Arsenal have been crowned Premier League champions, ending a 22-year wait for the title, but the plan for the future is crystal clear with Mikel Arteta at the helm
Arsenal are officially Premier League champions for the first time in 22 years following Manchester City’s failure to beat AFC Bournemouth.
Mikel Arteta’s crowning glory after more than six years in the role has finally come to fruition following a season of grit, determination, good and bad fortune and historical defensive assuredness. Arsenal have been record-breakers under Arteta already, but not for the reasons which fans could wholly attach to.
Whether that was winning the most games in a Premier League season for the club in 2023/24 (28), more than the title-winning Invincibles in 2004, or scoring a club high 91 goals in the same league campaign. Ultimately, each season ended with nothing to show for it in terms of silverware. However, each year the team took a step forward, a stride upward. Inching ever closer to what has now transpired.
Even last season’s perceived step back competitively was a necessary part of the journey. The 27 injuries suffered throughout the campaign led to a ‘no more’ attitude in the summer transfer window and strength in depth was prioritised.
With injuries still ever-present, unlike the prior campaign, Arteta has utilised his stronger collective and dealt far better with his team’s absences.
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Noni Madueke, Piero Hincapie, Cristhian Mosquera and Eberechi Eze have all brought quality to different areas of the pitch, with several pushing for regular starts over the already established pack. Three of the aforementioned quartet could even be in Arteta’s starting eleven for the UEFA Champions League final. That in itself paints the picture of successful recruitment under new sporting director Andrea Berta.
Viktor Gyokeres will end the season as the top scorer. 21 goals have hit the back of the net, and while doubts have followed his first year in north London, the Swede’s laser-like focus and unfazed demeanour have been the perfect shield from the noise which has followed him.
I myself have had to hold my hands up, even apologise, for my earlier criticisms, which have perhaps at times been too harsh, and I have done so with a smile. What struck with me most from my sit-down with Gyokeres earlier in the season was when I asked him about the nerves, the noise and the pressure. His instinct was not to do what others might’ve, and bat them away, but instead to embrace those emotions and explain why instead they’re a good thing.
“I think if you feel nerves, I think it means that it matters for you,” he stated. “I think it’s not bad if you take it in the right way and you put that energy in the right direction. So to have nerves, I think it’s not a bad thing. It’s just bad if you convert it into something negative, and it depends on how you handle those emotions.”
That conversation took place right before the Gunners’ defeat to Bournemouth, no doubt the lowest point of the season. In that moment, many others and I honestly thought it was a turning point, giving Man City impetus, and there is no doubt it was.
Eight days later, Arsenal went to the Etihad Stadium and lost, but I left the ground feeling more encouraged than ever before that this side would win the league. I sat at Manchester Piccadilly station to record my post-match video and said, “I feel okay”, and I ended it saying, in the words of Declan Rice, almost… “I don’t think this is done.” And it wasn’t.
The performance surprised me, especially after the defeat to Bournemouth. The side had belief, they showed their teeth, and they were incredibly unlucky to come away from that ground with nothing.
Upon their return from that, Arteta gave his most important words of the season. Arsenal had drawn a line after that game, and simplified the mission. Five more to go.
“The same, the energy raised, the belief raised, I think the clarity of what we have to do, it cannot be better,” he said before the 1-0 win over Newcastle United. “Five games to go. Tomorrow, game one, all in. Let’s go for it.”
Three of the four wins, which have proven to be enough to win the title, were all 1-0 scorelines, with the 3-0 victory over Fulham something of an anomaly. Even in the Champions League semi-finals against Atletico Madrid, Arsenal would score a single goal in both legs, enough to take them through to just the second final in the competition in their history.
But as has been the case for almost all of the season, this defensive resilience and assuredness have been the bedrock of the campaign. Sir Alex Ferguson famously said: “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.”
Back in October of last year, soon after the 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League’s league phase, Arteta was asked about the quote and his words no doubt ring true about his side’s success and first Premier League title victory.
“When you look at his titles and who talks about this topic, the manner and the reason why, you have to really put that as a big message in your office,” the Spaniard said about Ferguson’s quote. “Because you know it gives you the big platform to win titles and it’s something that he did consistently so, he’s right!”
The defeat at Manchester City was the last time Arsenal have conceded a goal from open play. Only Julian Alvarez’s penalty, which was dubiously awarded, has been able to break through David Raya and the defence in front of him.
The Spaniard has been a rock, not always perfect, granted, but a third straight Golden Glove award with 19 clean sheets tells its own story. The defence that Arteta has crafted with William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes at its core is worthy of any top-flight success.
Arsenal fans debate about Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Kolo Toure, David O’Leary, and the list goes on, of who gets into an all-time best XI. No doubt, both Saliba and Gabriel have firmly established themselves in the debate, and this title only cements their position.
But the best player this season, Declan Rice, is the cornerstone to this Arsenal team’s success both on and off the pitch. In the years following the move to the Emirates Stadium, talk of future titles quickly faded as Arsene Wenger navigated the trials of financial restriction. To think Arsenal would, in just over a decade following the departures of Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, spend more than £100million on a Premier League midfielder and England international wanted by the best clubs in the world and not only get him, but see him become the fulcrum to several title chases and ultimately ending the 22-year wait for the crown, was fantasyland stuff.
But that reality is here, and the club’s aim is for it to continue. A look north to Merseyside shows what can happen if the next steps are not taken correctly, no matter how much you spend.
Owners Stan and Josh Kroenke published a long statement to supporters ahead of the win over Burnley in the matchday programme, in what was the final home game of the season. Amongst the appreciation to the efforts of club staff and supporters was a crucial message which fans will be greatly encouraged by.
“The connection we feel with our supporters fills us with pride,” the statement read. “Between us, we are building something very special and, wherever this month of May takes us, there will be no standing still when the season ends.
“We are always forward in our approach, taking the learnings as we go and relentless in the pursuit of progress. We remain focused on raising the standard, creating the best possible environment for our players and people to succeed, and elevating the unity that exists between club and community.”
Pep Guardiola’s expected departure from Manchester City brings with it even more uncertainty over a club that has been Arsenal’s closest rivals. Arteta, meanwhile, is expected to undergo discussions at the end of the season over the renewal of his contract.
Success and stability now define Arsenal Football Club. The chance to aim for a dynasty of silverware and dominance, to bring a new golden era for the first time since the late 90s and early 00s, is a realistic ambition.
This Premier League title is a moment that fans will remember forever. But it could be much more than that, and instead be the beginning of a truly special period in the club’s history.
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