It was considered that Arsenal is back. This was the expression that was sung again and again when the game ended in the Premier League when Gunners went against Fulham.
On this hot afternoon of 7/10/18 in West London, Emery was applauded off by a glittering second-half scene that featured the magnificent strike by Aaron Ramsey right in the net, after seeing his side smash the 5-1.
The joy of the public was decipherable. In all tournaments, they only saw Arsenal ninth in a row. Emery’s fresh strategy gave a fresh start to a team that had dropped out under the supervision of Arsenal Wenger from the champions’ league.
For a couple of seconds, the divide which symbolized Arsenal in the ending years of Wenger’s era was gone as the crowd and players cheered uniformly after the end of the game. There was once again harmony, a sensation of turning off the stone.
No flags, no marches, no aircraft to be witnessed anywhere. The mantra was, “We have our Arsenal back.” And it looked like this could be the scenario for some time.
But the Craven Cottage triumph was fabricated dawn. A surge of negativities quickly swept upon the optimistic signals that came from Emery, which persisted through the festive season, followed by a similarly bad start to the next campaign, a disastrous end to the season.
It resulted in the favor for Spaniard, tossing away a place in the top four and being thumped in Europe League finals by Chelsea.
At the Christmas season, Emery was sacked, in only about a year after he had been embraced as a hero.
Although Arsenal is planning for the first trip to Fulham since the day, Mikel Arteta should remember deeply, what Spaniard went through, on how easily football can transform.
For now, Arteta’s stock cannot be greater. In December, he took the bits left by Emery and finished the season with the Football Association Challenge Cup being lifted at Wembley – all when the pandemic broke out.
It was incredible what Arteta did in a small period of time. He has changed the club’s atmosphere, captured silverware, and pulled back a disgruntled locker room.
