Vto speak of a resurrection would be a slight exaggeration. After all, Arsenal never died. The Premier League club from north London hasn’t really been that lively in recent years – at least by their own high standards. Arsenal last won the English championship in 2004, and since 2017 they have finished fifth three times, sixth once and eighth twice.
The “Gunners” slowly but surely sank into mediocrity, rivals like Manchester City and Liverpool FC suddenly seemed out of reach.
High identification
But now Arsenal surprisingly leads the table: They have won six and lost only one of seven games this season. The season opener with five wins in a row was her best in 18 years. Almost in passing, they also won their first Europa League group game against FC Zurich in early September. The team and fans are therefore more self-confident than they have been for years when they go into the city derby against Tottenham Hotspur this Saturday afternoon (1.30 p.m. on Sky), who are lurking in third place with just one point less.
The soaring is also a satisfaction for coach Mikel Arteta. The 40-year-old Spaniard has been in office since December 2019, under his leadership Arsenal finished eighth twice and last season fifth. Despite this mediocre showing, the club stuck with him. Arteta was Arsenal FC captain as a player and identifies accordingly with the club, which is now his first stint as head coach.
Before that, he had a few years’ experience at Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach. He won the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2020 and while no one dares dream of winning the league this season, it could be he who takes Arsenal back to the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17.
In his mission, the coach relies on one of the youngest squads of any Premier League team; on average, his previous starting line-ups were just 23.6 years old. Central defender William Saliba is 21, as is England international and Arsenal star Bukayo Saka on right wing and Gabriel Martinelli on left wing. All three are already cornerstones of the team.
Young players are in demand
Ahead of the season, Arteta has named Martin Ødegaard as captain: the Norwegian, who joined London from Real Madrid in 2021, will be 24 in December. When Arteta brought on Ethan Nwaneri just before the end when they were 3-0 at Arsenal against Brentford FC, he became the youngest Premier League player in the history of the competition at 15 years and 181 days. Arsenal’s fans happily sang “he has to go to school tomorrow”.
The strategy of relying mainly on young players can also be seen in Arsenal’s summer transfers. The 19-year-old Brazilian Marquinhos was brought in from Sao Paulo FC and has only made one brief stint against Brentford in the league. In the 2-1 draw against Zurich, however, the young right winger scored a goal and prepared one. 22-year-old Portuguese Fábio Vieira arrived from FC Porto and is gradually being promoted to the Premier League, scoring his first goal against Brentford in a 3-0 win.
The key transfer in the summer, however, was the established center forward Gabriel Jesus, who was already 25 years old, for whom Arsenal transferred more than 50 million euros to Manchester City. He has four goals and three assists in seven Premier League appearances – a record. Not always the first choice at City, he’s now the mainstay in attack at Arsenal and so far he’s been making excellent use of the limelight.
Better team spirit
When things go like this, of course, the mood is good. In recent years, Arsenal fans have regularly been taunted by the opposition supporters because of the often bad atmosphere in their stadium: “Is this a library?” they chanted – is this a library? But now Arsenal’s fans are audibly behind their team. “Arsenal fans are turning up the volume as belief in Arteta and the players grows,” the Guardian recently observed.
The team, in which there is a better team spirit than in the past, feels the trust, said the veteran Granit Xhaka, who has been playing for Arsenal for over six years: “You can see the new and different mentality that we have this season.”
But for all the excitement, Arsenal’s lead in the standings doesn’t say much so early in the season. Their opening program was comparatively easy, and their only game so far against a so-called “Big Four” opponent was a 3-1 loss to Manchester United. The derby against Tottenham this Saturday is all the more important because the “Spurs” would overtake Arsenal with a win. Matches against Liverpool FC and Manchester City are also scheduled for October. It’s the month of truth for Arsenal FC. Now the team has to show how much life it has.
The spectators celebrate the goalscorer Gabriel Martinelli – and enjoy their club’s games again.
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Image: AFP
