October saw Arsenal try to build on their positive results from September. It was the first month they were involved in all three competitions: the Premier League, Europa League and Carabao Cup, which gave Arsene Wenger an opportunity to stretch the squad slightly and see what our fringe players could do.

As well as building on positive results, they got a chance to build up fan moral, which had been at an all-time low since the beginning of the campaign. Apart from a blip at the beginning when they lost away to Watford, the foundations were in place for the Gunners to continue to improve during a difficult November.

Arsenal kicked off October with a clash against Brighton and Hove Albion on the first day of the month.

Laurent Koscielny missed the home game after his persistent Achilles problem flared up but fortunately they had Nacho Monreal, a.k.a. Mr. Reliable, at the back. Not only was the Spaniard one of Arsenal best players all over the pitch, he scored the Gunners’ first goal in the 16th minute. A brilliant shot from the edge of the area.

Alex Iwobi, left unmarked in the area, netted a stunning second – his first of the season – and helped Arsenal to their 2-0 win. In turn, Wenger’s men rose to fifth in the Premier League.

The Gunners had a total of 25 shots, 11 of which were on target, and Alexis Sanchez was named Man of the Match.

Fans were tentatively positive but not willing to get their hopes up after the crushing despair of August. September was a start but we all knew that somewhere the team really had to kick things up a notch and October was the time to do it.

‘Cojones’

Unfortunately, this positive feeling wouldn’t exactly last for long.

On October 14, after the interlull which saw us lose Shkodran Mustafi to a hamstring injury, the club trudged up the road to Watford for a chilly 5:30pm kick-off.

It all started so well. Per Mertesacker found the back of the net with a mighty header just before half-time and celebrated like a mad man. However, after going 1-0 ahead, Arsenal did what they so often do. They took their foot off the gas. They suddenly became sloppy, misplacing passes and stars who were meant to be game-changers disappeared.

All it took was penalty – a blatant dive from Richarlison fired home by Troy Deeney, who had only been on the pitch eight minutes – to put the ball firmly in the Hornets’ court as they continued to confidently press Arsenal back.

Sure enough, despite waking up towards the end, Tom Cleverly slotted home a loose ball in the final minute, giving Watford the lead.

Arsenal were back down to sixth in the Premier League table and fans were once again left embarrassed and disappointed.

Arsenal’s lacklustre display was put on blast by penalty-scorer Deeney post-match when the striker accused Wenger’s team of not having any ‘cajones’.

The ballsy comments were applauded by pundits at first who argued that surely we want players to be honest, while others later pointed out that it was more than a tad unprofessional.

More Europa League action

Five days later, with Deeney’s comments fresh in everyone’s minds, Arsenal traveled to Rajko Mitic Stadium in Serbia to face Red Star Belgrade.

The atmosphere was oppressive and I imagine it was incredibly intimidating for the young starting XI Wenger fielded. However, they didn’t show it.

Like most of Arsenal’s Europa League matches, their away clash against Red Star wasn’t in the least bit exciting. In fact, it was a bit boring. However, Jack Wilshere made his second start in the competition and looked sharp, just as he did against BATE Borisov.

Just as it looked as if the Gunners were never going to find the back of the net, Giroud broke the deadlock in the 85th minute.

Some fantastic Wenger-ball build-up play from Theo Walcott, Wilshere and Giroud himself allowed the Frenchman to pull off a stunning overhead kick into the top corner of the net.

Three points away from home in a hostile atmosphere, despite the display itself being a bit of a snooze-fest, was a brilliant result and kept Wenger’s men at the top of their group table.

Looking back, this was a huge win and one the fans should probably have appreciated more. Despite drawing at home to the Serbian side and losing away to FC Cologne in November, they still managed to earn automatic qualification to the next round and finish top of the group.

If they hadn’t got that three points, the job would have been considerably harder down the line.

Away success at last!

Fortunately, after the Watford loss, Arsenal’s league form picked up considerably with a 5-2 win against Everton at Goodison Park on 22 October.

Ronald Koeman’s head was on the chopping block and there was a distinct feeling that if he lost against Wenger’s men, he was gone.

There was a feeling of unease from Arsenal’s point of view as well. The 2-1 defeat away to the Toffees last term seemed to be the banana skin, which caused us to spiral downwards and out of the top four.

However, despite Wayne Rooney putting his side 1-0 ahead within 12 minutes with his 15th career goal against the Gunners, Nacho Monreal brought the score level before half-time and after that there was no going back.

Idrissa Gueye was shown a second yellow card in the 68th minute after a heavy challenge on Granit Xhaka. And with Everton down to 10 men, the floodgates opened.

