The end of Arsene Wenger’s 22-year reign at Arsenal was pretty bad, right? We all remember that we were sure that things could not get worse, right?
As it turns out, it can get worse.
Twice.
Wenger was chased out of the Power Sport Images / Getty Images club
Unai Emery was brought in to save the day 2018, but in his 51 leading games only managed to make things worse. It was then decided that rookie boss Mikel Arteta was the right man to get things back on track to be back on track.
50 games into his reign, and the ship is wobblier than ever.
Arteta’s 50th Premier League match, a crushing 3-0 loss to Liverpool, was the Spaniard’s 17th defeat at the helm of Arsenal. Wenger lost just 16 of his last 50 games, while Emery managed just 13 losses in his 51.
The statistics are not beautiful for Arteta | Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images
The current manager’s profit percentage of 42% is lower than both Emery (49%) and Wenger (54%), while the 72 goals scored are significantly lower than 91 and 96 respectively, which were handled by Emery and Wenger respectively.
Since 2003, Arsenal have managed three or fewer shots in just five Premier League matches, and four of them have come under Arteta, whose side seems to be starving for creativity more than ever before.
It’s bad. It’s very, very bad.
Of course, there have been some improvements under Arteta. His return of 56 goals conceded is the lowest of the three (Emery had 70 and Wenger managed 64), but it’s probably not worth arranging a parade for. There will be no DVDs about it.
At the end of the day, Arsenal win fewer games than they have ever done in the last three years, and they actually play one of the most boring footballs of that period as well. Does that sound like progress?
If you look at the trophy cabinet and see Arteta’s return of an FA Cup and a Community Shield, you would be forgiven for thinking that things are going in the right direction, but apart from goals that are allowed, the only other measure where Arteta’s Arsenal succeeds .
Arteta has been billed as the man to get Arsenal back where they were during Wenger’s premiere, but he must focus on matching Wenger at his worst before he can be allowed to move.
For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!
