Arteta has raised the standards at Arsenal – now we need to demand the signings to match his amibition

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Since Mikel Arteta has come into the club, there has been a lot of talk about projects and phases. A few fans have criticised this having seen other managers come into their clubs and reach some level of success.

The difference between Arsenal and someone like Manchester United is that we are not going for short term glory, cups will not paper over the cracks.

Whilst we do need to start converting these good seasons into silverware, there is a bigger picture at play. And that is where the project and phases come in.

Some people are not aware how much of a mess the club were in on and off the field towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s reign and throughout Unai Emery’s.

From ageing, overpaid, underperforming, problematic “superstars” on the pitch to a dysfunctional leadership team off. The training facilities were dated and we were reportedly close to losing our academy status due to the decline.

Mikel Arteta, Edu, Josh Kroenke, Per Mertesacker and others basically stripped the club back and have rebuilt it. Whilst this might not have seen any short term glory (although it has to be remembered Arteta has won the FA Cup), it is putting the club back on the right track for future success.

We saw last season how much we were progressing as a club when we signed David Raya to replace Aaron Ramsdale.

This decision led to some criticism from the club, but Theirry Henry got it spot on when he said Ramsdale was a keeper to take you to top 4, whilst Raya could be the keeper to win us the league.

The fact is, we are now at a stage of the “project” where incoming players will be of a much higher standard than previously, raising the ceiling of the club. They will be players to help us get over the line to win the title, rather than players to help us maintain a top 4 challenge.

As a result, some fans need to raise their standard when they are listing the players they want us to sign.

Bring me Michel Sanchez, Dovbyk, Miguel and Portu to Arsenal and we win the league I saw one YouTuber post on X over the Bank Holiday weekend. This is a perfect example of fans not having high enough standard.

The 3 players and a manger all come from Girona, who had a decent season in La Liga finishing 3rd. But they are a one-season wonder and none of them would raise the standard at Arsenal.

Michel Sanchez (Manager) – Firstly I am not sure why replacing Mikel Arteta is even an option. Secondly, if Arteta did leave, someone like Sanchez would not be anywhere near our replacement list.

It is interesting how some fans preach high standards, demand Arteta be sacked for failing to win the league this season, and discuss us going for Pep, Conte, Tuchel or Allegri, and then also claim that a man who has won nothing in his managerial career would take us to the league. Raise your standards.

Artem Dovbyk (Striker) – The forward has been in good form for Girona during his first season in Spain, scoring 24 goals in 36 games. But the Ukrainian turns 27 in a month and is very much a journeyman striker who has spent all his career before this season in Europe’s minor leagues. One good season does not make a good player. Raise your standard.

Miguel Gutierrez (Left back) – A perfect example of what I am talking about. Miguel is a solid left back, but is not at the standard of Zinchenko, Tomiyasu or Timber. He neither raises arsenal’s ceiling or our floor. Raise your standards.

Portu (Midfielder) – At this point I am starting to think that the original poster has just googled ‘Girona’s best players’ and never actually watched them or looked into their players. If we are looking to raise the ceiling or floor of Arsenal, why would we be looking to sign a 32 year old Spanish journeyman winger? Raise your standards.

When looking at what players we are going to sign this year, it has to be remembered we are now title challengers. We are not in 8th, or just looking to challenge for the top 4.

Arteta has raised the standards of players we can now attract. Fans now need to follow suit and raise their standards for what they demand.

I expect 3 or 4 players this summer (outside David Raya). All of them will either raise the ceiling or floor of the club. If a player you want is not drastically better than someone already at the club, then do not even bother mentioning.

Next we will hear people saying they want us to sign Lewis Dunk or Ryan Fraser again!

Arsenal are in a great place. We just need everyone on the same page, demanding we continue to push forward, sign better players and improve.

UTA

Keenos

Mikel Arteta needs to start converting good seasons into more silverware

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I did not end up watching the FA Cup final yesterday.

Harlow Garden Centre was too sunny, too peaceful. By the time I had done a bit of shopping, grabbed meself some fresh lemonade and a slice of cake and got home it was already half time. At that point all I wanted to do was sit in my garden and relax.

Manchester United won which robs us of an August trip to Wembley.

Whilst I do not consider the Community Shield as a relevant trophy, it is still nice to have a semi-serious pre-season game at Wembley where we can all meet up, shake off the cobwebs and get ready for the next 9 months in the sunshine.

With Man U winning it, it raises the question of whether they (and Liverpool) have a better season than us.

I remember back in 2020 when we finished 8th and failed to win a trophy, those outside of the club continued with the narrative that we had a bad season. Meanwhile us fans did not care. We had a day out and lifted a trophy.

And imagine it is the same for Man u fans today.

They will not care one bit that they finished 8th, 31 points off their local rivals. All that matters is they won the FA Cup. And the record books only ever remember the winners.

So whilst we might sit there and mock Man U’s poor season, ultimately they won a trophy and we did not.

Whilst I am delighted about the progress on and off the pitch we have made from Mikel Arteta – I do not think some of our critics realise how bad the situation the club was in prior to his and Edu’s arrival – we have finished trophyless for the 4th successive season.

I am not going to jump on Arteta’s back, just like I did not jump on Arsene Wenger’s. But there is a slight concern that we might follow the route of Tottenham in those mid-late 2010s.

