Arsenal: 5 positives in 2021 to build on under Arteta

With news of Tuesday’s clash with Wolves being called off, Arsenal are now certain to end the year on a high note by signing off 2021 with five wins in a row.

Having started December dreadfully with back-to-back defeats away at Manchester United and Everton, it’s been distinctly brighter since.

The 5-0 away thumping of Norwich as Carrow Road capped off a fine climax to a mostly forgettable 12 months. 19 goals have been scored in the five matches since Goodison Park, with only two being conceded during that time, and a place in the Carabao Cup last four is also in the bag.

It’s been a whirlwind year full of dwindling hope, soaring highs and sinking lows. Fans have been through it all with this team.

Arsenal: 5 positives in 2021 to build on under Mikel Arteta as Gunners claim Premier League top four spot heading into new year

Whether or not one has backed Mikel Arteta unreservedly, wanted him gone, or been caught somewhere in the middle, he’s still the manager. Of late, he hasn’t been doing a bad job of it, either.

Sitting in fourth, six points adrift of Chelsea and six clear of Tottenham – who have matches in hand – there have been clear improvements from the entire team under Arteta’s stewardship.

One need only rewind four months to go back to the Etihad to see a team, manager and club in disarray as Manchester City put five past Arsenal when they could so easily have hit double figures. It was hideous to watch and there was little to convince supporters that it would get better before it got worse.

Well, it has got better. Quite a lot better, in fact. Everything about the team from back to front has shown marked improvements, with a different Arsenal taking to the grass to dazzle an increasingly delighted fanbase. Top four is still an outside bet and there will be more tough days to swallow, but across the season there have been plenty of positives for this group to build on as they continue to develop individually and collectively.

1. Finding Attacking Fluency (Goals!)

Remember the times when Arsenal couldn’t score? Couldn’t create chances? Couldn’t finish the few they did make?

They weren’t fun times. Good thing they appear to be a thing of the past.

It was one of many complaints directed towards this team during the early part of the season, with chances and ultimately goals few and far between. Arteta’s rigid positional play shackled fluidity and unless the move was perfectly choreographed the route to goal was blocked.

The result was laborious football played from back to front in with no intensity or speed. Arsenal could pass their way up to the halfway line and then the invention stopped. Uninspiring, meticulous passages brought little success.

What has changed? Personnel will be brought up, as will the organic development of certain attacking principles, but there has been an undeniable improvement in the way Arsenal move themselves and the ball up and down the pitch.

19 goals in five games? A +9 goal difference having had a -9 goal difference after three games? Immeasurably more enjoyable.

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2. Sitting Back When Taking the Lead

As the season has developed so have the problems for Arsenal to face. From being unable to create chances let alone score them, when that was on the way to being solved it then grew into sustaining those periods for any length of time.

But it wasn’t just about not being able to keep the ball in the opposition half with real purpose, it was this negative mindset of backing off the opponent and inviting them on in periods of dominance. Whether down to an inferiority complex, inexperience, or personnel, Arsenal contrived to turn a position of strength into one of weakness.

With Alexandre Lacazette and Granit Xhaka in the team over recent matches, their inclusions coincide with the problem fizzling out. It would be unfair to highlight their involvements as mere coincidence in the matter.

Whatever the reasons are behind solving the issue, the bottom line it that is has been drastically improved. Whether against poor or strong opposition, Arsenal now focus on playing to their own strengths as opposed to tinkering with their own principles to nullify their weaknesses.

Like the old adage, Arsenal live more closely to the idea that offence is the best form of defence.

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3. Arsenal Confidence is Building

Individually and collectively this is noticeable with each passing performance.

The Arsenal team that started the season is nothing like the one on show now and confidence is one of the key contributors changing that. So tough to build up and yet so easy to lose, there is growing belief within this squad that they have the capabilities to go out and beat whoever they’re faced with.

Losing 4-0 at Anfield was another horror evening to add to the collection, but there was some pride to be eked from the team going there to play their football; unaltered and unreserved. It is evident from all the players that they believe in this style and approach, and it requires a certain self belief to adhere to those principles week upon week.

That is a growing development with this team. They will lose more games, of course, but you ger the feeling that the impact of those losses won’t be as mentally damaging now as it they would have been earlier in the campaign.

Through squad and staff unity this group believes it can achieve something this season. Winning games is the only way confidence can truly be attained, and in sticking together as a group they’ve steadily accumulated it as the season has progressed.

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4. Defensive Solidity & Clean Sheets

Only one goalkeeper in the Premier League this season has kept more clean sheets than Aaron Ramsdale’s nine, and that comes with an asterisk since Ederson has played three more matches than the summer recruit.

Going the first three matches without a single goal or point, and conceding nine in the process, makes the aforementioned statistic all the more impressive. And, on this occasion, the improvement can largely be placed on personnel.

Having a defence featuring Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers and Sead Kolasinac, to now having Benjamin White, Gabriel and Takehiro Tomiyasu, is a gigantic step up in quality. There still has to be endless work on the training ground to fine-tune the shape in possession and out of possession, as well as Nicolas Jover’s improvements on set pieces, but it does help having better players.

It’s also impossible not to mention the goalkeeper, too. Aaron Ramsdale has come in and transformed the way fans think about the position. His energy, enthusiasm and communication are all infectious tools that pump the crowd up and marshal the defence.

Without even discussing his quality, purely from the standpoint of defensive solidity the way he commands his box with authority has played a major role in the improvement.

Defensively Arsenal took big strides last season and with tweaks in personnel and shape that has carried over into this season. Just need to cut out the maulings against the top three…

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5. The Unity at the Club

Starting out as Arteta’s buzzword, it’s now everyone’s buzzword because it’s impossible not to see and feel it in and around the club.

"“After three defeats things get complicated. I must say it has been the best 10 or 14 days in my professional career. Not the easiest, but the best,” Arteta said prior to securing the first win of the season against Norwich. “You learn a lot in difficult moments, who you are with. In difficult moments when you see the people and the level of organisation and the fans we have. They were ready to suffer today but they just give, give, give to the team. Today and the last week everything gilded together.”"

15 games on and that bond has grown exponentially. Arteta spoke about the unity internally but externally it is the same. The fans are, for the most part, fully invested into this project. The connection between them and the team is stronger than it’s been for years.

Knowing this group is young and coming to terms with the setbacks that entails is what people are prepared for. But equally, they also know this group will only get better with each passing week. It’s incredibly exciting to watch a series of players with sky-high ceilings who are still not the finished article.

Even with the Aubameyang drama lingering in the background they’ve put all that to one side and rallied together. All aspects of the club feel more connected this season: players, staff, fans. Everyone.

Long may that continue.