Premier League: Arsenal stuck with Arteta and it is paying off
Arsenal's Mikel Arteta has taken plenty criticism but has brought the club back to the promised land. Picture: John Walton/PA Wire.
It didn’t go to script; we will be denied the excitement and tension of a winner-takes-all drama ending to the Premier League. A talented Bournemouth side put pay to that on Tuesday night. Instead, Arsenal, so long the bridesmaid under Mikel Arteta, will forego the trouble and strife and step down the aisle for their own special day.
Monday night’s edgy win over already-relegated Burnley had planted a seed of doubt. If City did the routine job against Bournemouth, would Arsenal again crack under the weight of expectation at Selhurst Park? Crystal Palace would have relished playing the spoiler.
But it was City who blinked.
The experience that saw Pep Guardiola’s side win six of the last 10 Premier League crowns, abandoned them. And as soon as Bournemouth’s Eli Kroupi scored his exquisite opener for the Cherries just before half time, you just knew that City were in trouble. And even though Erling Haaland would score late to give the Cityzens some hope, it would have been a travesty had Bournemouth lost as they looked like the side that was vying for the title. In truth they will feel hard done by the draw, such was their dominance across the game.
It may drain some drama from the final day, but it doesn’t dilute the achievement. Arsenal are champions-elect, and deservedly so. The table doesn’t lie — and neither does the journey. Whatever you feel or say, Arsenal are top and the club deserves credit on several fronts for this success.
Arsenal have been building to Sunday’s coronation for the best part of a decade maybe more, a bit too long for the liking of some of the Gooners. But that the club did not simply flash the cash and buy their way to glory like some other clubs stands to their credit. Instead, they have methodically built towards this success and critical to this situation has been their commitment to manager Mikel Arteta. Three second-place finishes over the past three seasons saw many demand his dismissal, but Arsenal and its American owners Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, headed by Enos Kroenke and his son club director Josh Kroenke, held their nerve and allowed Arteta the time to build a squad that would find success despite some setbacks along the journey.
Slowly but surely, Arteta has built an invigorated youthful side that blended keen market acquisitions like Declan Rice with academy players like Bukayo Saka. Filling gaps with new players were not rushed into until Arteta and the club were sure they had the right man for the job. That been said, the club has not been found wanting in the market when the need became important. While all the attention was on Liverpool’s £450m splurge at the end of the of last season, Arsenal were not slow on outlaying £250m on eight key arrivals including Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace for £67.5m and Viktor Gyokeres for £64m.
Again, a relatively slow start to this season had some of the fans calling for Arteta’s head, but as the season went on, Arsenal found their form. By December, the side became the first team to win all eight Champions League group stage matches, Arsenal then reeled off five straight wins in the league over the hectic Christmas period, strengthening their grip on first place in the Premier League. And we started to raise the possibility that Arsenal could win their first Premier League title in 22-years.
When setbacks arrived, as they always do on the way to being champions, they didn’t collapse — they responded. They found ways to win, even when it wasn’t pretty. Set-pieces, late goals, attritional performances — are all hallmarks of champions. Five defeats all season. Just seven draws. Ruthless when it mattered.
Maybe more than what has just happened, there’s the future. This could be just the beginning.
With Liverpool, Chelsea, and Spurs all in varying states of squad disrepair, Manchester United recovery still uncertain, and Pep’s future casting uncertainty over City, the door is ajar for something bigger — a sustained Arsenal era perhaps?
A dynasty isn’t built on one title. But this feels like a starting point, not a peak.
Next comes Budapest on May 30. A Champions League final. A shot at a double few predicted when the season began.
App?
