Mikel Arteta’s magnificent Arsenal repair job has top four in sight

Defeats to Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton had April feeling like August. Three consecutive losses twice in the same season for Arsenal. Doom and gloom permeated the air.

Three matches later and the landscape has changed dramatically. It’s unrecognisable. Victories over Chelsea, Manchester United and now West Ham have thrust Arsenal not only into top four contention, but has them just about leading the way.

Mikel Arteta has this side ahead of the pack with four matches to go, with a team missing both its first choice full-backs, his best midfielder, and a junior striker who has netted seven goals in 54 Premier League appearances. Quite the achievement.

This all without mentioning how young the group is. The team put out at Stamford Bridge could have qualified for an Under-23 game, and that very team went on to beat the European champions 4-2. The individual and collective improvements of the youngsters have been delightful to follow.

Mikel Arteta is doing a magnificent job at Arsenal with the youngest squad in the Premier League while balancing key injures

Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah, Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares and Cedric Soares are not ‘top four’ names. Looking at the teamsheet put out in the 2-1 win over West Ham, if someone had seen that earlier in the season they’d have thought it might be a Carabao Cup or FA Cup lineup. On paper this team has no right to be challenging for Champions League football.

The output from all of them attests to their professionalism, that which may previously not have shone through if the environment around them wasn’t conducive of the requisite attitude and desire. As a whole the squad is united and whether it’s the occasional minute at the end or the full 90, any slight lack of quality is being supplemented by the individuals’ determination and character.

Of course, that hasn’t been the team right the way through this process, but it is near enough the one that’s beaten three Top Six chasing sides in the space of 11 days with a bench that prompted frantic googling pre-match. Zak Swanson, Alex Kirk and Salah Oulad M’Hand were in the squad at the London Stadium, three players few would have been aware of.

Opting to trim the squad as heavily during the January window was a risk, but a calculated one. It sets Arsenal up perfectly for the transfer window. That summer may still be with planning in place for Europa League football, though. Who knows. The fact that the Champions League is even realistic with a team that includes two 20-year-old’s flanking a striker with two open play goals this season is remarkable.

The circumstances have been far from straightforward. Chaos and calamity have struck, while the mental resilience required to galvanise and then overcome the opening three games of the season is special.

Have Arsenal benefited from a lack of European football? Undoubtedly. Did they spend more than anyone else in the summer (on apparent backups)? They did.

But to be where they are with the injuries they’ve had, the youngest team in the league, and the youngest manager in the league, is more than commendable. One and all deserve praise: the staff, the players, and the fans. The manager gets his flowers too. While short-termism is coming to the fore over this final stretch of games, all the while a sustainable and entertaining style of play has been implemented to complement the culture.

Arsenal are just three points adrift of Chelsea in third. Let that sink in.

In as few as two games’ time Arsenal could reach the finish line. If it does happen there will be plenty who look back and ask ‘how the heck did they pull that off with this team?’, and that will let us a lot.