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For Arsenal, the post-Wenger era has begun quite satisfactorily. Surprisingly well, to be fair. However, the promising start does come with a rider. We are just under a third of the way into the 2018-19 season, and a grueling December-January awaits. The time where, like a malaise, in those underwhelming post 'The Invincibles' years, Arsène Wenger sides were found to be lacking, repeatedly.
This time though, under a new coach - Unai Emery- who has experience in winning a league (with Paris Saint-Germain), it appears that there is genuine progress. The club is no more left in the wake of the title chasers.
In fact, with 24 points from the 11 games so far, Arsenal are within touching distance of the top three (Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea). With the frenetic nature of the league, where anyone can beat any other side on a given day, that is something to take notice of.
There is most definitely going to be a dogfight for the fourth-place slot with north London rivals Tottenham at the very least. And unlike the recent past, they seem ready for the challenge. Their unbeaten run now stretches to 14 games and Arsenal look to be a very good bet for the Europa League, a title that Emery has won thrice in a row with Sevilla (2014-16).
So the omens are good. Quite pleasingly, some of the goals scored this season have been vintage free-flowing Arsenal with class stamped all over them. Just as an aside, Arsenal also showed class by sporting the 'fox' armband while playing Liverpool in honour of Leicester City's owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and his tragic passing away.
Arsenal are flying quite steadily and without much fanfare, just under the radar. Tellingly, more or less the same personnel from last season has started to turn it around. The starting eleven against Liverpool had just 2 new recruits in the form of the Uruguayan Lucas Torreira signed from Sampdoria and the new keeper Bernd Leno who was brought in by Unai Emery.
Every other player - Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding, Sead Kolasinac, Granit Xhaka, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mesut Özil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are Arsène Wenger recruits. Wenger was not wrong in bringing these people in, and Emery has shown that he can make a good team off the building blocks handed to him by the Frenchman.
Sure Arsenal are a still couple of world-class players short of being genuine premiership contenders, but their unbeaten run shows that the winds of change have reached the Emirates. The mood is not soured of chronic disappointments, but is that of a gentle, whispered promise.
That can be attributed to the tactical changes under Emery's tutelage, moving from Wenger's very French laissez-faire approach to a more structured formation, that he tinkers and tweaks with, depending on the opponents. This is explained in length in the video below.
(Video credit: Tifo Football)
Sure, the return of points and victories can be dismissed as the honeymoon phase, but dig a bit deeper and the fundamentals at the club appear to have strengthened. The results and the style of play under Emery are not beginner's luck. It would not be wrong to say that the signals are mildly encouraging, without being wildly optimistic.
