Arsenal: 4 reasons Arteta’s side can clinch top four spot

It feels like Arsenal vs the world. Having successfully had the North London Derby postponed on account of being unable to field enough senior players, suddenly everyone has gone mad.

Mad with rage. Mad with frustration. Mad with….madness.

The pile on is bizarre. The Premier League put in place a highly flawed system that had seen 19 matches postponed, yet now that Arsenal have operated within the confines of those regulations they’ve now framed as the ‘bad guys’.

Nobody necessarily agrees with the rules in place, they are plain ridiculous, it just makes no sense using up this much energy on a team who’ve done the same as numerous teams before them and not even so much as lifted a finger in response when it’s happened to them.

Arsenal: 4 reasons Mikel Arteta’s side can clinch top four spot in the Premier League as their hopes of securing Champions League football are alive

Perhaps the outrage hints towards something else. After all, it’s the teams in and around Arsenal that have been voicing their ill-informed opinions loudest.

Is it because this postponement does the Gunners a favour in their bid to secure a top four place in the Premier League season? It might be, you know. Maybe all this anger is built on the idea of fear; genuine concern that this is a team that can pip the others to the top four post.

That fear might be justified.

Make no bones about it, Arsenal are in the top four hunt. Well and truly so, with the January window possibly aiding their cause. A feat that seemed far beyond achievable three matches into the season is now up for grabs with less than half of the campaign to go. It’s absolutely not certain and there is a long way still to go, but there are plenty of reasons why Arsenal can get back into the top four.

1. Arsenal’s Current Trajectory

Three games into 2022 and Arsenal are yet to taste victory, but the trajectory of this team has been a steadily climbing one ever since that summer window slammed shut and the first victory was secured.

Mikel Arteta’s ideas have never been more evidenced in this team than they have now. Chances are no longer at a premium, build-up play isn’t sluggish, and the back of the net bulges with far more regularity.

Fans can see the improvements every week. Ignoring the age of the players and many of their careers being in their infancy, as an actual squad many of these individuals are building partnerships that are still only 15 or so matches old. A team has near enough been assembled from matchday three of the season.

Even with the aforementioned young players, who will develop in unison and have their best moments in a few years’ time, already this campaign fans can see them improving individually and collectively. Watching Gabriel Martinelli live up to his potential, Emile Smith Rowe adding end product to his game and Bukayo Saka dominating matches with mature technical play is every reason to believe this team can continue winning this term.

Arsenal are better in every which way. All of the ‘best’ performances of the season are being surpassed with new, more complete displays. This group is only going in one direction and there is nothing to say that might not lead them to the top four come May.

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