Rewind to Aug. 28, when Manchester City inflicted a humiliating 5-0 defeat on Arsenal, their third Premier League loss in a row following miserable outings against Brentford and Chelsea. It was the first time in 67 years the Gunners had lost their opening three games in a campaign and the continued presence of manager Mikel Arteta on the sidelines was dividing the fanbase.
Yet Arteta was backed by his bosses and urged the fans, with a phrase borrowed from NBA team Philadelphia 76ers, to “trust the process.” It was a rallying cry asking them to believe in the work he is doing alongside the Gunners’ hierarchy. After spending around £150m in the summer on reinforcements — more than any other Premier League team, with defenders Ben White (£50m), Takehiro Tomiyasu (£16m) and Nuno Tavares (£8m), goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale (£25m), midfielders Martin Odegaard (£35m) and Albert Sambi Lokonga (£15m) arriving at the Emirates — the north London club still wasn’t exactly where it wanted to be, but the former club captain knew better things were coming.
Fast forward three months and Arsenal sit fifth in the table, enjoying the league’s longest unbeaten run — eight games, including six wins — with a clear sense of direction. The fans are back on board and Arteta is happy.
In their last Premier League outing against Watford on Nov. 7, Arteta celebrated his 100th game as Arsenal manager and his numbers are surprisingly impressive: 54 wins, 20 draws, 26 losses. If you consider games won after a penalty shootout (which is officially a draw for stats), Arteta is actually on 56 victories.
That is only two fewer than George Graham (1986-1995), but three more than the legendary Arsene Wenger at the same stage of their coaching careers at Arsenal. Arteta’s win rate is 54%, compared to Wenger’s 51%, while he also holds a lower loss ratio (18% vs. 26%) after a century of appearances in the Gunners’ dugout.
The other key areas of comparison with Wenger’s early days appear very similar, too. Arteta has 163 goals for, 97 against and 38 clean sheets in an arguably more competitive Premier League for his first 100 games. When Wenger arrived in 1996, his team boasted 157 goals for, 84 against and 42 clean sheets over the same span.
In stark contrast, however, Arteta’s first 100 games have been a rollercoaster, with highs and lows almost every week. Winning an FA Cup and a Community Shield in his first six months as a manager was great, but it perhaps raised expectations of further short-term success while he was still learning. He’s still learning, of course, and still grappling with an imbalanced and aging Arsenal squad, lacking in certain positions and unable to find consistency. But now there is more hope for the future.
What Arteta has tried to do
It seemed logical at the start of his tenure that Arteta wanted to emulate Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, having joined his backroom staff as assistant from 2016-19. Arteta wanted his side to mirror City, though while the principles of play he wanted to implement were similar, the delivery was far from City’s standard.
At times, what he was asking of his players was too complex for an inherited squad not of his own making, so he worked on a simplified structure that better suited the players at his disposal. Having tried a variety of formations, there were still similarities with Guardiola, especially in how he used “asymmetrical” wide players (right-footed players on the left, and vice versa), but this season has seen Arsenal develop their own identity.
Looking at their 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Oct. 22, Arsenal set up in a 4-4-2 formation for the first time under Arteta, with Alexandre Lacazette just behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka filling the wide positions. Lacazette’s purpose was to play between the lines and link up the play, but more importantly, he was asked to block Villa’s holding midfielder, Douglas Luiz, who was responsible for starting all their attacks. The plan worked perfectly and the Gunners outplayed and outsmarted Villa.
It naturally took Arteta some time to settle, but it seems his team are now comfortable in possession, efficient in quick attacking transitions, can set their defence in a low block or a high press, and look more confident in beating the opposition press. Thanks to the work of coach Nicolas Jover, they are also one of the best teams in the league when it comes to set pieces.
Which players have shone?
To find an identity, the 39-year-old had to rebuild the squad. From the 40 players who have featured under him in the Premier League so far at Arsenal, 14 have left. Last summer, all six summer signings were aged 23 or under, which led Arsenal to have the youngest starting XI in the league this season with an average of 24 years and 242 days. His back five (Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Kieran Tierney) only started to play together on Matchday Four, which was the start of this superb run.
The impact and leadership of goalkeeper Ramsdale, the centre-back partnership of White and Gabriel, the attacking talent of Tierney down the left and solidity of Tomiyasu at right-back has made the Arsenal defence really strong. If anything, it’s the strongest and most disciplined it has even been in Arteta’s 100 games in charge.
On top of that, the manager has been a key part in the emergence of Smith Rowe and Saka, the two prodigies from the Arsenal Academy in Hale End.
