From bottlers to title holders: Arsenal’s wearisome journey to Champions

I don’t even know where to start… Arsenal have always been a competitive side, no argument about that. But, over the past 22 years in the Premier League era, the North London side has stuttered so many times to be taken seriously.

Former French manager Arsene Wenger is recorded as the greatest ever to do it in the dugout for the London club. And for how long?

Wenger masterminded only three Premier League titles during his 22-year stay at the Emirates.

Unfortunately, the Gunners had stayed in the shadows of a certain Sir Alex Ferguson – the man regarded as the greatest and most successful manager in the Premier League.

His 27-year tenure with Manchester United manifested a record 13 league titles, establishing him as a legendary and unmatched figure in English football.

Even Wenger literally couldn’t lace his boots on such an achievement. Despite that, the French football revolutionary, in his time at Arsenal, managed to win three League titles.

Read more: Why has no English manager won the Premier League title?

He is the only manager who holds the record for the most matches managed in the competition (828) across a 22-year tenure at Arsenal, successfully transitioning the club into a modern powerhouse.

Since Wenger’s departure in 2018, the reigning Premier League champions have only hired two permanent managers: Unai Emery (2018-2019) and Mikel Arteta (2019-present).

Unai was hired as Wenger’s immediate successor, but spent just 18 months in charge, guiding the team to the Europa League final. A trophy Chelsea lifted, hammering Arsenal 4-1 in Baku.

A London derby that favoured the blue side of London – London was Blue!

Then, former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg was hired (2019) as interim manager for a brief six-game spell following Emery’s departure, and later joined Arteta’s coaching staff as an assistant coach.

Arsenal and Mikel Arteta’s redemption

Now, to the very interesting part of the entire paradox… Let’s open the Pandora box together. Walk with me…

For years, Arsenal carried a tag that haunted both the players and supporters alike — “bottlers.” Every late collapse, every dropped point in April, and every failed title challenge only strengthened the narrative that the club lacked the mentality required to conquer the Premier League.

Today, that label sends shivers down the spine of “haters and doubters”. Some feathers have definitely been rattled. Naysayers will be forced to change their narrative.

Under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have completed one of the most exhausting yet rewarding rebuilds English football has witnessed in recent years, transforming themselves from a fractured and directionless side into champions of England once again after a 22-year wait.

The development once again raises questions over why no English manager has lifted the Premier League trophy, strengthening the argument that foreign coaches are typically given more time, resources and structural support to construct title-winning sides than their English counterparts.

Back to Arsenal and Mikel Arteta — this is their moment, and they deserve every bit of the praise coming their way. The journey has been long, exhausting and filled with setbacks, doubt and relentless criticism, yet they persevered through it all.

Much like the biblical journey to the Promised Land, there were obstacles, murmurs of discontent and periods of suffering along the way, but in the end, they stayed the course and finally arrived at their destination.

Mikel Arteta, The Change-Maker

The Spanish manager arrived at the Emirates Stadium in December 2019 at a time when Arsenal were drifting. The final years of Wenger’s reign had seen the club slowly lose its dominance, while the Unai Emery era squeezed all hopes dry.

The squad lacked balance, the atmosphere around the club had turned toxic, and the standards that once defined Arsenal had eroded dramatically.

Arteta inherited more than a struggling football team — he inherited an emotionally wrecked group of players. Nothing left to hope for. Wishes were no more like horses to ride on the streets of Hornsey Road in Holloway, North London.

The former Arsenal captain immediately began reshaping the culture inside the club. Senior figures were moved on, recruitment became more strategic, and a younger core was built around players capable of fitting his demanding tactical philosophy.

Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba and Declan Rice eventually became symbols of the new Arsenal identity: technically gifted, physically aggressive and mentally resilient.

But the transformation was far from smooth. Behold, very nervous and hard to see any light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, there was a diminishing effect of hope at play for many who followed the club.

Arsenal finished eighth in back-to-back seasons under Arteta, their lowest finishes in decades, while rivals mocked the club relentlessly. Social media weaponised the phrase “trust the process,” turning every setback into ridicule aimed directly at the Spaniad.

