22 Years In The Making

It’s not an easy task articulating the feeling of waiting 22 years for something like this, especially after it has transpired the way it has. I was 4 years old the last time this happened and looked something like in the photo below.

I’ve been obsessed with this club as long as I can remember but since starting my Twitter account around the time of Arteta’s appointment, I’ve been surrounded by Arsenal ever since. For better and for worse.

Many know that I’ve been a pretty staunch supporter of this manager since the beginning, a stance which was admittedly tested in moments for numerous reasons. At times it did feel somewhat like blind delusion but something about Arteta had me so convinced. The way his peers spoke about him, the way he articulated his thoughts to the media, the manner in which he put himself in front of his team who often failed to deliver to expectations. Today, I want to speak about a few moments that particularly stand out from this journey.

Tactically, our FA cup campaign in 2020 demonstrated an adaptability that so many young managers aren’t able to show. The maximisation of resources with David Luiz, Mustafi and co. to defeat City & Chelsea and take us to early silverware (arguably the reason he kept his job through autumn 2020). Considering the empty stadiums and water breaks, this felt like this was a window into his tactical excellence with far less variance than usually present. Since then the team has tactically evolved hugely. Seemingly moving towards Arteta’s philosophical ideals in 2022/23 before compromising on these principles to do what it takes to win. It’s not always been pretty but he’s built a team that’s a winning machine. Ignore what the media say, no Arsenal team have won as many games in a single season as this. 62 games, 44 wins, 11 draws, 7 losses. 

Psychologically I could cite various reasons for believing in him. “My chest is here, hit me” particularly stands out. It took a confident manager to take on that toxic dressing room but a humble one to take the heat when things weren’t going his way. Don’t take this project for granted, it only takes one look at our neighbours to see how it can turn out. Over the years people have laughed at some of the eccentric techniques he’s used to motivate these players but those same individuals only speak so highly of these. Considering the amount of noise around this club, his ability to keep these players focused impresses me hugely. And if reports are true we barely know half of it.

This relentless obsession with maximisation of resources even almost cost us too. Reports came out recently that it took a conversation with Eze to ask them for some breathing room. The tactical ideas were already in place, all they needed was some respite. My biggest fear for us not succeeding was never the ability of Arteta, rather his demands being too much for the squad to cope. Now that we’ve got the monkey off our back I think we’ll see a whole different team next season. The weight of pressure on these guys’ shoulders must’ve been immense.

Time to bask in the glory and reap the rewards of the hard work of all those involved with the club. Arsenal’s first Premier League title in 22 years and a Champions League final that we can actually look forward to. A special shoutout to Martinelli, Gabriel & Saka for being there throughout this journey. They’ve put this team on their back and delivered on promises. But one man in particular deserves an apology from so many. Mikel Arteta transformed this football club and I’m entirely grateful for that.