Day 1 Aftermath: what have we learned so far? | Untold Arsenal: Supporting the club, the manager and the team

I'm not sure many people will be interested in looking at a league ranking this morning, but because we're Untold, we'll provide one for the six teams that have emerged victorious in the first match.

But what really stands out is Kai Havertz, who found the back of the net just when the media was buzzing about Arsenal's desperate need for a new striker.

His most successful scoring season was in 2018/19 with Leverkusen, where he scored 20 goals in 42 games (0.48 per game). However, his highest goal tally with Chelsea was 14 in 47 games during the 2021/22 season (0.30 per game). During his last season with Arsenal, he scored 13 goals in 30 league matches (0.43 per game).

Yet, when examining his scoring performance in the past 18 league matches, he has scored 10 goals in the last 19 games - averaging 0.52 goals per game - which is his most successful period in terms of goal-scoring, surpassing any previous achievements in his career (with 10 goals in the last 15 matches in all competitions as reported by the Guardian).

In the previous season, the leading goal-scorers were Haaland with 27 goals, Palmer with 22 goals, and Isaak with 21 goals in the league.

Certainly, it is important to mention that Palmer represented Chelsea while Isak played for Newcastle. This highlights that having a leading goal scorer does not guarantee winning the league. However, considering Newcastle finished 7th last season and Chelsea finished 6th, we can see that having a top scorer can benefit smaller clubs in their quest for European competitions.

Also, just because a team has the leading goal scorer doesn't necessarily mean they will score the most goals. Last season, Newcastle was the fourth-highest scoring team and Chelsea was fifth, trailing Arsenal by 14 goals.

Certainly, it would be appreciated if those individuals who have been insisting all summer that Arsenal needs a new striker, or who have been criticizing Arteta for supposedly spending the entire budget on Havertz, could step forward and offer an apology. We would, of course, accept this apology graciously. However, I have not come across any such apologies at this time.

However, Arteta mentioned that it takes time for every player to adjust and become familiar with everything - the team, the connections, the tactics.

After only one match, Havertz and Saka both scored a goal and assisted, making it a decent start to the season despite it being only 2.6% completed.

Gary O'Neil, who lives in Wolverhampton, mentioned that he noticed many good things in his team. I didn't see as much as he did, so maybe I need to pay more attention. Wolverhampton allowed an average of 1.71 goals per game last season, so allowing two goals in the first match is consistent with their usual performance.

Football Fancast decided to spotlight Kiwior with the headline “Time to move on” and the narrative that the £20m player seems unlikely to ever play for Arsenal.

Footballing experts at Footballfancast have informed us that Arsenal have been pursuing Mikel Merino, the midfielder from Real Sociedad, for more than a month. They anticipate some progress on this front soon. Reedit shared that Arsenal is not likely to make any more signings this summer unless there is a sudden unexpected addition, and they are linking the same player to the club.

The upcoming match will be against Aston Villa, who defeated West Ham in an away game yesterday under the management of Julen Lopetegui. Fun fact - Lopetegui used to manage Wolverhampton Wanderers. It's funny how things come full circle in football. As for David Moyes, the last we heard was that he was working for Talk Sport, which seems like a suitable fit for him.

Regarding the Wolverhampton coach Gary O’Neil, he was dismissed by Bournemouth in June 2023, and then began coaching Wolverhampton at the beginning of the previous season.

This brings up an interesting point about the revolving door of managers. Wolverhampton has gone through eight managers since 2001, while Arsenal has had four (including temporary managers like Freddie in Arsenal's case).

Replacing the manager, similar to constantly bringing in new players, is something that the media and certain bloggers continuously demand, but more often than not, it doesn't lead to any improvement. In fact, it can often make the situation even worse.

Why do reporters and writers and other analysts keep asking for additional players and frequent changes in coaches? Look at Chelsea as an example, where the team only scored 38 goals in 38 games a couple of seasons ago.

However, the need for a fresh manager persists due to...

Journalists enjoy causing turmoil within clubs because it provides them with plenty of material to write about.

The reporters don't take the time to review the data and believe that changes in management are effective.

The reporters are well aware of their actions and enjoy causing chaos within clubs.

Writing about a potential new manager doesn't require much research or effort.

It's up to you to make the choice.