Saka has been Arsenal’s best player since Arteta’s arrival and the player the most used by the Spaniard, featuring in 82 games. While, given Smith Rowe went on a six-month loan to Huddersfield in January 2020, the impact of the 21-year-old has been exceptional and rarely seen in the Premier League at his age. Arsenal have a 58% win percentage with him as a starter, compared to 33% without. Every time Smith Rowe scores — he’s found the net in 12 different games since making his Premier League debut — Arsenal have won.
The turning point?
The turning point in Arteta’s 100 games in charge is without a doubt the game against Chelsea on Dec. 26, 2020. Arsenal were 15th in the table at the time, and winless in their last seven. With little reason to be cautious, Arteta started Smith Rowe, Saka and Gabriel Martinelli (all 20 years old or younger) at the time, in attack and the Gunners played with intensity, an aggressive high press and plenty of movement.
Their 3-1 win that day proved to be a seminal moment. Since then, Arsenal have won 67 points in the Premier League. Only Manchester City (86) and Chelsea (68), with new manager Thomas Tuchel for most of it, have more over the same period of time.
There are more challenges ahead for Arteta, starting with a tough trip to Liverpool on Saturday — they’ve played three times in the league under the Spaniard, winning once and losing twice — but the aim now is to keep building on the last three months.
Beyond that, Arteta’s goal is for his next 100 games in charge to be more successful than the first.
Lowe has been out since opening day due to a right oblique strain that occurred during spring training, and experienced right hamstring tightness in late April just before he was expected to rejoin the team.
Lowe hit .292 with 20 homers, 83 RBI and stole 32 bases last season.
Right-hander Edwin Uceta had his contract selected from Triple-A Durham, where he was 0-1 with a 7.00 ERA in 10 games. Uceta appeared in 25 games, going 0-3, in 2021-23 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets.
Tampa Bay used six relievers in Sunday’s 7-6, 10-inning win over the Mets after starter Ryan Pepiot was hit by a 107.5 mph liner on his left calf and exited the game.
X-rays taken Sunday on Pepiot were negative.
To make room on the 26-man roster, infielder Curtis Mead and reliever Jacob Lopez were optioned to Durham.
Infielder-outfielder Niko Goodrum was designated for release or assignment.
CLEVELAND — The Guardians are losing their extraordinary leadoff hitter and adding one with power and potential.
Cleveland placed outfielder Steven Kwan, who leads the AL with a .353 average, on the 10-day injured list Monday with a strained hamstring he sustained while running down a fly ball over the weekend.
Kwan felt tightness in his hamstring and was pulled from Saturday’s win over the Angels as a precaution. An MRI revealed an acute strain and the Guardians said Kwan likely will be out for up to one month.
Kwan said he had hamstring issues while playing at Oregon State and in the minors.
His injury is a blow to the AL Central-leading Guardians, but it’s giving the team a chance to promote hard-hitting prospect Kyle Manzardo, who has been bashing minor league pitchers this season and will now join a Cleveland lineup that can use some middle muscle.
The Guardians have been one of the season’s early surprise teams — they’re 22-12 heading into their series opener against Detroit — with Kwan a big reason for the club’s fast start.
He seems to start or be in the middle of virtually every rally, and the 26-year-old continues to be one of the league’s best defensive outfielders. Last year, he won his second straight Gold Glove.
Manzardo’s reputation as a slugger preceded his arrival in Cleveland.
The 23-year-old was acquired at last year’s trade deadline from Tampa Bay for pitcher Aaron Civale. The Rays were reluctant to part with Manzardo but they needed pitching while the Guardians have been craving a big bat in the middle of their order.
Manzardo had a strong spring for the Guardians, who had him start the season at Triple-A Columbus to build confidence. He’s done just that, hitting .303 with nine homers, 10 doubles and 20 RBI in 29 games.
Cleveland fans have been clamoring for Manzardo, who will likely play some first base and be used as a DH by first-year manager Stephen Vogt.
Also, the Guardians activated left-hander Sam Hentges from the injured list. The reliever has been out since training camp with a middle finger issue.
Clevinger got a late start to the season after finalizing a $3 million, one-year contract on April 4.
The 33-year-old made two starts for Charlotte, allowing three runs and 10 hits, along with seven strikeouts over 7⅓ innings.
Clevinger can earn an additional $3 million in bonuses for starts and innings: $100,000 per start from 11-25 and $100,000 for 55 innings and each additional five through 125.
Clevinger went 9-9 with a 3.77 ERA and two complete games in 24 starts with the White Sox last season, then became a free agent.
He is 60-39 with a 3.45 ERA in 128 starts and 24 relief appearances in eight seasons with Cleveland (2016-20), San Diego (2020-22) and Chicago (2023). He missed the 2021 season after Tommy John surgery.
Chicago also placed right-hander Dominic Leone on the 15-day injured list with lower back tightness.
