By James Cormack “We need to generate more to win football matches,” uttered a desperate Mikel Arteta on the evening of 19 December 2020. The novice Arsenal coach had just seen his Gunners outfit succumb 2-1 at his former stomping ground, Goodison Park. Yerry Mina’s header in first-half stoppage time consigned the north Londoners to their worst-ever start to a league season since 1974/75. Arsenal’s recent brilliance means events from the early Arteta years feel like they occurred in a bygone era. They sunk to woeful depths at times, enduring crises worthy of the title. The aforementioned defea…
