“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” is a statement most Arsenal fans don’t like to think they have in their vocabulary, but it’s one they often find themselves using season after season.
Year upon year, following an above average start to the season, Gooners begin to think it could be their year, before inevitably being told that wicked phrase. Without reason, they ignore the advice only for a year’s worth of hype to crash down on them when the season that looked so promising fails to live up to expectation
But will that change this year?
Arsenal have started the brightest out of any of their title rivals this season bar Manchester City who, having said that, have not won in four games in all competitions, including a 4-0 sweeping up at the hands of Barcelona.
Arsenal have looked potent in attack. The emergence of Alex Iwobi and form of Theo Walcott coupled with the constant threat of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have created a fluid front four that has looked dangerous on every attack. Proof of their attacking prowess came when they put six past Bulgarian champions Ludogorets in the Champions League.
Their back four of Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal have on rare occasions looked shaky, but a huge improvement is noticeable as opposed to that of older campaigns’ frailties.
Arsenal’s main title rivals all seemed to pick up the pace early this season, however no team has looked entirely convincing. Again Pep Guardiola’s City are worth mentioning, as are Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United. This again is getting some Gunners excited, given Arsenal are unbeaten in 11 games since the first-day defeat to Liverpool.
But how does this differ to a normal season?
When you look at seasons gone past the same scenarios repeat themselves: good start, poor winter, signing-less New Year, injury-filled end of season. Arsene Wenger, despite being the mastermind of Arsenal’s not-so-successful years, cannot entirely be held accountable.
Winter’s busy fixtures have all too often spelled the end of the line for an Arsenal side looking for trophies, and with injury-riddled Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere in the middle of your park, you are never going to make it out in one piece.
The most frustrating part of the season, however, is Arsenal’s failure to buy what’s necessary and not recognising the desperate need for backup. Wenger pre-2013 did not purchase what fans were crying out for, resulting in a very trim-looking squad leading into the end of season sprint. Some blame can be shifted to the club’s stadium debt still being paid, however Wenger himself has proved that good quality doesn’t always come at a high cost.
Slowly, as Arsenal have started to enter a financially stable situation again, signings have improved, through the acquisitions of Brazilian Gabriel Paulista and then in 2016, Mohamed Elneny, both proving to be more-than-useful squad players when necessary.
It continued to change further this year, when Wenger bought big in the summer, prompting scenes of jubilation from supporters around the world, in positions that needed desperate work done to them. The signings, Granit Xhaka, Mustafi and Lucas Perez have all looked promising.
Xhaka, despite having a game to forget against Swansea, has played well during Coquelin’s brief absence. Mustafi has more than lived up to the price tag of 35 million pounds, shepherding the Arsenal back line comfortably with Laurent Koscielny. Lucas Perez we haven’t seen a whole lot of, however his two appearances (one off the bench) leading the line have been impressive and have outlined the potential the Spanish forward has.
These signings coupled with an already strong squad has resulted in Wenger creating a tightly bonded group, mentioning more than once about his belief that this squad is a squad of men, implying that earlier seasons’ squads were not as mature and hard working as the group he has before him this year.
As much as Arsenal fans would like to not use the fabled phrase, all the signs are there that Arsene Wenger has planned well for a busy winter and considering this might be his last hoorah in the EPL, this could be the season Arsenal fans feel is long overdue.
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