Okay, yes, so we bested Bournemouth, but, after all, we were expected to win at home against a side, that despite its best return on a Prem season in club history, still could finish in the bottom half. Credit to Bournemouth, though—they play positive, aggressive football. What’s more, they have reason enough to believe that the scoreline flattered us. That said, though, the real reason we’r here is to stand (or sit) in slack-jawed astonishment at the degree to which players are resurrected or at least redefined. I’m speaking specifically of Kai Havertz but also of Declan Rice.

Havertz is rediscovering the form that inspired Chelsea to sign him in the first place.
Still just 24 (until he’s 25 cone 11 June), Havertz went through the wringer at Chelsea—six different managers and who knows how many new teammates or positions he was expected to adjust to? After joining us, Arteta tried to shoe-horn him in at LCM to middling results. Now that Arteta has entrusted him as a CF/false nine/8.5-ish type, Havertz has erupted. In his last 12 appearances, he’s tallied eight goals and five assists. Nine of those 12 have been as our centre-forward. What’s more, he seems much more confident. Whereas previously his sh*thousery seemed performative (he earned a suspension for accumulating five yellow cards earlier in the season), his dark arts seem subtler and more-purposeful. Witness the penalty he earned against Bournemouth, dragging that back leg in a manner that Jack Grealish himself would golf-clap. As one wag on Twitter put it, “Havertz followed his best game for Arsenal, with his best game for Arsenal, and then followed that up with his best game for Arsenal.” In other words, for as good as he’s been in the last few weeks, it’s entirely possible that he’ll continue to get better. Even if he plateaus, his improvement to date is surely a testament to the confident and trust that Arteta has shown him.

Rice has shrugged off the Atlas-ian burden that his transfer-fee might have created.
Recent history is littered with players who signed for record-breaking transfer-fees only to struggle under the weight of expectations. Fernando Torres, Andy Carroll, our own Nicolas Pépé, Romelu Lukaku, Paul Pogba—these are but a few of the players who have wilted under that weight. By contrast, Rice seems to have flourished, turning in MOTM-level performances on an almost-weekly level even as his roles and his partnerships evolve. Although Rice is widely regarded as one of the best deep-lying playmakers and defensive midfielders in the world, Arteta has asked him to play as more of a box-to-box midfielder while playing alongside Jorginho, Havertz, and Partey. While the scoresheet won’t show a contribution as dramatic as Havertz’s has been, Rice’s contributions are still foundational, if not transformational. I hate hyperbole with the intensity of a thousand suns, but Rice might just be the most-complete box-to-box midfielder we’ve seen since Patrick Vieira. There. I said it. It’s a credit again to Arteta that he saw something in Rice that Rice didn’t see in himself, and all of us are reaping the rewards.

At Arsenal, we don’t sign superstars. We make them.
This is a tradition that predates Arsène, who is famous for having made that statement way back in 2007. Now, it may exactly apply to Havertz or Rice or Ødegaard, each of whom was widely lauded before we signed them, but I don’t think it’s any accident that each of them (and others) has risen to levels under Arteta’s supervision that other players just haven’t matched. Contrast the rise of Havertz, Rice, Ødegaard, and Saliba to players we’d been linked with only to see them sign elsewhere. Mudryk, Caicedo, Gakpo, Felix, and Sancho were all heavily linked with a move to the Arsenal. None of the, obviously, ended up here. None of them, it must be added, have done much to justify their fees or their hype. One has to wonder just how differently they might have developed had they signed here. The rise of Havertz in particular has to stand in stark contrast to the fits and starts these other young players have endured, and not just because three of them also played for Chelsea.

There’s something about what Arteta’s peddling. It’s one thing to manage the personalities and egos of a squad full of world-class talent such as those Pep is accustomed to managing. It’s quite another to manage—and nurture—the evolving, emerging personalities of players who are just starting to plumb the depths of their talent. In other words, coaxing the likes of Rodri and De Bruyne and Ederson to play well takes one talent. Inspiring Havertz and Rice and Ødegaard, among others, to explore just what they’re capable of—while entrusting just about all of their teammates to do the same—that? That’s elite management. That’s building a plane while flying it.

It may not be enough to win the Prem this season, but that’s what happens when you’re up against a supersonic jet that plays by its own rules (or is allowed to play as if there are no rules in the first place). Something tells me that, for as good as this season has been, the best is yet to come.