Ozil, Lacazette, Ramsey and Alexis all found the back of the net and despite Oumar Niasse scoring in the 93rd minute, Wenger’ men had well and truly chewed out the Toffees with 30 shots – 14 of which were on target.

It was a fantastic feeling from a fan’s perspective because the team were yet to pick up three points on the road in the Premier League and it felt like a good foundation to build upon. There were still some poor moments against Everton and they had to be improved upon but it was a start. Arsenal were fifth in the table and we’d actually managed a convincing victory away from the fortress that the Emirates had become.

The next day, Ronald Koeman was sacked as Everton manager after winning just two of their nine league games. It was a shame because I don’t think many Gooners dislike the Toffees or Koeman, so it didn’t really feel good to be the nail in the 54-year-old’s coffin.

It also demonstrated the footballing mortality of most managers compared to Arsene Wenger. Although Everton were admittedly doing appallingly, Koeman had proven in the past that he was capable of turning things around. He came in during the 2016/17 season and helped the Toffees finish seventh.

It reminded us how the owners of football clubs have become cut-throat. With the money at stake nowadays perhaps you can understand why.

League Cup action

On 24 October, Arsenal took part in their second League Cup match. Predictably, much like the Europa League clashes, Wenger fielded a young side with some experience thrown in.

Frustratingly, however, also like the Europa League, it was a snooze-fest until the final 10 minutes.

The Canaries went 1-0 ahead through Josh Murphy in the 34th minute after the 22-year-old was played through. Matt Macey came racing out of the goal a bit too early, allowing the midfielder to slot the ball home and give the traveling fans something to cheer about. It had been coming and, to be honest, the visitors could have killed the came off in the first half.

After the break, the Young Guns offered very little and the home crowd was getting tetchy. Not necessarily at the result but at the lackluster performance these men who were supposed to be fighting for spots in the first team were putting in.

Although the team had a bunch of reserves out there, including Reiss Nelson, they also had a fair amount of experience.

Olivier Giroud, Mohamed Elneny and Mathieu Debuchy were all in the starting line-up and while they might not care about the Carabao Cup, you should at least be able to count on them to put in a professional performance against lower league opposition.

In the 85th minute, Wenger brought on a young striker by the name of Eddie Nketiah. We’d not seen him feature for the first team yet and although several Gooners were excited to see the teenager take the stage, not many genuinely thought he would make a huge impact on a match Arsenal looked more or less dead-set on losing.

In fact, most of us were already squinting to see the silver lining: fewer fixtures, I guess! Mickey Mouse Cup!

With his first touch of the match from a corner, Eddie scored the equaliser from close-range and the Emirates erupted.

The youngster’s late goal forced the Carabao Cup clash to extra time. Eddie had completely flipped the game on its head and his instinctive goal had given the Gunners something to play for. It was as if he’d jogged onto the pitch and given them all a shot of caffeine. Now, Arsenal were finally attacking and the momentum was with the home team.

11 more minutes was all it took for Eddie to net a second and despite Norwich giving it a good go, their tired legs combined with the energy they’d spent in the first half prevented them from bringing the scoreline to 2-2 before the end of extra time. Although, controversially, they had a penalty shout waved away.

It was a lucky escape and disappointing that Wenger had to bring on a teenager to save the day against a lower league side. However, the match was won, Arsenal were through to the next round, where they would face West Ham, and the fans were on a high.

Eddie went into the record books as the first player to score for us who was born after Arsene Wenger took over as manager and the next day, his name was the one on everybody’s lips.

Back in the Premier League

Arsenal rounded off October with another Premier League win at the Emirates. This time, against Swansea City, who they don’t have the most impressive record against.

Just as they had done against Everton and Norwich, they went a goal behind in the first half. It was Sam Clucas in the 22nd minute for the Swans.

However, at the beginning of the second half, Sead Kolasinac and Aaron Ramsey both found the back of the net. The pair linked up beautifully, with Sead assisting Rambo’s goal and eventually winning Man of the Match.

The game ended 2-1 and although it wasn’t easy, Arsenal deserved the three points at the final whistle.

October ended with a feeling of cautious optimism among the fans. The team had shown they could string some decent results together and find the back of the net. However, it was a concern that they often had to go 1-0 behind in order to do so.

They’d also shown how vulnerable they were against Watford and the B-team weren’t looking entirely convincing. However, it hadn’t been a disaster and the atmosphere wasn’t half as toxic as it had been two months prior.

A difficult November was around the corner with Manchester City, a North London Derby, Burnley and Huddersfield all to face in the Premier League, as well as two more Europa League group stages matches against Red Star and FC Cologne. It wasn’t going to be easy but the ingredients were there.

Check back tomorrow for Wenger’s final season: 2017/18 review – November to January