it before: this is a huge statement of intent. I’m properly bullish on him. If I were a betting man, I’d put Liverpool and Arsenal as the top two for 26/27. Chelsea is not assembled in a way that a coach can hit the ground running, and Carrick only had a light schedule at United. Maresca’s always a tough nut to crack in a one-off game, but his Chelsea side always seems to hit a rough patch throughout the season.
Some might call Iraola a gamble, but he’s the safest gamble Liverpool could take. While Carragher’s crying about Xabi Alonso, the Liverpool hierarchy have been clever—backing Slot publicly, waiting for the Alonso-to-Chelsea noise to settle, and then moving for Iraola without the need to explain to the fans why they aren’t going for an ex-player. He’s got a clear identity, his Bournemouth side always gave the big boys a game, and that four-month unbeaten run proved he can build stability. He also showed he can rebuild on the fly after losing his best players (especially impressive was handling the loss of a center back duo last summer), which is a massive trait for a top manager.
The only thing he had trouble with is reliably winning against the bottom half teams that spend most of their time defending, but that usually takes care of itself when you’ve got world-class individual talent at your disposal. Interestingly, his principles—man-to-man defending, a high-intensity press and a low-margin football—are very similar to what Arteta has built here.
Whether the current Liverpool crop fits him is another question. Slot’s success was built on Salah’s ridiculous numbers, but there’s still plenty of quality there. If Iraola can get Alexander Isak back to his best—and we all know how lethal he can be—it’s a scary prospect. Liverpool have the depth, and with players like Kerkez and Szoboszlai fitting Iraola’s profile, a couple of smart signings could make them title contenders.
I’ve heard the “no big club experience” and “midweek schedule” arguments. And while I get that more often than not statistically a coach requires time to adjust to both of those factors, that’s not a hard-and-fast rule. Just remember Arne Slot: came from the Eredivisie and won the League in his first year. More than that, Liverpool had a really strong season - apart from winning the League, they lost in the Carabao Cup Final, topped the Champions League group and got eliminated in the knockouts by PSG via the penalty shootout. Sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it? We’ve spent years building to that, only for a newcomer to come in and do it in one. The precedent is there.
Football is all about momentum and that early-season confidence. Liverpool’s flyer on 24/25 set the tone for everything that followed, so Iraola’s start will be massive. If he gets it right, we’re in for one hell of a ride. The Premier League is a shark tank, and we have to be ready from day one to stay ahead. Fortunately, our manager is as obsessed with winning as they come!
I wanted to thank you all for reading my posts, and especially for leaving your likes and comments! Your activity is the main motivation for me to keep writing posts! Blogging takes a whole lot of free time, so it’s hard to continue doing it without knowing that it matters to the readers. I am happy that we’ve gone through this season and truly excited of what’s going to unfold in the next one! I hope to continue seeing your activity and please feel free to express your wishes for topics or opinions during the summer! Cheers!