Arsenal may have one more game to play, but their season is all but over. Second place is secured with a significant goal difference over their only challenger for the runners-up position, Manchester City. While finishing in second place in the world’s toughest league for a third-straight season might be impressive on paper, the reality is Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta are aiming for so much more.
Arteta knows the pressure and expectation that he himself has brought about thanks to his work at the club, elevating the Gunners back into title contention domestically and in Europe. While calling for patience again, speaking at a fan event at Union Chapel on Saturday evening, there is growing angst among those whose patience is running thin.
Yet before Sunday’s game and the win over a stubborn Newcastle United side that has burned the club three times already this season, the club’s co-chairman and son of owner Stan Kroenke, Josh Kroenke, gave an interview in the club programme that was also published on the club website.
“We plan to invest to get behind winning and doing better next season,” he said. “We’re delighted we have our sporting director, Andrea [Berta], who will play an important role in this.
“He is part of a unified and strong team, supported by the board, who are crystal clear on exactly what we need to do and the way in which we want to do it. The right way. The Arsenal way.”
Naturally, many Arsenal fans who have been around the block for several years instinctively go into their shell hearing such claims and attempts at encouragement. Yet, are they right to?
Rewind to one of Josh’s most infamous interviews from the summer of 2019. This was around a year after Kroenke Sports Entertainment took full control of the club and before a summer when they would spend big on the likes of Nicolas Pepe, Kieran Tierney, and William Saliba. The wording from Josh is quite different.
“I would say ‘be excited’,” Josh says. “There are a few things that I know our group are working on, and a few things we hopefully have on the doorstep.
“Nothing is ever a done deal until it’s a done deal, obviously, but we know we have key areas we want to address in our squad, both now and in the future. Our entire football operations staff have a great grasp on that, and I’ve encouraged them to be as expressive as possible.”
That word hopefully pops up here as does the tempering somewhat of expectations when highlighting that nothing is done until it’s done. Fast-forward again to Josh’s comments on the weekend, and instead, there are promises, not hopes.
“We plan to invest.” Followed up strongly with the board being “crystal clear on exactly what we need to do and the way in which we want to do it”.
No ifs or buts or maybes. Instead a demonstration that the plan and intentions are clear. The club has a desire to win, to spend and to get even better, and the messaging from those who hold the power is that they are determined to do it.
The time for talk this season is nearly over, and the time for action in the summer is almost upon the club. Some might say, “Put the money where your mouth is.”
Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london’s dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!
By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.
To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!
If you’re curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.
