Good morning people.
I haven’t had a chance to fully watch Mikel Arteta’s interview with Jamie Carragher which was on Sky Sports last night, at the ungodly hour of 10.30pm. Who’s awake at the time? I don’t anyway, but that’s due to being sick as much as anything else. However, I will make time to watch it today and we will discuss the most important elements for the podcast that will be published tomorrow morning.
However, I have seen a couple of little clips going around, one of which where Arteta says he presented a five point plan to the club about where we were and where he wanted us to be. Carragher asks “Are you ahead or behind?” Arteta replies, smiling, “Forward!”
Which makes sense given where we are on the table. That then influences what we might do in January to make the most of it. Everyone is watching how we are going to respond to the loss of Gabriel Jesús, and next month’s transfer window could be the most decisive January in history. Not just for Arsenal, but for many teams from top to bottom whose season has been interrupted by the World Cup.
Speaking to Carragher, Arteta makes reference to the fact that he can change a lot for Europa League games, allowing him to play a fairly consistent and established XI in the Premier League. But he doesn’t think he can continue as he is, because of the game schedule, the size of the team and the higher quality of European opponents as we hopefully progress. He then he says:
“We’re going to have to have more resources and more players to be able to do that.”
There are some managers who try to be vague about what they want to do in the transfer market, but you’ve no doubt noticed by now that Mikel Arteta is usually quite explicit about what he wants. In the last window he was ‘more firepower’; Before he talked about raising the level of the squad and that the only way to do it was through the market; and he spoke of Arsenal as a club that needs to maximize every transfer window.
This time around, there’s no question he wants additions in January, and like you, I hope he gets them. What gives this window and Arteta’s commentary a bit more ‘edge’, if you will, is our position at the top of the table and the kind of team we are now. It is a team that has rightly earned applause for the football it has played, and at the same time it has changed Arteta’s profile as a coach. He has changed many people’s opinion about what he is capable of.
It’s one thing to ask for new signings after two eighth places, that’s obvious. We would all do the same. But when you’re at the top of the table, and when clubs across Europe can look to Arteta as a potential future head coach/manager, it’s another matter. I’m not saying it’s about him catching up with the club in a ‘support me or else’ kind of thing, but your words carry more weight when you’re 5 points clear of Man City at the top and your team is the youngest , most exciting in the league.
Will it be extreme? A midfielder? Both of them? Anything else? Who knows? All I would say is that we saw the impact of the window last January when we missed out on the Champions League by one point. I think we’re good at learning lessons, and while I appreciate that it’s not as simple as it sounds, to not take advantage of this fantastic position we’ve put ourselves in, which we’ve earned by the way, would be a huge surprise and disappointment.
Anyway, I’ll watch it complete today and we’ll discuss it on Arsecast tomorrow. Finally, for today, congratulations to Beth Mead, who was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022.
❤️ OUR BETH MEAD ❤️
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022 ???? pic.twitter.com/pi5hnKDtfI
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) December 21, 2022
Incredible things. Well done Beth! It was sad to see her and Viv on crutches at the ceremony after their ACL injuries, but no one could argue that she didn’t deserve it.
Ok, that’s your lot for this morning. The manager is holding his pre-West Ham press conference this afternoon, so we’ll cover all the details on Arseblog News later.
For now, take it easy.