Tottenham finished 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, made 3 semi-finals and got to the Champions LEague final from 2016 to 2021, but they ultimately won nothing. All the progress we shown in the last 24 months will mean nothing if we do not start picking up trophies.

Now I am not saying I would rather finish 8th and win an FA Cup. What we need to do is start picking up cups whilst maintaining a title challenge. That way even if we finish 2nd, we still finish the season with some sort of glory.

I am sure the silverware will come. And as we continue to raise the ceiling and floor of the squad, we should be in a better position to compete on 4 fronts.

The consequence of Man U winning the FA Cup means that Chelsea only qualify for the Europa Conference (they will probably win it), and Newcastle have no European football. That could leave couple of their stars to looking elsewhere for European football. Could it open a door for Arsenal to sign a Bruno or Isak? Who knows.

We did brilliantly this season. But now we need to compete in the league whilst winning trophies.

The She Wore Shop is 10 years old today! Dunno where the time has gone….

 For those who don’t know, the shop was started 3 weeks after I had lost my job in 2014 with the last £50 we had left in the overdraft by buying 50 badgepins and putting some yellow ribbon behind it for the 2014 FA Cup final.

They sold in minutes, so we ordered more and more…

A lot has changed in 10 years. Items that were impossible to be made in the UK can now be made same day. Our clothing is still made to order and can take longer.

We are still nowhere near Amazon levels of speed – and also rely on Royal Mail rather than have a fleet of our own drivers!

I still use the same clothing supplier who made our very 1st polo shirts and he has become a close mate. In the last few years we have both been through some very dark times, but we built a great friendship and supported each other.

The shop has never made us fortunes. The car is 9 years old, we still count the pennies at the end of each month and the kids have never had an overseas holiday. The mortgage is paid on time and the kids do their sports clubs, play way to much Playstation and are happy. And that is what is important.

None of this would have been possible without the support and backing of you. We have all seen the meme about shopping local, and how you are paying for someones children’s ballet class, karate and school uniform. That is exactly what you are all doing when you buy something from our shop.

I am grateful to every single one of you. Whether you have bought once or are a regular buyer. Even just a RT, Like or Share means the world to me.

As a thank you, everything on the shop is 10% off for today and tomorrow. No code needed, the discount is automatically applied at check out: She Wore Shop

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend! And thanks again.

Gav

Arsenal look to “raise the ceiling and floor” this summer

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Morning!

FA Cup final weekend and I do not think I have ever been so disinterested in one.

Usually, I would be buzzing for the biggest day in the English footballing calendar. Today I will not even watch it. Instead I will be in a garden centre in Harlow.

A bit of Arsenal chatter today about ceilings and floors.

Players that raise the ceiling are those that make the top end of the team better, and therefore raise the ceiling of the team. Think Declan Rice.

Meanwhile, players that raise the floor are those that come in at the bottom end of the squad, improving on those firing players. You can also raise the floor by signing “raise the ceiling” players, demoting a current starter to a back-up dancer and letting go the current squad player.

An example of this was seen last season when we signed Declan Rice. That one player raised both the ceiling and floor.

Rice was better than anything we had in midfield. But his recruitment also meant that Thomas Partey became 2nd choice, Jorginho 3rd choice and Mohamed Elneny a fringe player.

Jorginho as 3rd choice is a huge upgrade on Elneny who was previously 3rd choice. We also saw Albert Sambi Lokonga depart on loan.

If you raise the floor and ceiling at the same time, you are both improving the starting XI and improving the squad depth.

Talk is that Arsenal are looking to recruit one “ceiling” player. My bet is it will be that striker. The club will then look for 2-3 players that will raise the floor. I would imagine that will be a central midfielder and maybe another centre back.

This really shows how clear Arsenal, Edu and Mikel Arteta are thinking right now.

No longer does it feel like we are working without a plan, waiting to see who becomes available or is offered to us. We are determining our targets and going out and getting them.

Of course, it could be all for nothing as once against Manchester City will be outspending everyone.

There is already talk that they are looking to dump Matheus Nunes this summer. The former-Wolves midfielder was signed for £53m when they failed to secure Declan Rice. The fact the can discard £50m+ players like they are Uno cards highlights their financial doping.

We do not beat Manchester City by outspending them. We beat them through smarter recruitment.

Raising the ceiling and floor is good recruitment.

In other news, I see Lucas Paqueta could be in deep trouble having been charged with getting booked deliberately for “the improper purpose of affecting the betting market”. Could not happen to a nicer player at a nicer club.

West Ham got a little too big for their boots after a couple of seasons of finishing top 7, and then winning the Intertwobob Conference League thing. They then celebrated last year as they “did Arsenal out of £100m” whilst ceiling the only player that made them relevant.

Having pushed David Moyes out, they have recruited a Wolves reject. Their star midfielder is looking at a long, long ban and, with no Europe, the likes of Jarod Bowen and Mohamed Kudos might not be around much longer. I would take both at Arsenal as cover for Bukayo Saka. Their ceiling players are our raise the floor ones.

I would not be surprised if in 12-months time we are sitting here and West Ham and their god awful stadium have been relegated to the Championship.

But hey, you will always have that day you sold your star to Mikel Arteta.

Enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend.

Keenos