5 reasons for Arsenal fans to be excited for the of 22/23 season.

 

Arsenal are just two weeks away from kicking off their season against Crystal Palace on August 5th. This will be Arsenal's 104th consecutive season in the Premier League the most out of any team in English football, sorry just had to put that in ;). With only two games left of pre-season the players are looking sharp and the starting 11 for the Palace game is beginning to shape up. With Mikel Arteta men missing out on top 4 on the last hurdle last year they'll be looking to finally end their 5 year exile from the Champions League this season in what will be Mikel Arteta's third full season in charge. Here is five reasons to look forward to the upcoming season.

1. Gabriel Jesus 

Gabriel Jesus is Arsenal new £45mil striker

Very simple reason, the arrival of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City. Everyone even non Arsenal fans know what was Arsenal main issue for the last two seasons have been which is of course the lack of a goalscoring striker. Eddie Nketiah was Arsenal top goalscoring striker last season with five goals, that tells you everything you need to know. With the departure of Lacazette who also only scored 4 goals last season, every Arsenal fan was waiting to see what striker Arteta and Edu were gonna sign this summer. Mikel Arteta has never signed a striker in his managerial career and his first signing of a striker has cethe rtainly not disappointed. 

Gabriel Jesus has made a huge impression on Arsenal fans in his first three games and while it's only pre-season its difficult not to feel excited in what we've seen so far from the Brazilian. He isn't just goal scorer, he will press, he can drop deep and he makes the players around him much better. While at Man City he was always a key player but he was never the main man, when at Arsenal he will become the main man and look to end Arsenal's striker woes from last season and the season before. Certainly early signs are positive lets hope he can continue into the season.  

2. The European away days are back!

Despite Arsenal missing out on Champions League football, they did however finish 5th meaning their European football exile only lasted one year and they will be back in the Europa League for the upcoming season. While of course everyone would rather be playing on Tuesday or Wednesday nights instead of Thursdays finishing in the secondary European competition isn't entirely negative. For one they have a much better chance of winning the Europa League then Champions League. While Arsenal have an awful record in Europe in terms of winning trophies their record for going deep into Europa League speaks for itself, Arsenal have made it to semi's or further in 3 of the last 4 Europa campaigns so they will no doubt fancy their chances of going deep in this year tournament. While the group stage will likely see Arteta give chances to younger and the players on the fringes squad and if Arsenal are to go further we'll see the main starters come into the starting 11. After a year away from Europe I must say I'm looking forward to watching Arsenal on tour around Europe even if it is for the European competition we don't want I will certainly expect Arsenal to go deep in this tournament and hopefully go all the way to the final in Budapest in May.

3. More of Charlie Patino and more Hale End youngsters.

There some things in football that just bring a smile to all football fans and one of them is seeing a player rise up through the ranks and become a regular main stay in the senior squad. This concept is of course no stranger to Arsenal as we saw last season with Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe being Arsenal two top goal scorers with 21 goals between themselves last season. Mikel Arteta will have high hopes with this year's crop of youngsters and no more than Charlie Patino. Patino had his breakout season last year with scoring after only couple minutes . of coming on his debut against Sunderland.

Patino's debut goal against Sunderland

Patino is someone who's been on Arsenal fans radar for long time, signed from Luton Town in 2015 the development plan for Patino is too keep him at the club and not send him out on loan. The eighteen year old has already made an impression this season with an extremely impressive 20 minute cameo against Nurnberg in pre-season and his work over to summer to improve his physique will surely force his way to play a more important role in Mikel Arteta's plans next season. 

With Arsenal playing in the Europa League one of the most positive aspects of this is it will allow Arteta to give youngsters such as Salah-Eddie, Walters and Balogun should the club decide against loaning them out along with Charlie Patino, chances in the early stages of the tournament. Arsenal fans will be hoping the youngsters will use the Europa League like Saka, Smith Rowe and Nketiah  did where they all used the early stages of the Europa League for force their way into Arsenal's first team.

4. The return of William Saliba 

I don't think there a more talked about player for years at Arsenal than William Saliba, for a player who hasn't even played a single minute for the club. However after three loan spells away from the club William Saliba looks finally set to stay Arsenal for a full season and play a key role in Arteta's plans. Saliba has nothing short of a perfect loan spell last year at French giants Marseille as he won Ligue 1 young player of the year and made the team of the year, making his international debut with France and helping Marseille finish second and qualifying for the Champions League making 52 appearances throughout the season.  

The twenty one year old has already made a huge impression in pre-season with two excellent performances against Everton and Orlando City respectively. The return of Saliba will not only make Arsenal's defence a lot stronger but it will add competition for Gabriel and Ben White who built a great relationship last year in their first year together, Saliba will not just look to keep those two on his toes but will look to take one of the mentioned centre back starting places. 

Of course Saliba still has to sign a new contract at Arsenal with the centre back only having two years left on his current deal however according to most reports talks are going well and a new deal is close. If this happens and Saliba makes his mark he will feel like a new signing despite us signing him 3 years ago. It's fair to say Arsenal fans have huge hopes for William Saliba this season.  

Saliba will hope to become a starter for Arsenal

5. The team is in a great place and year older and wiser.

Arsenal fielded the youngest starting 11 last season and while most expected the team to be overwhelmed and not experienced enough to mount a top 4 challenge they did and despite the final result, to be within touching distant of a top 4 place on the final day of the season shows the major progress the team has made. The catalysts for this charge were players such as Bukayo Saka, Martin Odgeaard, Gabriel and many more all those players are below the age of 24 which shows how much life is left in this team and that it is only beginning, as long as they all stay of course. 

I think most Arsenal fans would agree that last year was the first year we actually felt something with this team, it's hard to explain but the connection between fans and players has been missing for so many years and it felt last year these group of young players helped find that connection again. You may wonder why has team re-stablished a connection between the fans and the players and I think the reason is all these players care for the badge. Most of them will take a bullet for the club and their teammates and they fully care about the values of the club something which I think some players certainly didn't have this same care in recent years as this current bunch. 

The point I'm trying to make is the squad is in an excellent place, it's not filled of players on high wages who don't care about the club or players growing in age, it's a youthful filled squad who care of the clubs values and play for the badge. Even if things for wrong under Arteta this year and Arsenal are forced to pull the trigger as long as they choose the right manager the squad should deliver and isn't in need of a massive overhaul because that overhaul has already happened and it was needed for years. Even though the faces of Jesus and Saliba have got Arsenal fans very excited and ready for the new season I still expect the likes of Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe and co to have big seasons for Arsenal this season.