A routine 2-0 win over 16th placed Brighton marked the end of a tremendously dismal season. Is it too much to ask for Arsenal to win such games consistently over the course of a season?
What if Willian was never signed? – Pepe scored a brace which took him to 10 goals for the season, decent stats with all matters considered. What if Pepe had received utmost faith from the beginning of the season and been our starting right-winger?
So many opportunities were wasted on the insistence to play Willian. Except for the first game of the season and the free-kick against West Brom, his contributions have been negligible. His presence in the team has hindered Pepe’s progress and the development of Reiss Nelson. At times watching the Brazilian gives a feeling that Nelson can do much better than this.
What if the Ceballos loan never happened? – His presence in the team this season was more of an interference than anything else. It’s hard to forget the game against Villareal(remember before the Villareal game he said that La Liga is more his “style”). He’s had a rather indifferent season, doing the club and himself no favors along the way. It seems highly unlikely that the midfielder will return to the Emirates and chances are that Madrid will want to get rid of him.
The Spaniard’s loan meant that the Gunners had more than enough options in central midfield, this led to Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock leaving on loan in January. Joe Willock has been outstanding at Newcastle and has certainly given Arteta something to think about. What if those goals were scored for the north London club instead of Newcastle?
What if Arsenal signed a left-back in January?
What if Arteta played Saka there instead of Xhaka in the Europa League?
All in all, this was a season to forget and most people will be glad that it’s over. Hopefully, some lessons were learned. Mikel Arteta’s lack of experience showed at times i.e, failure to make changes early enough. Could it be stubbornness in refusing to admit that he got it wrong in the first place? His insistence on playing Willian, stubbornness? His role in some of the botched transfer dealings i.e., Cedric.
And what’s with the reluctance to play Gabriel Martinelli? When the youngster played, he has provided a spark, always full of running and energy. For a team that has struggled to create chances, one has to wonder why a goal threat and a nightmare to defenders of Martinelli’s ilk hasn’t featured more regularly. Maybe Arteta is trying to do with Martinelli what Pep Guardiola did with Phil Foden in previous seasons.
Credit where it’s due and hats off to those involved in the loan acquisition of Martin Ødegaard. He has been really good for us since joining the club in January. Why didn’t the north Londoners try to get him on loan last summer? Because they had just signed Willian?
This article isn’t intended to repetitively bash Willian but when was the last time a signing irked the fanbase as much as the winger. Andre Santos and Squillaci come to mind. Signing Odegaard permanently in the summer would be a superb business for the club, another year of loan agreement if a permanent transfer can’t be agreed would be greeted with cheer as well.
Anyway, the season is over now, time to rebuild. Failure to qualify for Europe for the first time in 25 years means Arsenal can focus on the league(no more Thursday night distractions). And this means they can trim the squad by getting rid of some deadwood since they won’t need a bloated squad.
