Mikel Arteta had to make a change. After three years of frustration finishing as runners-up, Arsenal were fed up with falling short. "Second again, ole-ole," rival fans taunted them. The Arsenal boss was determined to come out on top this season and stay there. Arteta's ambition, and the club's, is to seize this opportunity as a period of domination. Those who know Arteta best insist he will barely allow himself time to celebrate now because he is already focused on what he can do better next season.
What Changed Last Summer?
There were two big obvious changes, apart from Arteta's extraordinary eye for small details and improvements behind the scenes. Andrea Berta, the club's sporting director, was already in place, but this was his summer. Arsenal spent big, increased squad depth, and, biggest of all, signed a big-name striker in Viktor Gyokeres. Then came a new No. 2 in Gabriel Heinze. Arteta knew the ex-Manchester United and Argentina defender from their time together at Paris Saint-Germain. Heinze is fierce, a pit bull, and highly demanding. At times this season, there have been concerns in the dressing room that Arteta is intense enough without having someone just as intense alongside him. Arteta's other trusted coach, Albert Stuivenberg, is very demanding too.
But ultimately, you are judged on what you achieve over the course of the season. Finishing as champions for the first time in 22 years is the ultimate vindication.
Not All Plain Sailing
However, it would be wrong to suggest it has all been plain sailing. Football rarely is. The number of games—61 and counting—has been tough, the training schedule unrelenting, and the endless team meetings and hours of work on set-pieces have been exhausting. It was noticeable that amid all the celebrations at Arsenal's training ground on Tuesday night, there was no Arteta. The manager had gone home to be with his family but also to allow the players to savour their moment together. Players jumped in the swimming pool, and set-piece coach Nico Jover was among those pushed in. The coach who masterminded 24 set-piece goals this season, making Arsenal the best in the business, had been on at them all season. It was all good fun.
Key Signings and Tactical Decisions
Berta was the one who really championed Gyokeres, telling the scouting and recruitment team to ignore the data and leg work done on Benjamin Sesko because they should sign the Sweden striker for £64 million from Sporting Lisbon. Noni Madueke was another big signing for £52 million. Arsenal had looked at him before, liked him before he went to Chelsea, and saw him as a player with pace and movement to unlock opponents with low blocks. Eberechi Eze was another key signing. But Eze is a great example that unless you play by Arteta's rules, you don't play. He had a brilliant autumn, scored a hat-trick against Tottenham, was brilliant against Bayern Munich, and then got dropped for not tracking a runner at Aston Villa.
It is unfair to cast Arsenal as a dull, set-piece team who do not play football. They have saved their best performances for the Champions League—like against Bayern—and have looked free from pressure.
Overcoming Pressure and Doubts
That pressure so nearly caught up with Arsenal and could have destroyed them. Arteta's reaction to defeats has been, on occasion, to work harder, train harder, and become even more intense. The players were feeling the strain. They needed a reset after losing the Carabao Cup final. That was a low moment; they had lost to title rivals Manchester City at Wembley, and suddenly the doubts were creeping in. It got even worse after Arsenal lost at City last month. The title was slipping away. Declan Rice was filmed on the pitch defiantly insisting: "It's not done." In the dressing room afterwards, it could have been flat. Instead, it was defiant. They were determined to go again. Rice spoke up, Bukayo Saka is a leader, and Martin Odegaard, though his actions on the pitch speak louder than his words, talked about never giving up.
Tellingly, Arteta gave the players two days off. They needed a rest—both mentally and physically. Arteta's mindset is to always try different things, different ideas, and different training. Sometimes you just need a rest. Arteta's infamous "fire" press conference—ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg tie with Sporting Lisbon—followed a bizarre meeting with the players around a hastily built fire when the players were invited to write down their fears and then burn them. Another idea was for them to join up by a rope, clamber into a stream by the edge of the training ground, and support each other. That was abandoned on safety grounds. Imagine if someone turned their ankle...
Arteta's Vision and Future
Arteta inherited a toxicity at the club when he took over in 2019. It was actually the atmosphere at the training ground which did for Unai Emery. The club hierarchy feared the mood at London Colney meant results were never going to improve. Senior players were shipped out; Arteta favoured younger, hungrier players and also values the importance of the fans. He is obsessed with atmosphere. He comes up with ideas, loves the "tifo" banners, and it was the manager who helped make the "soundtrack to the season," an AI-generated song which belts out the names of all the players. Arteta worked on it on his laptop in his office. Anything to make a difference.
Arteta is driven. He is obsessed with winning and single-minded. The club would love to tie him down to a new deal, and the expectation is that he will put pen to paper. The only time he has ever come remotely close to leaving was back in 2023 after Arsenal just missed out on the title the first time. He admitted publicly he questioned his future at the club. Paris Saint-Germain were interested before they took Luis Enrique. That is how hard Arteta pushes himself. He could not stand to be regarded as a failure. That is why he knew he needed to change. And also why you can be sure he will keep evolving to reach the top.
