Arsenal entered the 2024-2025 season on a empty stomach after two previous seasons. Although they are a prominent team in the Premier League, only behind Man City, looking back, Mikel Arteta and his team still could not bring to the Emirates' traditional room any more titles.
There are many explanations for this problem. For The Gunners, the FA Cup or League Cup is not the ultimate goal, so it is unnecessary to strive in these arenas.
However, they are not strong enough to win the Champions League, so they have focused all their efforts and minds on the Premier League. Unfortunately, Pep Guardiola's Man City in previous seasons were too strong, winning 6/7 of their most recent seasons. The only team to be launched by Pep Guardiola's team was Liverpool in 2020.
Arsenal have tried to climb back the waterfall, accepted to compete with the strongest team in English football and suffered defeat twice. This season, when Man City experienced the worst losing streak of the Premier League era and were knocked out of the Top 4, Arsenal could not rise to the top because of a familiar name in recent years, Liverpool.
In the most unlikely image, the "Gunners" probably did not think Liverpool would be so good with their first season with Arne Slot. The Kop rushed to the ice, leading in both the Premier League and Champions League. When Liverpool only submitted to the phenomenon of Nottingham Forest, Arsenal's loss of points against Bournemouth, Newcastle, Fulham, Everton or Brighton defeated The Gunners' will many times.
They have held Liverpool and Man City to a draw but have failed to hold firm against teams that are considered weaker. In the context of an increasingly competitive tournament, former opponents such as weak teams have also risen, Arsenal must be very powerful, people associate it with an immense image like Man City or Liverpool. Unfortunately, they have not been able to do it yet.
With the defense reinforced and quite solid, Arsenal have had to play with one less player in many matches due to unnecessary errors. At the beginning of the season, there was a period when they received 3 red cards in 8 matches. In two of those matches, the "Gunners" still maintained 1 point and had 1 bitter defeat. A true champion in the current competitive context, in addition to good attack and tight defense, not making silly mistakes is also a prerequisite factor.
The hesitation in the transfer market, especially in attack, has caused Arsenal many difficulties. They have two center-backs, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, but both are just strikers who have been promoted to the "number 9" position. Not to mention that when Bukayo Saka was injured, the "Gunners" no longer had anyone to carry the right wing striker position.
Arsenal are likened to the image of a " machete", but when they need a goal, it comes a lot from corners. From the beginning of the 2023-2024 season to Christmas 2024, The Gunners have scored 23 goals from corners. They are affectionately nicknamed "Corner Kings" by the Premier League homepage. Scoring many goals from corners is not bad, but when that harmful weapon cannot be effective, Arsenal clearly revealed an attack that is both lacking and weak.
Defense will help you become the champion, but if the attack is not good, victory is something you cannot take. Arsenal need to win now, win as many as possible, and even make the trade-off with some defensive errors. If they don't win, don't get 3 points many times, when can they catch up with Liverpool?
That is the story of expertise on the field, and on the coaching bench, the surprise departure of assistant Edu Gaspar was a huge shock at Emirates Stadium. The strong relationship between Arteta and Edu in the process of rebuilding the squad has brought many successes, bringing the "Gunners". From relying on older, high-paid players like Aubameyang and Ozil, Arsenal have become a young, enthusiastic team with pillars like Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
It was a season when Arsenal were able to grasp the Premier League's starting position, when many unexpected events hit Arsenal, not just a storm of injuries. Many doubts about Mikel Arteta's future are starting to come because no matter what he does, if Arsenal are left empty-handed on all fronts, all arguments will be meaningless.
