Arsenal were not expected to be in a title race last season yet after 30 games of the Premier League campaign The Gunners found themselves 4 points clear of Champions Manchester City.
Unfortunately for Mikel Arteta his team were incapable of holding off the challenge of Pep Guardiola’s relentless Citizens, finishing the season 5 points behind City in second place.
If the online betting odds are to be believed the 2023/24 season is going to be another near miss for The Gunners with City backed at 5/6 to win their fourth Premier League title on the trot.
When facing the power of a state-backed financial behemoth like Manchester City it can be easy to become disheartened and disillusioned with football, but overcoming City is not impossible – just ask Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool.
In this article we analyse what Mikel Arteta and Arsenal need to do next season to ensure that they are the ones celebrating when the Premier League comes to a close in May.
Be Relentless
There was a time when a 2-2 draw away to Liverpool and a 2-2 draw away to London rivals West Ham United were seen as good points for a title challenging Arsenal side. Last season though those dropped points wound up costing Arsenal their shot at the Premier League.
That’s because Manchester City racked up 12 straight wins after drawing inexplicably in mid-February against Nottingham Forest including scintillating 4-1 home wins against both Liverpool and Arsenal.
To compete with that type of form, Arsenal need to be near flawless in every game they play next season. It’s what Liverpool did in the 2019/20 season after narrowly missing out on the title to City the year previously.
In that campaign, Liverpool won 26 of their first 27 games taking an incredible 79 points from an available 81. If Arsenal are to become only the second other side to pip City to a title since 2017 they will need an equally impressive start to the season.
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Improve Depth
We very nearly took this section out of the article as in the past couple of weeks Mikel Arteta has added real depth and quality to his squad in the signings of Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber.
Yet for us, question marks still hang over the depth in attacking areas with Eddie Nketiah the likely backup to Gabriel Jesus should Folarin Balogun make his expected move away from the club this summer.
Whilst Eddie deputised well last season he is not the level of backup striker needed to successfully challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title. Does that seem a little harsh considering Eddie’s performances last season? Yes. Is it fair? Yes, just look who City have as a backup to their main striker – World Cup winning forward Julian Alvarez.
In the era before financial doping, Eddie Nkethiah, Leandro Trossard and Reiss Nelson would have been more than talented enough backup options for a title challenging side but that was then and this is now.
If Arsenal are to challenge City successfully next season an extra incoming, perhaps in the form of disillusioned Juventus striker and former target Dusan Vlahovic may well be necessary.
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(He’s got a great song but is he of the necessary quality to help Arsenal to a title?)
Reduce the Reliance on Emotion
Arsenal played on adrenaline and emotion so many times last season and whilst the end result was often thrilling for fans it was perhaps detrimental to the team’s title chances. In his acclaimed book Pep Confidential, Marti Perarnau revealed how the Catalan believes that league titles are won in the last 8 games of a season.
If that is the case, Arsenal need to break their addiction to emotion and instead play with a steely, relentless resolve. In each of the last two seasons Arsenal’s performances have fallen of a cliff in the last knockings of the season with the team seemingly running out of steam on both occasions.
Pep Guardiola’s sides do not do that. Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides did not do that and if they are to win titles, Mikel Arteta’s can’t. Between August and March, Arsenal’s goal should simply be to stay in the title reckoning and then motor on in the final two months of the season.
In Summary: Can Arsenal Win the Title?
No. Manchester City have just won the treble and at the time of writing have bolstered their squad with the arrival of Mateo Kovacic and the highest rated defensive talent on the planet in Josko Gvardiol.
The Citizens also have the financial power to bring in anyone in world football that they so wish to do so between now and the start of the season and, in Pep Guardiola, have the finest manager of the past 40 years at the helm.
The only realistic way in which Arsenal could win the Premier League this season is if City were to implode or, if those 100 or so allegations of financial doping were to finally catch up with them…
