It’s been quite the week in Arsenal land, so let’s take a look at what’s hot and what’s not.
WHAT’S HOT
Mikel Arteta
Finally handed the keys to the Arsenal clown car, Mikel Arteta couldn’t be happier to be named Arsenal head coach.
Freddie Ljungberg
His dream has always been to be permanent Arsenal head coach but he stepped into the role left by Unai Emery’s sacking knowing full well it could damage his chances moving forward.
It’s not his fault Arsenal are so awful and you could see from the player’s reaction how he connected with (most of) them.
The club better do right by him…
Vivianne Miedema
As well as being an inspiration on the pitch, 23-year-old Vivianne Miedema continues to be a role model off it as well as it was announced this week she has become an official ambassador of War Child.
Hubert Graczyk
The Arsenal academy capped off the year with a third-round FA Youth Cup win over Cheltenham Town through a penalty shootout on Wednesday with 16-year-old Hubert Graczyk making a save.
Omari Hutchinson
Arsenal u16 Omari Hutchinson is in excellent form at the moment, and he scored a brace against Crystal Palace last weekend, including this wondergoal.
Tyreece John-Jules
Arsenal u23s won the second game of their PL International Cup campaign against Dinamo Zagreb u23s on Tuesday in dramatic style, with Tyreece John-Jules the star of the show with two goals and an assist.
Arsenal women
Arsenal women finish the calendar year on top of the table and through to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
They’ve also scored 20 goals in their last two home games.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
In between picking up niggling injuries, Henrikh Mkhitaryan can’t stop scoring as he rediscovers the love of football life in England sucked right out of him. He’s also been explaining why Unai Emery’s tactics ruined his ability to score and assist.
Calum Chambers
Arsenal’s Man of the Match against Everton with an epic display (by Arsenal defensive standards).
Mesut Ozil
Not for the first time, Mesut Ozil found himself standing alone in the face of discrimination as football does it’s best to pretend China aren’t massive human rights violators, they aren’t perpetrating one of the biggest atrocities on the planet and Arsenal and others shame themselves chasing as many Renminbi as they can get their hands on.
WHAT’S NOT
Mesut Ozil
Yep, that’s right, the German is both hot and not this week in what, I guess, could be a decent description of his Arsenal career.
Speaking both before and after the Everton game, Freddie Ljungberg confirmed that, even if Ozil had been fit, he wouldn’t have been included in the squad for Goodison because of the way he reacted last week when he was taken off.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
As Arsenal got ready to announce Mikel Arteta, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s PR team made it clear he wouldn’t be hanging around.
Arsenal fans made it clear he wouldn’t be missed.
Alexandre Lacazette
On the bench again for the game against Everton, his PR team were up to the same antics as Aubameyang’s this week and Freddie Ljungberg sent him a very clear message by turning to Joe Willock before him against Everton despite needing a goal.
Arsenal and China
Pro Evolution Soccer will remove Mesut Ozil from their game in China as the authoritarian regime continues to throw a hissy fit over the German’s tweet that dared called attention to their treatment of Uighurs within their borders.
Given Arsenal’s shameful statement about Mesut Ozil’s tweet, this is something we should all be worried about.