{"id":7019,"date":"2022-11-19T17:59:23","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T17:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7019"},"modified":"2022-11-21T14:11:27","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T14:11:27","slug":"the-season-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7019","title":{"rendered":"The Season So Far"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-1024x264.png\" alt=\"qatarwhy575.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-7025\" width=\"563\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-1024x264.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-300x77.png 300w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-768x198.png 768w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-75x19.png 75w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42.png 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 563px) 100vw, 563px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>May 22<sup>nd<\/sup>, 2022. Arsenal thrash Everton 5-1 at a sun-soaked Emirates Stadium as we are pipped to the final Champions League spot by our fiercest rivals. But the mood remains upbeat. Throughout the 2021\/22 season, Arsenal supporters are beginning to see Mikel Arteta\u2019s fabulous process show significant signs of development. Despite being consigned to another season without the prestige and honour of dining at Europe\u2019s top table, the consensus is that if Arteta continues to be backed by the board, as he was the previous summer, another season of progress would follow.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going into the new season, the main priorities were signing a top number nine to replace the departed Lacazette and his grand total of 2 NPG (non-penalty goals) from the previous season as well as the hapless Aubameyang who was shown the door by Arteta the previous January. Also on the agenda was a central midfielder, ideally a number 6, to lighten the load on the imperious, but injury prone Thomas Partey. Our first major signing was slightly left-field, but exciting nonetheless, as we plucked F\u00e1bio Vieira, a 22-year-old attacking midfielder from Porto. The fee was said to be in the region of around \u00a334 million. He was to be cover for Martin \u00d8degaard and he fitted the age profile as well as Arteta\u2019s penchant for left-footed attackers who drift inside from the right. Our next signing was a very exciting one, as we picked up Gabriel Jes\u00fas from champions Manchester City for \u00a345 million. This was the centre forward Arteta had been craving. A false nine who would regularly drop in between the lines contributing to our build up play. Whilst Jes\u00fas may not have been hugely prolific for City, he was by no means a regular starter and was often deployed on the wings by Pep. The Brazilian was certainly a signing that got Gunners fans off their seats.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1244724900\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1244724900?et=rH2gOB9vSpdZJ0At2uoSlA&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=slYSqyU1YyYJpp-pDVuoEl-87YWj7CHRk92h7djCqqE=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>With some crucial early business done and dusted we headed into pre-season full of confidence. As a result, we won all seven friendlies. Towards the end of pre-season, we again turned to Manchester City, this time for a left back as we pinched Oleksandr Zinchenko to provide stern competition for Kieran Tierney. But it was a player we had signed three years previously who was making waves. We had signed William Saliba in 2019 but he had been out on loan in France ever since. Now aged 21, Arteta seemingly deemed him ready to fight for his first team place. In he went to the starting eleven for the first game at Crystal Palace. A ground where we had struggled in recent times. Once again, we were chosen to kick off the season away on a Friday night. A strong defensive performance brought about a 2-0 win. White and Saliba impressed immensely. \u201cIt was only Crystal Palace though.\u201d Comfortable victories over Leicester and Bournemouth ensued, preceding a pair of 2-1 home wins against Fulham and Aston Villa with late winners being required in both. So, what did it all mean? We had won all our opening 5 games of the season for the first time since 2004. Still, \u201cwe hadn\u2019t played anyone decent\u201d. It wasn\u2019t like Liverpool failed to beat both Crystal Palace and Fulham or Manchester City had dropped points to Aston Villa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On to our first Big Six encounter of the season. United away. A huge chance to lay down a marker against a rival away from home. We thought we had got off to a great start with Martinelli putting us ahead early on. But it was harshly ruled out for a foul, and we went on to lose 3-1 in unlucky circumstances. Obviously, such joy-sucking parasites as Gary Neville and Richard Keys fed on this loss like malnourished vampires, playing up to the narrative of \u201cthey can\u2019t do it against a decent side\u201d.&nbsp;&nbsp;However, we quickly recovered, swatting aside the Brentford Bees before the international break. (Because apparently we really needed one of those).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Into October. It looked to be a titanic month for The Arsenal with nine games scheduled, five in the league, four in Europe. Now let\u2019s not forget, we were widely expected to drop off in this period. Did we? Let\u2019s have a look. (Spoiler alert, we didn\u2019t). First up was the NLD at home. The 3-0 loss at the Toilet Bowl just five months previously was still a sore memory, but we could put that to bed here. And we did. A Partey screamer preceded a Kane equaliser (pen, obviously) before a Lloris howler allowed Jes\u00fas to tap home to restore our lead. We then saw the hilariously bad Emerson Royal get a straight red before Xhaka stuck in a third. We probably would\u2019ve scored more if Conte didn\u2019t respond by bringing on 5 defenders.