By Rob Worthington (Deputy Editor)
As another year passes for WLYA, the time to reflect arrives for us once again. Regardless of the walk of life you choose to tread, the turn of the year gives you an opportunity to review how you have performed over the course of a 365-day period. At weloveyouarsenal.co.uk, we have had yet another successful year.
We can’t deny that this year has been a little bit different though. To be frank, we’ve all grown up. All 4 members of the editorial team are at a stage where they have either entered the world of (proper) work or are close to doing so, and the same can be said of many of our site’s more senior writers.
But that hasn’t stopped our writers from communicating their thoughts on Arsenal Football Club with our dedicated readers on a consistent basis throughout the year. This article of mine, which can be considered something of a trademark of mine by now, gives me an opportunity to say a personal thank you to those who tune in regularly to our website. We really appreciate you.
Anyway, enough of that, let’s get on to looking at some of the highlights of the past year at WLYA.
January 2022 represented a time of mood-shift at Arsenal Football Club. Fans and writers alike became believers rather than dreamers as it became abundantly clear that Mikel Arteta was taking Arsenal on the right path.
Perhaps the occasion which encapsulated this mood change best was Arsenal’s narrow 2-1 defeat against Manchester City. Many outsiders ridicule Arsenal fans for referring to this day so frequently. After all, following a brilliant first-half display, Arsenal did end up bottling a 1-0 lead.
However, the signs were promising. It was the first time Arsenal had gone toe-to-toe with a side like Man City for a fair while, and many began to sit up and take note of the side Mikel Arteta had at his disposal at this point.
Following the defeat, Sumaiya Vawda predicted a ‘revolution’ would occur at Arsenal, Max Mishcon noted the Emirates Stadium’s atmosphere was improving tenfold, and as Mac Johnson suggested in his tactical piece off the back of Arsenal’s defeat to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup late in January, losses were now ‘disappointing’ for Gooners rather than painful. Expectation levels were rising, as were performance levels.
Off the back of a January transfer window that flattered to deceive, Arsenal began to enjoy some fine February form in what was the beginning of a period Alife Cairns Culshaw described as ’17 ‘cup finals.’ This was especially necessary amid the criticism aimed towards the club for allowing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave the club and opting against replacing him.
The Gunners went on to beat Wolves away in a chaotic affair; in spite of the 2-1 scoreline, Vinay Shankar was able to reflect on a dominant display against Brentford at the Emirates, and Mac Johnson had the fortune of dwelling upon Arsenal’s return fixture with Wolves this time in north London, a watershed occasion within Mikel Arteta’s team’s season.
All the while, my fellow Deputy Editor Daniel Finton was continuing to plod along with his weekly ‘Finton’s Frolic.’ He sparked the commencement of what became a common theme on the website throughout 2022, praise for Sir Benjamin White.
Moving into March, more writers began to notice of further improvement from certain individuals in the new year. Myself and Jahid Islam discussed Martin Ødegaard’s growth under Arteta and Editor-in-Chief Alife Cairns Culshaw accurately pointed out that Bukayo Saka had made ‘the leap’ to a particularly high level of performance. I did however decide to bring the mood down a little bit by questioning Kieran Tierney’s performance levels.
April can be characterised as a month of juxtaposition. On the one hand, Arsenal unfortunately succumbed to three gut-wrenching defeats which at the end of the season proved costly. Against Crystal Palace, Brighton, and Southampton, Arteta’s side were pretty dreadful.
But then, out of pretty much nowhere, Arsenal rose from their ruins to beat Chelsea and Manchester United in two character-filled performances. Arsenal managed to beat the rich and lose to the poor in a month which elucidated what Mac Johnson referred to as Arsenal’s ‘Robin Hood complex.’ It’s the hope that kills you, eh?
That hope, which was brutally quashed at the end of May amid a series of injury issues at Arsenal, only continued to grow off the back of wins against West Ham and Leeds with the likes of Nuno Tavares and Mo Elneny becoming unlikely heroes.
But soon enough, we were brought back down to earth. None of our writers could even bare to put pen to paper following Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a night which Arsenal could’ve clinched a top four finish, and Vinay wrote his tactical points through gritted teeth following Arsenal’s toothless display in Newcastle a few days later.
But the show went on here at WLYA, and just as the end of a year represents the opportunity to reflect for many around the world, as does the end of the season for football clubs and fans alike.
In June, Mac Johnson and Sumaiya Vawda reviewed the performance of the men’s and women’s teams at Arsenal across their respective 21/22 seasons. We then moved onto discussion of transfers. Fans of the site’s podcast, the world-renowned Arsenal Cannon Podcast, were also treated to a drunkcast featuring myself, Daniel, Alfie, and Mac which took something of a more humorous approach towards season review! We have another one of these coming your way very soon...
Moving on to transfers, Daniel Finton boldly claimed Alex Zinchenko would be a little bit crazy to join Arsenal (aged well), Jahid analysed what Lisandro Martinez could bring to Arsenal, and I had a heated debate with myself about who Arsenal should prioritise the signing of: Tielemans or Raphinha (neither ended up signing, of course).
Daniel Finton, Sumaiya Vawda, and Mac Johnson also took the opportunity to say goodbye to departing individuals as Arsenal moved on the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Bernd Leno, and Hector Bellerin.
Then, the new season began off the back of a hugely successful transfer window. Arsenal enjoyed a flying start to the new campaign before finally succumbing to defeat at Old Trafford on matchday 6 in the Premier League. This performance handed Alfie Cairns Culshaw the opportunity to discuss Sambi Lokonga’s aptitude to the #6 role at Arsenal.
Then football paused agains for a little while amid the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, before Arsenal could get back to winning ways with Benjamin White shining at right-back and Granit Xhaka completing his redemption arc. However, despite the consistent victories, Alfie noticed Arsenal weren’t particularly good when the scoreline wasn’t level.
And then, after a couple of brilliant victories against Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, and Wolves the World Cup break was already upon us.
Our coverage of the World Cup was less than consistent. However, the break arrived at a welcome time for many of our writers with deadlines at school and university creeping up on many of us.
Nevertheless, Deputy Editor Daniel Finton did manage to fire out a piece on the man all Arsenal fans are talking about right now – Mykhailo Mudryk. My thoughts on that transfer saga will be uploaded to the site in a few days. Spoiler alert, I’m not convinced by the Ukrainian winger.
Heading into 2023, we won’t be resting on our laurels, and we look forward to discussing everything Arsenal in the new year. Thank you again for tuning into weloveyouarsenal.co.uk this year. It’s a pleasure to write for you guys.
A happy new year to you all!
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