Mikel Arteta has spent about 6 years at Arsenal, making considerable progress with the team, but next season may be the tipping point in his time at Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta took over as Arsenal’s head coach in the 2019/20 season, with a clear focus: to rebuild the squad, a task he has devoted himself to. Arteta has made considerable progress with this Arsenal team, taking them from being an ‘experiment’ to a force in English football.
Arsenal were at their lowest before Arteta came in, but the team has crawled its way back to the top and with good moments along the way. Arteta gave them their first trophy in two years when he won the 2020 FA Cup against Chelsea before winning two Community Shields in the 2020/21 and 23/24 seasons.
Arsenal has undergone a complete change at the club, and Arteta has been the main force behind this transformation. However, something is still missing: a major trophy. Since winning the FA Cup in the 2020/21 season, Arsenal haven’t been able to replicate this kind of success. They’ve had a near-success syndrome.
Three consecutive times, they have finished second in the Premier League. They have gotten close but just fail to complete the task or show any real bite as the season comes towards its end.
In the Champions League, they have also made good progress. Two seasons ago, they were bested by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
In the 24/25 season, they had an impressive run, beating Real Madrid in the quarter-finals in stunning fashion. By a mile, that victory may be one of the biggest achievements in Arteta’s time at Arsenal. However, after beating 15-time Champions League winners Real Madrid, they were bested over two legs by eventual winners PSG.
Despite Arteta claiming that his team were the best team over both legs, the results said otherwise.
Coming into this new season, Mikel Arteta needs to prove that he actually win a trophy and not sell a dream of winning a trophy. You can call it luck, fate, whatever you wish, but Postecoglou won a major trophy for Tottenham Hotspur before Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. Maresca won an European trophy with Chelsea in his first season at the club. Crystal Palace have a major domestic trophy under Oliver Glasner who is new to the Premier League.
Even if nobody says it, there is a feeling of pressure that Arteta must deliver next season.
His contract ends in 2027, which means he would’ve spent 9 years at the club and what would he have to show for it. It’s actually a good thing that the club is backing and sticking with him but at this point, he needs to hand in a major trophy because there’s enough trust in the process but now, the process needs to deliver.
