Have Arsenal done enough?

They've spent this summer. So have other teams.

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Stats are from FBRef unless stated otherwise

It’s 21 years since Arsenal last won the Premier League.

Let’s ignore the fact that I feel absolutely ancient thinking about my vivid memories of Patrick Vieira lifting the trophy. It’s a long drought. When Liverpool were at this point in their title wait, it was summer 2011, with fans hoping that Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson could help Luis Suárez and Andy Carroll in Kenny Dalglish’s changed side. The shame of going that long without the title had fully set in at Anfield. Does it feel that way at the Emirates?

They’re certainly trying to change things. It’s just a slow process. I’ve made the same tongue-in-cheek comment a million times that Mikel Arteta takes after David Moyes more than any other manager he’s worked with. But if you asked him, I think he’d pretty sincerely say that Moyes is an influence. The previous clubs he played for were all short stays. His time at Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal didn’t deliver the success fans craved. But those seven seasons at Everton were a very positive period for the Toffees. His time under Moyes was by far the most stable and, adjusting for the talent level, productive of his career.

Moyes works at a snail’s pace. He failed to have a quick impact at Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland but found success gradually building sides at Everton and West Ham (and I assume Preston, but I wasn’t exactly watching a lot of lower league football around the turn of the millennium). It can feel sluggish in real time, but Moyes looks to very gradually build a hard-working and disciplined team of players who fit into the specific roles to fit his vision of a solid, tough-to-beat team that frustrates opponents, keeps its shape with disciplined midfielders, and emphasises organisation. They can be dull to watch at times, but Moyes builds very structured football in which every piece seems to slot together perfectly.

Add a bit of juego de posición and you’ve got Arteta, basically. Things happen slowly at Arsenal. Sometimes they take a step back before two steps forward. But the progression is there to be seen, injuries notwithstanding, and they’ve added some key pieces. Is it enough? Can it bridge the gap to the top right now? Let’s have a look.

Let’s start at the end that needed improving. Viktor Gyökeres fills that eternal fan need for a big name centre forward, and while he wasn’t cheap at £63.5 million including add ons (€73.5m, $86m), it’s still less than Liverpool and Man Utd paid for their new strikers (and a lot less than Liverpool might pay for yet another forward). While he did overperform his expected goals in Portugal, we’re still talking about a lot of production here, getting over four shots a game and making sure those were generally good chances. The red flag is that he kind of came out of nowhere. He moved to Brighton in 2018 and found himself loaned out to second-tier sides in England and Germany. His time at the Seagulls mostly overlapped with Graham Potter, a man who wanted to play good football but seemed to lack in terms of finishing, so I’d have to think he would’ve had chances if he really impressed in training or the cup competitions. Instead, Brighton decided to sell him to Coventry in the Championship, indicating they did not expect him to become a future Champions League striker. Gyökeres was good for the Sky Blues, enough so to move to Sporting, but not so good that English football thought it had let a major talent slip through its fingers. The explosion only happened in Portugal. I think this is a good signing, but I would worry slightly that Brighton might have had legitimate reasons to doubt his talent. We will see.

Noni Madueke made pretty big strides last year so, obviously, Chelsea just had to sell him. Arsenal were clearly conscious of injury issues last year, with Bukayo Saka playing just half the available minutes in the league, so here comes Madueke. If Arteta wants a backup to Saka, he’s found an excellent choice here: another direct left-footed right winger, albeit one with a little more emphasis on taking shots himself and a less complete game. The more important question is whether the two can play together. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a top Premier League club regularly start a left footer on the left, which is what Madueke will have to be. So much of his game has been about coming in from the right, so it would take a period of adaptation, but I do think Arteta is a coach who can help him reshape his toolset for a different role. It feels like a signing where they prioritised buying a good player over tactical fit.

Leandro Trossard was rumoured to leave the Emirates before the window closes, but now he’s signing a new contract. My guess here is that Kai Havertz’ injury could last a while, and Arteta wants to ensure he has the attacking depth he missed last year. Saka, Gyökeres and Gabriel Martinelli started together against Man Utd, with Madueke and Trossard able to be rotated in. Gabriel Jesus could play a role if he can return to fitness. Ethan Nwaneri and potentially Eberechi Eze are also options out wide. Arsenal do have depth here now, and last season’s injury concerns shouldn’t scare fans this time.

To state the obvious, Arsenal didn’t create enough chances to win the title last season. They scored a perfectly nice 69 goals, behind only Liverpool and City, but finishing was on their side. xG had Arsenal with just the seventh-best attack in the Premier League. Some of that was outside Arteta’s control, with the side suffering injuries, but I still think he can be too cautious at times. Declan Rice and Thomas Partey started a majority of league games together. There is a much more important conversation to be had about Arsenal’s complete and total moral failings around Partey (which admittedly is far from a unique problem in football). On the pitch, it had the side effect of making this team very dull to watch at times. Partey has thankfully left, but to be replaced by Martín Zubimendi, another defensive-minded midfielder whose status dictates he will start most games.

I don’t say this to criticise Zubimendi at all. I really like the combination of him as more of a passing pivote in the, well, the Arteta mould alongside Rice as a box-to-box player. It’s the same combination Arsenal were looking for when they had Jorginho, but he didn’t come with the expectation to play every week. Against lesser sides, I’d rather see the option of either one in front of two more attack-minded players. Yes, I know that Zubimendi has been more adventurous in preseason. No, I do not care what a new signing did to catch the eye in preseason. Likely incoming signing Eberechi Eze can change things if Arteta is willing to use him alongside Ødegaard in midfield for certain games. I like the idea of this signing if this is a serious option, but I’ll be underwhelmed if Eze only plays as cover for Ødegaard or out wide.

A midfield double pivot can work if those around them are more attack-minded. Arsenal have not been that team recently. But let’s not pretend there isn’t an upside here. Arsenal have arguably the best-organised defensive unit in Europe. David Raya, Ben White, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães have played together a lot at this point. Riccardo Calafiori is a more recent addition but has slotted in fine, with Myles Lewis-Skelly a more than able deputy. White and Calafiori have both played at centre back in the past, though they do get forward more than one would guess. They are not Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, but nor is this a flat back four. Again, I would still like to see more ambition than we usually get, but this is good.

Liverpool and Man City have felt like they’re going through revolutions this summer. Arsenal have iterated. They’ve done so with pretty expensive pieces, but this is aiming to be a better version of the team we’ve seen for the last couple of years. The case for Arsenal is that stability beats instability. I do think it depends on Liverpool and City as much as what they do, but yes, they are in with a very strong shot here.