Even when progress became visible, the heartbreak only intensified. The law of diminishing returns.

The 2021/22 collapse in the race for Champions League qualification against Tottenham and Newcastle was viewed as another sign that Arsenal lacked steel.

Then came consecutive title races against Manchester City, where Arteta’s side played outstanding football for large stretches only to eventually fall short against the relentless machine built by Pep Guardiola.

Those near misses hurt deeply, but they also hardened Arsenal psychologically. Boy, did they?!

Rather than collapse under the pressure and criticism, the squad evolved. Arteta recognised that beautiful football alone would not deliver titles in the modern Premier League era.

Arsenal became more ruthless, more tactically flexible and far more difficult to break down. The arrival of specialists like set-piece coach Nicolas Jover turned dead-ball situations into a major weapon, while signings such as Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber added steel, versatility and leadership to an already formidable armoury.

This title-winning Arsenal side was no longer simply entertaining, but rather robust, hard to break, hard to outrun, very pragmatic, and unassuming — it was mature.

The emotional fragility that once defined the team disappeared. Arsenal learned how to survive difficult moments, grind out narrow victories and maintain composure when the pressure became unbearable. Injuries, criticism and setbacks no longer shattered momentum as they had in previous seasons.

Arteta’s obsessive attention to detail somewhat shaped the club’s mentality. Reports emerged of psychological exercises, symbolic team-building sessions and motivational routines designed to strengthen belief within the squad during difficult moments of the campaign.

The Defining Moment – All Hail the Champions

And then came the breakthrough.

After years of being labelled nearly-men, Arsenal finally crossed the line to secure their first league title since the Invincibles season of 2003/04 under Wenger. The same supporters who had endured the painful “banter era” were finally able to celebrate again as champions.

What makes the achievement even more remarkable is that Arsenal’s rise was not built on instant success or reckless spending alone. Shots fired! Blue is the colour, football is the game…

Let’s rather sing the champions’ anthem, and join the victory parade…

It was a carefully constructed rebuild rooted in patience, identity and long-term planning. While many questioned the process during the difficult years, Arteta and the club hierarchy refused to abandon the vision.

Now, the club that was once mocked for “bottling” title races stands at the summit of English football once more. From ridicule to redemption, from heartbreak to history, Arsenal’s journey under Arteta has become proof that failure, when handled correctly, can eventually become the foundation for greatness.

Finally, Arsenal are champions of the Premier League once again, after 22 years of disrespect and anger from fans.

Arteta, after six years of mockery, rewrites history. The 44-year-old manager inks his name into the history books of the club and, in a grand style, announces his presence as one of the brightest managers in the game at the moment.

Now, he must be singing “where dem boys” to all the naysayers and doubters.

Next step was to pull a rabbit out of a hat, by trying to beat defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, in the Champions League — to do the double, in the final of the 2025/26 on Saturday, May 30, 2026, at the Pusklás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary.

However, the dream of a historic double faded agonisingly after Arsenal fell to a penalty shootout defeat against the French champions following a 1-1 draw in normal time, with neither side able to find a decisive breakthrough in extra time.

For Arteta and his players, the pain will be immense. Having come within touching distance of European glory, the final whistle in Budapest marked the cruellest of endings to a campaign that had promised so much.

Yet, while the immediate aftermath will be filled with heartbreak and lingering questions, Arsenal’s season should not be defined solely by one painful night.

The Gunners have restored themselves to the summit of English football, ending a 22-year wait for the Premier League title and reasserting their status among Europe’s elite.

Their run to the Champions League final demonstrated the maturity, resilience and tactical evolution that Arteta has painstakingly instilled since taking charge. Ultimately, the biggest prize escaped them, but Arsenal leave this campaign stronger than they began it.

While PSG celebrate another European crown, the foundations laid by Arteta suggest this may not be the end of Arsenal’s journey, but rather the beginning of a new era in which the club can once again dream of conquering Europe.

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