Reece James suggested the Arsenal squad’s long time spent together helped them to overcome Chelsea on Sunday, but have the Gunners really had that much stability in the team?
Following Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Reece James spoke to the media and suggested Xabi Alonso’s recent arrival compared to Mikel Arteta’s long spell in north London played a part in the result.
“It’s been two or three months working with the new manager and his staff,” James said. “You know, [Arsenal] are maybe eight years together. I don’t know how long.
“But we are enjoying it so far, with two wins from three in the league. It’s a small bump in the road, but we’ll be back.”
Starting with a quick fact check, Arteta arrived at Arsenal in December of 2019, so it’s been a bit under seven years, rather than eight. But James did admit he didn’t know exactly how long it had been.
Perhaps the more significant thing to point out is that only five players from Arsenal’s 2022/23 squad still remain at the club. Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Ben White, Bukayo Saka, and Martin Odegaard are the only ones who have lasted more than the last three seasons with the team.
So even if Arteta has been at the club for almost seven years now (not eight), less than half of his starting lineup on Sunday have been working with the Arsenal boss since before 2023.
Then when it comes to managers, it was Arsenal’s choice to stand by one manager until his project came to fruition.
Chelsea have repeatedly made the decision to cut ties and replace their managers after only a short space of time, and they have to live with the consequences of that choice.
If Chelsea and the other Premier League clubs continue to make coaching alterations every season, they’ll probably still be making the same excuses in years to come.
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