Arsenal's season review: Away blues and future news

If we are honest with each other, this season never looked hopeful for Arsenal.

However, after a successful 2017, and the Community Shield early in the bag, a few fans had more optimism than the rest. The signing of Alexandre Lacazette was the major reason behind that, even dampening the possible (& eventual) departure of Alexis Sanchez.

The first game against Leicester seemed to encapsulate all the excitement that would be seen for the club this season. The 4-3 win showcased just how attack minded this side was and just how incapable it was of any form of defense.

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From there, it was down-hill every time the Gunners played away from home. Losses against Liverpool and Stoke, showed there was a pattern forming already. Whether it was the horrendous blue kit or just homesickness, who knows. The fans started to see the pattern too-unfortunately though-Wenger did not.

The defensive lapses have been building up over the years just as much as the injuries for Arsenal. Laurent Koscielny has held the flag for “best defender” at the club for years, and even he is now slipping down the scale. And when your line of defense doesn’t work, the last line of it should. Sadly, Petr Cech’s time for being useful between the posts seems to be ending. It was in fact nice to see David Ospina occasionally take the pitch-and that is saying something.

Whether Mustafi can come good or not remains to be seen, but this will not be a season he remembers fondly. Caught out of position too often, his timing on the ball as well as any knowledge of where the striker is, was largely absent. The Greek influx expected at the club with Mavropanos and possibly Sokratis next season may just give him a calming influence. That, and the fact that he has an extra 7 week vacation this summer.

In the cup competitions-which are these days Arsenal’s best chances of glory-the results were quite thinly veiled. Whether it was the Carabao Cup or the Europa League, the eventual results were expected by the majority of the fan base. And yet, seeing Wenger’s side do wonders at Milan and Moscow was something unexpected and special.

Arsenal’s Art(eta)-istic football is the future

It goes to say that even in a season as bad as this one, Arsenal’s ability to come up with special performances speaks of an undefined art form. Call it the “Arsenal way” or whatever, it certainly keeps the neutral fan entertained.

And that will probably be one of the values Mikel Arteta looks to continue at the club, should the odds-on favorite get the reign of the realm. The midfield maestro of yesteryear has certainly got the nous and classy appearance to see over the post-Wenger era transition.

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It is perhaps poetic to see the club do exactly what they did 22 years ago-hiring completely outside of the (first) predicted list of managers and maintain the philosophy rooted at Arsenal. To talk about his success right now would be foolish, but one thing is certain. Arteta will continue the trend of beautiful football in North London.

The question that burns the mind is: Will it yield the same returns as that of Wenger’s last decade-or the first one? Perhaps a good thought for the Gunners fans is, no matter which way the pendulum swings-change will occur. And it’s a change long overdue.