Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup 3rd round Sunday night, losing to Manchester United 1-1 (3-5 on penalties after extra time), eliminating them from contention for yet another trophy this season. They are also 2-0 down in aggregate to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup semifinals, six points off the top spot in the Premier League, and 3rd in the UEFA Champions League table. While the likelihood of Arsenal winning a trophy this season isn’t zero, the FA Cup was undoubtedly their biggest opportunity for major silverware.
The Gunners also came within inches of securing the English Premier League title in the 2023-24 season but lost out on the season’s final day to Manchester City, the second time Mikel Arteta’s side finished behind them.
Arteta joined Arsenal in 2019 and to his credit, brought Arsenal from languishing in midtable to being a title contender. Signings like Martin Odegaard, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, and Thomas Partey solidified their starting lineup and accurately strengthened their glaring weaknesses.
In 2020, they unexpectedly won the FA Cup defeating Chelsea 2-1 in the final. Since then, Arsenal has been on a trophyless run and has failed to win any other major silverware despite spending €516.3 million on transfers since Arteta signed — ranking them as some of the biggest spenders in the league without much to show for it.
Before signing for Arsenal, Arteta was an assistant manager at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, arguably the best person for an aspiring manager to work under. After he was hired at Arsenal, his lack of experience was made up by his players buying into his philosophy which was heavily influenced by his time at City.
While Arsenal’s current form isn’t helped by an injury to star forward Bukayo Saka, they have still failed to address their striker issue. Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are not good enough to challenge for titles, and the Gunners spent €127.2 million to acquire the two players and only have 10 goals between them in all competitions this season.
Pressure is now mounting on Arteta within the fan base. He was perhaps the perfect manager to transition Arsenal from mediocrity to contenders, but they keep falling short when it matters. The Gunners would do well to find a manager who is a serial winner, and ruthlessly adjust the squad to see them over the line to lift more titles.
Many Arsenal fans may look to blame owner Stan Kroenke, but it isn’t that straightforward. Arsenal have remained financially competitive compared to their peers, but the club’s sporting directors have gone somewhat awry with transfers in recent years.
There is also a clear mentality issue. Nicolas Jover, their current set-piece coach, has become somewhat of a hero at the club. Arsenal’s corner and free-kick routines this season have been creative and it has paid dividends, scoring seven goals from these situations (most in the league). This has led Arsenal fans to recently paint a mural of Jover in the walkway leading up to the Emirates Stadium. They went from celebrating legends like Premier League-winning and ‘Invincibles’ Thierry Henry and Patrick Viera to idolizing a set-piece coach who hasn’t won them any trophies. It is totally emblematic of the fan base and club as a whole, who seem happy to canonize figures who haven’t deserved it yet.
Has Arteta taken Arsenal as far as he can? It seems they are always just one or two transfers away from finishing the puzzle, but we have been saying the same thing for many seasons now. It doesn’t appear the owners have any desire to get rid of the Spaniard any time soon, but if he remains on for the 2025/26 season and it yields similar results, it could prove to be a make-or-break moment.
