How to judge Arsenal's success in the 2023/2024 season

Arsenal will be one of the teams to watch in the Premier League this season after they splashed the cash to bolster their squad with some outstanding talents.

They have built on their success in the last campaign when they nearly won the Premier League.

Mikel Arteta's side is expected to feel the impact of signing Declan Rice for a record-breaking fee.

The midfielder was one of the most sought-after players in this transfer window, and time will tell if he will justify the decision to add him to their squad.

Rice won the Conference League with West Ham last season as their captain, so he is one more leader in the Gunners dressing room, and their fans feel they have sealed one of the best transfers of the summer.

There is little doubt about that, but they are no longer pretenders and must act like league contenders when the next campaign starts.

Arteta has grown from one of the exciting rookie managers when he took over in 2019 to becoming one of the finest coaches in Europe.

In the last campaign, reports suggested PSG wanted to make him their manager and linked Barcelona with a move for him before choosing Xavi Hernandez.

This means the ex-midfielder will no longer be seen as a rookie, especially after Arsenal spent over 200m euros on new players in the last few weeks.

The club and its fans have a lot of expectations of him, and he knows he has to meet these to be considered a success.

As soon as the term starts, eyes will be on the Gunners to see if they can prove their performance last season was not a one-off.

The North Londoners were in scintillating form and were unbeatable for several weeks at the start of the campaign.

Fans will expect another fast start when the next campaign begins, and they have equipped themselves well enough to make that happen.

Rice comes into the team with the momentum of a player who just won a European championship, and Kai Havertz has also won the Champions League within the last three terms.

The German scored the most important goal in the 2021 final, but he does not excite Arsenal fans, at least not yet.

He has a hefty price tag, even though Rice costs more money, so fans will be critical of his performances when the term starts.

Arsenal fans have been starved of trophies, and we can all understand why they will be eager to be league champions next season.

It would be hard for their players to escape criticism when the term begins, but how do we judge them properly?

Fans who buy Arsenal tickets love the ambience that fellow supporters create and enjoy seeing their players, but the most crucial reason most of them attend games is that they want to see their team win matches.

Supporters do their best to defend the club, including getting jerseys when they are launched, so they have every right to judge the players.

However, sometimes they make that too quickly in a season and the Gunners' career of new signings.

Rice is now expected to hit the ground running from his first game with the Gunners shirt at his back, but that might mean expecting too much too soon from the Englishman.

Fans must allow him and Havertz to settle as individuals, and the focus must be on supporting them to get the most comfortable start they can get.

However, as a team, the expectation is much different and for understandable reasons, because the team must make progress.

Previously, Arsenal was judged by what position they finished on the league table as the fans were starved of Champions League football.

However, after securing a top-two finish in the last campaign, that has changed, and fans want more from them in this campaign.

Arteta knows his team will need to work harder to maintain progress. It would be a ridiculous failure if the club ends the term without Champions League football.

But finishing inside the top four alone is no longer enough to make fans consider a campaign successful; the club must now win a trophy.

One reason their gaffer has been at the job until now is because he won the FA Cup in 2020 and the Community Shield.

This was a clear sign that he could turn the club around, and he has now received the approval to do that.

Since the triumph in both competitions in 2020, Arsenal has not won any trophy; this must be their goal this term.

Apart from making the top four, the Gunners must win a trophy for us to consider their season successful.

They now have the squad and resources to achieve this, so it will be hard for them to justify failure in all competitions at the end of the next campaign.

Which competition should Arsenal prioritise?

The Gunners have the chance to play in four competitions next term, meaning they can win all of them.

The most difficult for them to win would be the Champions League, then the Premier League, but the Gunners should secure victory in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

This is because the top sides in these competitions often field weakened teams and mostly their youngsters.

Arsenal is also guilty of this, but it limits their chances of success, so they must change their approach in the next campaign.

If Arteta can develop his team to a place where every player is in sync with the other, it will be easier for his side to secure victory, whichever set of players are on the pitch.

This means he can field his B team in the earlier rounds of the cup competitions and still secure victories that will take them to the vital stage, where they can now use their best players.

However, if the Gunners aim for the league or the Champions League from the start of the term, they may have to sacrifice winning the domestic cups.

This is not the best plan of action for a club that desperately needs to end its trophy drought.

Reaching the latter stages of the Champions League will improve Arsenal's reputation and make the club some good money. 

However, at the end of the term, fans will judge the team base on the number of trophies they have won.

But if they have secured none, it would be difficult for the coach and his players to justify that they had a good season.

The time for Arsenal to end their trophy drought is now, and it would be brilliant if the club and the manager spent some time deciding on which competition to focus on.

If they decide to go for the domestic cups, they have a better chance of ending the term with a trophy.

Finishing inside the top four and winning the FA Cup and Carabao Cup will be a more successful season than reaching the quarterfinal of the Champions League and finishing inside the top four while ending the term emptyhanded yet again.

Other Premier League clubs have strengthened their squad and are preparing well for the competition, so this season will be as unpredictable as ever, but fans expect a great campaign from the Gunners.