There must be a rule of thumb in the world of football technical direction when it comes to when you start to see the results of transfer policy, and I can guarantee that whatever that rule is, it isn't the summer before the current season. This especially is the case when you've just smashed up the previous "structure" (now that was ossification), put an entirely new crew in place from top to bottom, while still reeling from the frankly unconscionable nonsense of the last decade resulting in Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Mustafi, Kolasinac, and the Xhaka fiasco. The biggest mistake Raul made was Emery, but I myself was very excited by his appointment and I do think that communication and his total lack of charisma is what precipitated the collapse of his team.
I see someone who made very bold, very swift, and very uncompromising moves to make Arsenal a more modern organization. Just because we've been shit on the pitch doesn't mean all of that isn't still true. People bring up Sven Mslintat all the time, but I for one am pleased he's gone; I think he is a charlatan and that his reputation is entirely undeserved. I don't buy all this data-driven nonsense - never have, never will.
Any decent jury would still be out on the Sanllehi case. I don't love the bullshitty corporatism, but there's no option in that regard. That's our world.
EDIT: I also think the Luiz extension was a mistake, but I'm not sure we'd have done it if not for COVID19, so some benefit of the doubt may be due on that front. I also think that Luiz himself is a con artist, and more experienced managers than Arteta have been done by him.
