Mikel Arteta's time as Arsenal boss has been somewhat of a rollercoaster, to say the least.
Arteta oversaw back-to-back eighth-placed Premier League finished before an improved 2021/22 campaign saw the Gunners fail to qualify for the UEFA Champions League at the final hurdle. Still, there is plenty of reasons to be optimistic regarding the Spaniard's managerial credentials.
The north Londoners are one of just two teams, along with league-leaders Manchester City, that have secured all six points from their opening two league matches this term. And part of the reason for that is down to their devastating attack that has seen them score six times already.
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In fact, Arsenal have accumulated more xG (expected goals) than any other team in the English top-flight so far in the 2022/23 campaign, even more than Pep Guardiola's City, as per xG Philosophy.
The Gunners have clearly come a long way under Arteta's stewardship, with the young coach previously criticised for setting up his team in a negative manner that meant chance creation became a struggle. When asked about his side's failure to create openings back in July 2020, he said: “I have my reasons that I don’t want to make public, but it’s clear those stats don’t lie.
“When you relate them to Arsenal, it’s not good enough. There are certain aspects of the games that we don’t control as well as we should."
He added: “It’s everything, it’s personnel, it’s myself that I have to improve to do things better, much better, individual, collective issues, a lot of things.” Whilst we are just two games into the season, it is clear that Arteta is keen to play a more attractive brand of football, something that has been aided by the summer addition of centre-forward Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian has hit the ground running in north London, netting two goals and providing a further two assists already this term.
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