Arsenal can finally press the warm-up button and bring everything back to the starting line. After 8,060 days of waiting, the "Gunners" have returned to the Premier League throne, and Mikel Arteta's team is completely worthy of raising the trophy as the best team in England.
Are they the most attractive playing team? Perhaps not. Do they show the most beautiful football? Perhaps not either. But the Premier League title race has never been a "beauty contest".
Pep Guardiola once tried to make that a reality with six championships in 10 seasons leading Manchester City. This was the period when his team performed one of the most impressive playing styles in the history of the league. However, winning with a flowery playing style did not bring more medals. The champions are all judged based on the same criterion: points. And Arteta's Arsenal finally surpassed after three consecutive seasons in second place to win their first national championship since 2004.
Arsene Wenger's squad was once one of the best teams in Premier League history, possessing speed, technique, decisiveness and strength. But then they were surpassed by Jose Mourinho's Chelsea - a team representing a completely opposite philosophy. Chelsea under Mourinho maximized their physical foundation and solidity in defense, showing that Arteta was not the first coach to choose the pragmatic path to conquer the title.
After three consecutive runner-up finishes, the pressure on Arteta is increasing. He is forced to turn Arsenal into a true champion and erase the image of the runner-up. Therefore, the Spanish strategist builds a team that is difficult to defeat, focusing on defense, organization and maximizing set pieces. When a team defends well and knows how to score from corner kicks or free kicks, they will have a solid foundation to compete for all titles. And Arsenal has proven that.
Sometimes, The Gunners still maintain a tight formation to the point of being completely opposite to Paris Saint-Germain, their opponent in the upcoming Champions League final. However, the Guardiola era at Man City has created a trend of only honoring teams based on attacking ability and personal technique. Meanwhile, becoming unbeatable and maintaining tactical organization is also an art. Arteta's Arsenal became champions precisely because of their dedication to that philosophy.
The numbers say it all. Arsenal possesses the best defense in the league with only 26 goals conceded, keeping a clean sheet in 19 matches and having up to 8 wins with a score of 1-0. They also lead the league in the number of goals from set pieces (24) and corner kicks (18). Since the 2011-2012 season, only Real Madrid of Mourinho (38 goals in the 2012-2013 season) and Atletico Madrid of Diego Simeone (37 goals in the 2014-2015 season) have scored more goals from set pieces than 35 goals that Arsenal have this season in all competitions.
When the 2025-2026 season only has the match against Crystal Palace in the Premier League and the Champions League final with PSG, Arsenal still has a chance to surpass Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in terms of dead-ball scoring achievements. If that happens, it will be a proud achievement, not something to hide.
Arteta and Arsenal have reached the top thanks to a solid defense and excellent ability to take advantage of set pieces. The question now is whether that is the beginning of a new period of dominance.
Football always moves cyclically. There was a time when teams pursuing technical beauty dominated, and there was also a period when pragmatism and organization became the dominant trend. Guardiola, Wenger and Jurgen Klopp built teams rich in dedication. Mourinho, Antonio Conte and now Arteta were successful in a different way. Sir Alex Ferguson once harmonized both schools of thought at Manchester United, but his biggest priority was always to complete the goal before thinking about beautiful performances.
That will also be the next challenge for Arteta. After the longest waiting period between two championships in Arsenal's history, the most important thing for him is to bring the team back to the top of the Premier League after 22 years.
In the future, Arsenal possesses too many quality players to continue to maintain a too pragmatic playing style. Arteta is likely to develop the team in a more open attacking direction. The problem lies in how open he will be. When the pressure at Emirates has been relieved, Arteta's next task is to build an Arsenal that can maximize the creativity of Martin Odegaard, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.
Fans who have witnessed the peak period under Wenger certainly want Arsenal to play more dominantly, attack more strongly and harmoniously combine strength and sophistication. However, no matter how excellent Wenger's teams are, they have never successfully defended the Premier League title.
This will be the next challenge for the current generation, in the context that many big opponents are entering a transitional period, opening up opportunities for Arsenal to turn this championship into the beginning of a new era instead of just a milestone of a successful season.
