Trusting the process ends in glory as Arteta transforms Arsenal into champions

After a lengthy wait of 22 years, Arsenal have finally reclaimed the English Premier League title. Manchester City’s 1-1 draw on 19 May was the defining moment for the Gunners, during a season in which they dominated the league marathon, despite some resistance from Pep Guardiola’s City.

It has not been pretty play from Mikel Arteta’s men on the way to this historic league triumph. The team have depended heavily on defence as opposed to attack, while also using their set-piece prowess to break down opposition defences.

The fact that the chasing pack was lacklustre also played its part. From City to Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool — none of them could quite keep up with the productivity of the Londoners.

Arsenal’s philosophy shift

Under their legendary mentor Arsène Wenger, the Gunners were known for being one of the most aesthetically pleasing teams on the field of play. Wenger’s elegant philosophy famously won Arsenal the league title without the team suffering a single defeat during the 2003/4 season.

From that memorable season onwards, the London club entered a lean trophy period as league battles were mainly dominated by Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils and Chelsea, backed by Roman Abramovich’s billions. City and Liverpool then took over the next era of duels for the league title, with Guardiola’s City regularly pipping Jürgen Klopp’s ultra-attacking Reds.

In those years, Arsenal had to settle for mainly third and fourth places. When Wenger departed, he was briefly replaced by Unai Emery. But that marriage between the Gunners and the Spaniard lasted just over a year, and he was sacked in November 2019 after a poor start to the season.

The Spanish coach was more of a rebound fling after Arsenal’s separation from Wenger, who had been at the helm for 22 years.

Enter Arteta. The Arsenal hierarchy somehow convinced their former midfielder to leave City, where he was working as one of Guardiola’s assistants, to take over their post-Wenger project after things went awry under Emery. He had never been a manager or head coach before. But the Arsenal owners were hoping for a more stable relationship this time. They had to trust the process.

“I have to try and convince the players about what I want to do and how I want to do it. They have to start accepting a different process, a different way of thinking; I want to get all the staff and everybody at the club with the same mindset,” Arteta told Arsenal’s media after his appointment in December 2019.

“We have to build a culture that has to sustain everything else. If you don’t have the right culture, in the difficult moments, the tree is going to shake. So, my job is to convince everybody that this is how we are going to live, and if you are going to be part of this organisation it has to be in these terms and in this way,” the former midfielder added.

Mikel Arteta’s long-term impact

In the league, Arteta initially also struggled – as evidenced by consecutive eighth-place finishes in his first two seasons in charge.

Then in 2021/22, Arteta’s third season in London, they graduated to fifth spot. Since then, they’ve had to thrice settle for bridesmaid status. Twice to City, then last season when Liverpool unexpectedly accelerated from behind to overtake the Gunners and be crowned English champions. This in Arne Slot’s first season of coaching in England.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Londoners. But those aches have now been erased by this gritty Premier League win. Arteta’s Gunners are not as visually pleasing as Wenger’s troops used to be. However, they have finally ended years of heartache for Arsenal supporters who trusted the process, even after successive second-place finishes in the past three seasons.

Of course, this still has the potential to be Arsenal’s greatest season, cementing Arteta in soccer folklore. No Arsenal manager has guided the club to European Champions League glory in their history of more than a century.

On 30 May in Budapest, Hungary, Arsenal and his Gunners can finally shoot to the summit of European soccer. Partaking in just their second Champions League final, after debuting in the decider in 2006, they face holders Paris Saint-Germain. This league triumph will be great fuel for the Gunners’ European ambitions. DM