Arsenal – The end of the season 2020/2021!
Whichever way you look at it, Mikel Arteta’s first full season in charge of Arsenal has been underwhelming at best. An eighth place finish means an end to a run of 25 successive campaigns in Europe, a record the club were extremely proud of.
There have been calls for his head from some sections of the fanbase while others have insisted he requires more time – he’s wasted no time in taking over from Mesut Ozil as the most divisive figure at the club.
Here’s a review of Arsenal’s season by way of a report card, complete with a final grade.
Despite finishing on 61 points – five more than the Gunners achieved during the 2019/20 season – they were unable to improve on their eighth-placed finish. Last season, a total of 61 points would have seen the club finish 6th, but this time around it wasn’t even good enough to see them sneak into the Europa Conference League.
13 defeats is simply unacceptable for a club the size of Arsenal, especially when you consider seven of those came at the Emirates Stadium. Inconsistency has been their biggest problem and many have put that down to the manager’s tinkering, his overly defensive tactics at times, and his failure to strike the right balance in the first half of the season.
To be fair to Arteta, their Premier League form since Christmas has improved dramatically with only Manchester United and Manchester City picking up more points than the north Londoners during that period. Signs of progress?
The decision to abandon the back three and introduce a specialist creative midfielder to the mix has led to the team creating more chances, scoring more goals and subsequently picking up more points. Emile Smith Rowe’s emergence has been key in the improvement as has the arrival of Martin Odegaard on loan. It’s proved to be too little too late but if we’re to criticise the Arsenal boss’ approach in the early part of the season, it’s only fair we give him credit when something he implements has a positive impact.
All the Arsenal fans around the whole globe believe in Arteta’s process! There are huge hopes for upcoming summer!!!
In Arteta We Trust! ❤️
Come On You Gunners ❤️
