Unrealistic expectations
Lack of transparency in reactionary claims
Arsenal has always been a demanding club no matter what state they are in. Even during the lowest of lows, the fans and the board have had high expectations for the club to be run almost faultlessly.
Whilst it’s good to be ambitious and have set high goals, people often forget and underestimate the pressure and essentials of the process to get back to the top. Like the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day", Arsenal share a similar instance. It takes a lot for a club to reclaim the gargantuan they once were.
The Gunners haven't had a wednesday night European battle ever since 2017, the harmonious anthem of the UEFA Champions League is being heavily missed at the Emirates. The final couple a years under Wenger saw us miss out on the UCL, with a 5th and a 6th placed finishes during 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Arsenal have then hit all sorts of lows, losing the Europa League 2019 final in a horrendous 4-1 thrashing to Chelsea, following with two consecutive 8th place finishes in 2020 and 2021. Both of them unluckily being under Arteta.
Fast forward to 2022, things are different. Arsenal are enroute to a European spot, most desirably, the top4. A young arsenal team, with an average age of 24 y.o., Arteta is leading them to glory, the process which once seemed like a hoax, is the most inciting and heartening thing we have at the club right now.
Seeing our recent form, conjectured opinions, reactions and judgements are being passed around a lot, most notably, by one of our own, Thierry Henry.
Titi recently claimed that a finish outside of top 4 will be deemed as a failure, like many other fans and pundits. Such an insensible and a futile claim is what the issue is right now, reactionary opinions based on recent form and results.
Albeit, Arsenal have hit the ground this season, it’s quite unrealistic and too much of an ask for a top 4 finish. Still very young, there are no world beaters in the team and with a very limited squad, especially competing with the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, seems too much of a stretch.
However, one might argue that Man United aren’t necessarily a huge obstacle seeing their recent form, regardless, we can’t count a team out which has the likes of Cristiano, Bruno, Varane, Sancho and co.
Despite Arsenal's surprisingly prominent form, one shouldn't expect a top 4 finish only to scrutinize the team for not achieving that taxing goal.
Hoping and dreaming is one thing, demanding and expecting is another. Just like any other fan, I am rooting for a top 4 finish this season, but that doesn’t mean I’ll deem our season a failure if we don’t finish in a UCL spot.
We’ve come a long way, the team has faced and fought a lot of hurdles, we finally have an identity, the players are stronger and closer than ever, it’s not just about the results after the 90 odd minutes of a league match, there’s more to a rebuild process than solely the display on the pitch. Slowly but surely, we’ll be back. Trust the process, trust Arteta
COYG
