Arsenal are currently sitting at the top of the Premier League table and looking to secure their first league title since 2004. The team, under the guidance of Mikel Arteta and Edu, has had to make some tough choices in their journey towards success.
Edu has explained that Arsenal's success has come from a clear and well-defined process, despite some difficult and unpopular decisions that had to be made along the way. The team lost their opening three games of the 2021/22 season, but Edu and the Arsenal hierarchy stuck with Arteta and believed in the process.
One of the most difficult decisions made by Arsenal was to let Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang leave, despite his impressive record of 92 goals in 163 appearances. However, this move was deemed necessary to continue the club's transformation under Arteta.
"We know we were going to go through some challenging periods because sometimes we have to make some unpopular decisions, which could cause some instability. But, internally we were quite strong to understand the process and we are where we are. There is still a lot to do, we are in the middle of it but we are still happy and proud to see where we are at the moment," said Edu in an interview with Sky Sports.
Despite finishing eighth in the league last season, Arsenal continued to develop their squad and trust Arteta, resulting in an impressive run this season. The Gunners have won 21 of their 27 top-flight matches and are five points clear of second-place Manchester City.
Their success has also extended to Europe, where they are aiming to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League after a strong group stage performance.
However, Arteta has stressed that improvements must be made if they want to continue their success, particularly in defense.
"It's true that it's something that we must improve massively if we want to keep winning games," said Arteta. "When you concede two poor goals like we did away from home in Europe it's very difficult to get a positive result. We gave too many simple balls away. We need to defend our box much better."