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On to Last season\u2019s runners-up. Despite having a poor start to the season, Liverpool\u2019s visit to North London signalled another chance to show the world that we could mix it with the big boys. And mix it we did. Martinelli gave us the lead inside a minute before a Saka brace, sandwiched by a pair of Liverpool equalisers. It was a game that showed our attacking prowess, with Martinelli tearing Alexander Arnold to shreds, but also our resolve after being pegged back twice. This was the moment people began to believe. Apart from Gary Neville who was still adamant we would finish 12<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;and Cristiano Ronaldo would suddenly wake up aged 25 again and fire Man United to the title with 18 games to spare. I digress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We scraped past Leeds at Elland Road before succumbing to a 1-1 draw at Southampton. Oh well! Got to give the rest of the league a chance, I suppose. We ended the month by thrashing Nottingham Forest 5-0 at the Emirates as we ended that marathon month still two points clear at the top. Oh, and we were also still top of our Europa League group. So much for dropping off!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We had two final league games before some of our players jetted off to the desert to play in a World Cup in the esteemed football loving nation of Qatar. It must be true &#8211; Sepp Blatter said so! First up, Chelsea at the Bus Stop. We won. We do that quite a lot these days. It\u2019s quite nice. Makes you wonder why we didn\u2019t do it before. We then lost to Brighton in the Donald Duck regional cup with our second stringers, before beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Molineux. We also won our Europa League group meaning we qualified automatically to the Round of 16 and avoided the danger of a play-off tie against one of the big boys from the Champions League (unlucky, Gary!). So, what does it all mean? After 14 games our record looks like this: played 14, won 12, drawn 1, lost 1. 37 points from a possible 42. Our best start to a season and the 3<sup>rd<\/sup>&nbsp;best across all clubs. Every side with at least 37 points at this stage of the season has gone on to win the league.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, is it now time to reassess our aims and objectives for the season? In August, the aim was undisputedly a top four finish. And bar a collapse of epic proportions we will achieve that with distinction. The 70-point mark is generally the bar you need to reach for top four points meaning we would likely only need around 33 points from our remaining 24 games. We are currently on track to finish on 90+ points which would be a greater tally than the \u2018Invincibles\u2019. Obviously, we have to accept that the remaining two thirds of the season will probably not be as plain sailing as the opening third therefore we may not reach that, but should we be aiming for a higher target? It is likely we will finish in the top 2, we are top of all the metrics; expected goals, expected points and the like, which suggests this is no false position. We are top because we deserve to be, because not just our results but our performances have merited it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think Arteta will be telling his players, privately, to go for it, but as far as the press are concerned, he will be keeping it coy. It is not easy to manage an overachieving group of players, your aims are always shifting, we\u2019re breaking new boundaries almost on a weekly basis. There are parallels to the 15\/16 season here. Several Big Six sides are underperforming (Liverpool and Chelsea), some of them are in perpetual transition (Man United) and some are infamous trophy dodgers (no prizes for guessing who I\u2019m referring to here). One is performing as expected and one is shattering all former expectations. Of course, the key difference here is in 15\/16 all the big six had a year off which allowed Leicester to do what they did whereas this time the league is much stronger. And it would be much less of a shock if Arsenal won the league compared to the reaction when Leicester won it. But a shock it would be, nonetheless. It\u2019s like comparing the shock of winning the EuroMillions to seeing your dog get up on its hind legs and start reciting Shakespeare but who knows what awaits us post-Christmas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I think the aim is now the title. \u201cReach for the moon. Even if you miss, you shall land among the stars\u201d seems an appropriate saying here. If we finish second no one will be calling for Arteta\u2019s head despite some disappointment. If you offered any rational Arsenal fan a second-place finish in August, they would\u2019ve snapped your hand off. But what would you rather have, a second-place finish and no trophies or fourth place and the Europa league? Which hints at progress more? I would argue the former.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s difficult to give the players less than 9.5 out of 10 for the season so far. I can\u2019t see how Arteta can justifiably be given less than full marks. Let\u2019s hope we keep up this incredible form post-Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COYG!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-1024x264.png\" alt=\"qatarwhy575.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-7025\" width=\"563\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-1024x264.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-300x77.png 300w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-768x198.png 768w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42-75x19.png 75w, https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screen-Shot-2022-11-19-at-18.01.42.png 1100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 563px) 100vw, 563px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 22nd, 2022. Arsenal thrash Everton 5-1 at a sun-soaked Emirates Stadium as we are pipped to the final Champions League spot by our fiercest rivals. But the mood remains upbeat. Throughout the 2021\/22 season, Arsenal supporters are beginning to see Mikel Arteta\u2019s fabulous process show significant signs of development. Despite being consigned to another [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7019"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7038,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7019\/revisions\/7038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}