By Jack Beam
With the Arsenal board further strengthening manager Mikel Arteta’s first team options this summer in an effort to help us get over the line in our long chase for our next Premier League title, it is fair to say that it has been a very good start to the 2025/26 domestic campaign.
With the October international break now with us we are sat in top spot in the table having picked up seven wins and one draw from our opening seven clashes, and the addition of 27 year old Swedish international striker Viktor Gyokeres (yes, finally a proper striker) is already showing the benefits as he has three goals to his name and has helped us to a league best eleven plus goal difference.
There is plenty of football left to play and plenty of points to fight for and as we again show good consistency in our search for success, the pause allows us time to laugh at the ongoing plight of leaky Old Trafford outfit, Manchester United. Specifically their new savour and most recent Emperor with New Clothes, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and to borrow a phrase, his actions so far have just not been cricket. Even for those football fans who follow odds on cricket they would have never bet on him bringing a bat into the club and taking out staff when he was trying to hit sixes.
Having already given fans in the wider world of football such joys as a cancelled End of Season party in preference for a cold BBQ, an absolute meltdown with first team talent, the horrific sackings of long standing employees to save the club from going bust (when they then spent over £100 million the very next transfer window) and many other quirks, the 72 year old has now rewarded neutral fans by insisting that Ruben Amorim needs three years because Arteta also had a ‘miserable time’ when he first returned to the Emirates Stadium.
Many will wonder if these inane ramblings are the proverbial kiss of death for Amorim, but plenty will wonder if Sir Jim genuinely believes what he is clearly drinking here. Arteta compromised as he improved the team and took us to the FA Cup, never asking the players to play in a way that exposed their flaws. Amorim has dug in deeper in his philosophy than a deep sea mining company irrespective of results and losses, and their laughable league position last season, and whilst most would u-turn to suit the strengths of their squad this is a ‘lady who is not for turning’.
Silverware within eight months of taking the job versus and almost relegation. Top eight finishes versus 15th place. 27 wins compared to 19 out of the opening 50 games, and not least 76 goals conceded compared to 48.
Yes Jim, if Arteta had a miserable time in his first few years, how exactly would you describe the relative success of your appointment to the job and does it maybe tell you something about your own knowledge of the game because it is not even close to being a relative or reliable comparison? If you want to treat Arteta as a man to follow because that is the path you have sent United on, would you maybe let someone at United know…maybe your manager for a start, or did the message get lost during the last round of firings?
