The November international break is here. It’s time to take stock of Arsenl’s development this season and consider if we are meeting up to the fan’s expectations.
Arsenal has made a promising start to the 2023–24 season. They are not performing to the best of their ability, but we can all agree that if all they do is choose results, they are becoming stronger each game, despite a long list of top players on the treatment table.
The Gunners are only a point behind league leaders Manchester City after 12 games, which puts them in a good position. Arsenal’s current state of play can be summarized in one word; promising.
West Ham eliminated them from the Carabao Cup, and their 2-1 loss to Lens were the only hiccups in their otherwise successful run. The 1-0 loss to Newcastle was contentious, and the worst result Arsenal could have gotten from that game should have been a point.
Having said that, Mikel Arteta appears to be improving and evolving as a coach. His ability to field a strong lineup despite injuries shows that he is now skilled at rotating his team. He hasn’t (due to various injuries) been able to deploy his strongest attack of Martinelli, Gabriel, and Saka on a regular basis (he’s only played them twice), but his team is still scoring goals and picking results.
Other than Arteta the coach, Declan Rice and Saliba have also been outstanding, helping them establish balance and dominate games in midfield and defence.
The team has demonstrated optimism. Fans have also expressed confidence that has been galvanising the players to excel. They’ve been supremely upbeat.
Hopefully, their optimism will pay off, and the Gunners will not only win their first league title in years, but they will also win the Champions League, in which they are expected to reach the knockout stages as soon as they play their next UCL game.
So, my verdict is; So far, so good!
What is your current assessment of our progress this season?
Sam P
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So far so good, not bad and not the champions stuff, though we are still the team to challenge Man city for the title.
We have coped very well with the added pressure of being mentioned as one of the real title candidates for the first time in 12-15 years.
We have also coped well with many more injuries than in the start of last season and with playing Champions League again after several years without it.
Nothing to complain about.
Overall I think we’re doing better than last year bc of the teams,in the so called top six ,we’ve faced so far. Defensively alot better. Rice has been awesome brings so much to the team. Would like to see Martinelli/ Trossard in the left 8. Martinelli good defensively also & possible to interchange on the left wing. Of course Zinc playing left 8 doesn’t hurt.
It’s a bit disappointing if the target is EPL trophy. Our victories against Man City were great, but we failed to beat Spuds at the Emirates and were beaten by Newcastle
I guess we can only hope the lady luck will smile upon us in UCL
What do you mean we can ONLY hope for UCL? We are only 1 point behind City. It’s too early to give up on PL. And we have FA CUP too
We could still win EPL, but I highly doubt it. I don’t much care about FA Cup
Very true
Gai, I kind of agree with you. I think our major test was Spuds game because of their form and we didn’t do well getting a draw and then our lose to Fulham shouldn’t be happening if we want to win the Epl. But really 1 point behind City not really bad. City defense seem not to be as solid as last season so, Arsenal still has a chance. My worry is we are not clinical in front of goals against tough opposition compared to last season..
We struggled to score first against big teams. I hope Arteta will use his tactics against Burnley in other games
When you consider the crazy amount of injuries, we’ve been outstanding so far!
Nah, your almighty City will be dethroned. Winning PL tittle is more certain this season and has nothing to do with the reasons you mentioned above.
Reply to gotanidea
Fantastic! And there is a lot more still to come.COYG!!!
Even though we are in a decent position, I (and quite a few others around us at the Emirates) am a little disappointed, both with the style of play and somewhat subdued atmosphere in the stadium this season. The football is not as direct, there’s lots of slow side to side and backwards passing and then the occasional bit of magic and definitely quieter in the ground. I think because we are not scoring goals early this season and with the reduced number of the AA, due to some being barred for unacceptable chanting, also the new balloting ticketing method for obtaining tickets and on the exchange, it’s changed the dynamic somewhat. Last year was a surprise how well we were doing and I think the expectation this season was for us to storm it, which hasn’t materialised yet. @ken1945, what do you think?
GB, I thought the crowd when we played Burnley, was undoubtedly a backward step, but the players didn’t exactly set the world alight.
The AA section are not doing it either and why they spoilt it for themselves was akin to shooting themselves in the foot.
The ticket situation?
I’m not sure where your coming from with regards to the atmosphere or the play itself, but what I really can’t get5my head around, is that one still walks out of the underground station at The Arsenal and, just like its always been, are greeted with touts selling tickets!!
Backwards and sideways is so annoying, but I don’t believe that’s our fault, as teams like Burnley are setting up and encouraging us to try and break them down with tactics that mean we have nowhere else to go at times but sideways and backwards if we want to keep the ball.
Agree that it’s not off your seat football, but joint 2nd and one point behind city means that we are doing something right.
Finally in my long winded answer (😂😂) I do wish fans wouldn’t use injuries as an excuse – it’s all part of the game and EVERY club gets them… just ask our noisy neighbours.
I’m not sure how the touts are still around either with entry now digital only unless of course they are transferring entrance codes from their phones to whoever they have sold to. Regarding the atmosphere, it’s just off from last season and I think partly due to nervousness as we are not starting as quickly as before, in my opinion. There are quite a few articles on other sites like LG etc about the atmosphere change. As you say though Ken, just one point behind City in 3rd (sorry I’m a bit pedantic about using the term joint 2nd) certainly means we are doing very well so far.
Considering we are yet to peak this season and are still just 1 pt behind City, i would say a very good start to the season. Last year we peaked too early and crumbled in the business end albeit with injuries greatly enabling our fall.
The table never lies. More likely we will be leaders after next round games.
Just okay. City and Liverpool have looked better. No CF and Xhaka replacement harms us from reaching our full potential
RSH, wouldn’t you say that one scapegoat for all that went wrong has been replaced by another in the eyes of most fans?
Let’s hope the CF issue will be sorted in the New Year.
In light of the injuries we’ve encountered, a deviation from the outstanding performance of last season, and the added complexity of integrating a player yet to achieve a rating surpassing 5/10, I could argue that our current position is deemed acceptable. I am optimistic that the January transfer window will address the deficiencies in our existing squad. COYG