The 38 games seasons started in 1988/9, and thus there have now been 35 such campaigns.
Out of these 35 Arsenal have exceeded either 80 points or 80 goals in just eight campaigns – that is 34% of the time. Arsenal have exceeded 80 goals five times (that is in 14% of the seasons) and have exceeded 80 points six times (17% of the seasons).
Which shows us that this is rather a special moment. The only time the club has got over 80 goals and 80 points two seasons running, and indeed the only time Arsenal has exceeded the 80/80 mark other than 2004/5.
And let us not forget that this has come in a season where there were calls for the manager to learn how to rotate. Not only would that have been irrelevant even if it were true, the fact is that compared to other managers it wasn’t true. Some teams did rotate more, but when that happened it was because they had more injuries than Arsenal.
So to be clear, only three times in the PL era, (8% of the seasons) have Arsenal exceeded both 80 goals scored and 80 points gained. Two of those seasons have been the last two seasons.
As noted above the other season was 2004/5. But the Unbeaten Season does not qualify for 80/80 status since Arsenal scored only 73 goals that season but did get 90 points. In fact when Arsenal won the league in 1998 it was with just 68 goals scored! Goals and winning the title don’t always go hand in hand.
This last season’s 91 goals was Arsenal’s best ever, and the 28 conceded was second only to the 26 conceded in the unbeaten season. The goal difference of 62 is the best ever.
But what is particularly interesting here is that all this was achieved without the one thing that so many football correspondents in newspapers and the bloggers who hang on their coat tails have demanded: a top scorer knocking in 20 or more goals.
This season just completed, Arsenal’s top scorer in the league was Saka with 16. Last season it was Odegaard and Martinelli each with 15.
Eight players scored more than Arsenal’s top man this season just finished. Haaland (27), Palmer (Chelsea – 22), Isak (Newcastle – 21) Foden (Machester C – 19), Solanke (Bournemouth – 19), Watkins (Aston Villa – 19), Salah (Liverpool 18), Son (Tottenham – 17).
Given that Newcastle came 7th and Bournemouth 12th, that suggests that while a top-scoring player can be useful in the team, it is no guarantee of success. Yes, Manchester City do have two players in the top scoring list but they only scored five more goals than Arsenal across the whole 38-match season. That is 0.13 goals per game.
And the benefit of the system Arsenal have evolved of spreading the goals around can be seen by the injury and loss of form of Martinelli this past season.
If we consider the top five scorers for Arsenal in the league last season and this season just finished we can see a slight difference:
2023/4 – total 91 goals: Saka (16), Havertz (13), Trossard (12), Odegaard (8), Rice (7)
2022/3 – total 88 goals : Martinelli (15), Odegaard (15), Saka (14), Jesus (11), Xhaka (7)
So in 2023/4 the top five scorers for the club knocked in 49 goals in the league between them.
In 2022/23 the top five scorers for the club scored 62 goals in the league between them.
What we can see is that the shift is to an ever more diverse set of players scoring goals in league matches is working. The top five goal scorers got more goals this season than the one before. Nevertheless, the media constantly link Arsenal with a 20 + goals a season man: a total change of direction.
It is of course possible that Arsenal could suddenly change policy. And we could look back to when Arsenal across two league seasons scored 176 goals.
But as far as I can see only twice has Arsenal ever exceeded such a goal-scoring record in its entire league history. Both occasions were in the 1930s under Chapman, and that, we should remember, not only included four extra games a season but also a time when Arsenal could score 78 goals in a season and come 14th in the league.
Indeed three times in the 1930s Arsenal scored 115 goals or more in a season – but they were also letting in 59+ a season. It was a time when even though it was easier to catch players offside (as the rules were different) defending was in its infancy.
So to all intents and purposes, this is the best Arsenal attack ever, and it is built around not having a 20+ man leading the line, but on sharing out the goals.
Many are calling for Arsenal to sign a 20+ goals a-season player, but I really do think that would require a total change in the way the team plays, and that may not be a good idea.
