The story of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal

After 6 years in charge, Mikel Arteta finally won the premier league title with Arsenal for the first time since 2004. In this article I will be looking back at some of the most pivotal victories as well as the extreme low points that helped shape this beautiful journey.

2019/2020

Despite failing to qualify for the champions league for a second year in a row, Arsenal and Unai Emery were optimistic for the coming season. Arsenal spent a big sum of money during the summer however, they failed to address some problems in the squad such as a weak defense and lack of creativity. Following a 7 game winless run Emery was sacked in November. A couple of weeks later former Arsenal player Mikel Arteta was hired as a head coach, his very first job in management.

Arsenal 2-0 Man United  

1/1/20

There were a lot of questions about Arteta and how he would inspire this squad. This was the first game you could see his principles in action. Arsenal started the game off with high pressing and lots of energy, grabbing an early goal from Pepe. Defender Sokratis scored from a corner right before halftime to increase Arsenal’s lead. Arsenal were able to stay defensively solid and keep a clean sheet, earning Arteta his very first win.

Arsenal 2-0 Man city  

7/18/20

The world went into lockdown due to Covid 19. Once sports resumed with no crowds, Arsenal started quite poorly but picked up a bit of form and made it to the fa cup semi finals. Arteta knew Arsenal couldn’t match Man City so he went away from his usual tactics and played with a back 5 in defense. The Arsenal team dropped back and held a solid defensive shape with the goal to frustrate man city then hit them on the counter attack. That worked perfectly as after a well worked move Aubameyang scored to make it 1-0. Later in the second half Aubameyang scored from a counterattack, starting his run from his own field. 2-0 against last year’s Premier League champions was extremely impressive. Arteta set out a game plan to exploit Man city and it worked perfectly.

Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea  

8/1/20

After finishing 8th, Arsenal needed to win the FA cup to qualify for the Europa league. Arteta started a back 5 again which had been giving Arsenal better success in the league. Pulisic scored early on for Chelsea but Arsenal responded with an Aubameyang penalty quickly. Later in the second half Arsenal started to put pressure on Chelsea and after another well worked move Aubameyang chipped the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 2-1. Arsenal went on to win the FA Cup and qualify for the Europa League. An extremely impressive achievement considering how much of a mess the season was before Arteta joined

2020/2021

Arsenal failed once again to add creativity to the squad and the performances started to become really bad. By the middle of December Arsenal were on a 7 game winless streak only scoring 2 open play goals. The team looked even worse than under Emery, with some embarrassing results including 0-3 to Aston Villa, 2-0 to rivals Tottenham, 1-2 to Wolves, and a 1-1 draw with Southampton which was the absolute lowest point. Maybe Arteta wasn’t fit for the job after all?

Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea  

12/26/20

Arteta needed to change something and fast. Arsenal were conceding goals for fun and unable to score. The only reason he wasn’t sacked already was because of the fa cup triumph a couple of months ago giving him time. In this time of crisis Arteta turned to the academy. He started young wingers Buayko Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. For the first time all season he started a young attacking midfielder named Emile Smith Rowe. This youthful energy boosted the entire team. All 3 of the youngsters impressed, helping Arsenal to victory with Saka even scoring the 3rd goal to end Arsenal's 7 game winless run

Arsenal 0-0 Villarreal(1-2)  

5/6/21

After the inclusion of Smith Rowe and the loan of another attacking midfielder named Martin Odegaard, Arsenal’s form improved but it wasn’t enough as they finished 8th in the Premier League. Arsenal made it to the Europa League Semi final against Unai Emery’s Villarreal but just didn’t do enough to win after losing the first leg. The loss confirmed Arsenal wouldn’t play in a European competition next season for the first time since 1995. It was a really bad season but there was hope through the young talent in the team. Arteta had to improve next season.

2021-2022

Man City 5-0 Arsenal  

8/28/21

With fans back in the stadium, spending big sums of money on players such as Ben White and Ramsdale, there was even more pressure on Arteta to perform. Arsenal started the season horribly, losing to newly promoted Brentford 2-0 and rivals Chelsea 1-2. To add to their terrible start this game against Man City was like men vs boys. A 5-0 loss, absolutely pathetic. There was 0 fight, belief, or energy. Bottom of the premier league after 3 games. You would think Arteta would be on the brink of being sacked. That’s what a majority of fans wanted at this point, however something the public didn’t know until the end of the season happened. During the international break after this game Arteta was actually handed a contract extension. The board believed in Arteta and wanted him to feel that belief hoping that would take pressure off him and allow results to improve.

Arsenal 3-0 Southampton

12/11/21

After Arsenal's rough start they were able to gain some form with impressive victories such as 3-1 vs rivals Tottenham and 3-1 vs Aston Villa. They were still a bit inconsistent though with losses such as 4-0 to Liverpool and 3-2 to Man United. After losing the last 2 games there was some anxiety amongst the Emirates crowd. Arsenal tried to play out the back but kept losing the ball adding to the anxiety. The team continued to play from the back, this time they were successful at beating Southampton’s press and Saka cut the ball back to Lacazette to score past the goalkeeper after a sweeping team move. This goal and result felt like a turning point in the Arteta era. From this game forward Arsenal went on to win 9 out of 12 games, scoring 23 goals with the only losses coming from the top 2, Liverpool and Man city.

Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal

4/4/22

On good form, Arsenal were in pole position to finish 4th and secure champions league football for the first time since 2016. During the international break LB Kieran Tiereny was injured, out for the season. The start of many injury problems. On this rainy Monday night Arsenal just wasn’t up for it. They were dominated the whole game and to make matters worse midfielder Partey suffered a season ending injury. For the upcoming run in two crucial Arsenal players were now out. Arsenal didn’t have the depth required to handle these devastating injuries and the quality within the starting 11 dropped causing Arsenal to lose 2 more games after this.

Newcastle 2-0 Arsenal

5/16/26

Despite the injuries Arsenal were able to regroup and win 4 games in a row. However, they lost 3-0 to their rivals for top 4 Tottenham. Arsenal went into this game vs Newcastle knowing if they lose, Tottenham would secure top 4 before the final day. Another rainy Monday night, the hostile atmosphere and occasion was too much for this young Arsenal side as they were easily brushed aside. This loss confirmed Arsenal would finish 5th, just missing out on a champions league spot. It was a disappointment but it was clear Arsenal had major potential. They were statistically the youngest squad in the entire premier league and just barely missed out on top 4.

2022/2023

Wolves 0-2 Arsenal

11/12/22

Arsenal had their best ever start to a season winning 12 games out of 14 before the winter world cup. Arsenal looked like a completely different team. The summer signings of Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus from Man City elevated the entire Arsenal squad to a new level. In defense CB Gabriel and Saliba (who just came from loan) had developed a really strong partnership. Ben White was excelling at his new role at RB while Zinchenko's ability to invert from LB to midfield was causing the opposition all sorts of problems. Xhaka’s new role to push higher up the field and support the attack put him in many dangerous positions to hurt the opposition. New captain Odegaard had evolved into a midfield maestro, passing, shooting, skills, he was majestic whenever he had the ball. As mentioned before, on the wings Martinelli and Saka were getting better and better each year. Now both of them were having their best seasons. Jesus as a striker put the attack together. His hold up play and skills to just create chances out of nothing was incredible. Arsenal finally had a team, combinations all around the pitch, high pressing energy, it was perfect. In this last game before the world cup Odegaard scored a brace to secure the victory and put Arsenal 5 points clear at first, the first time at this stage of the season since 2007.

Arsenal 3-2 Bournemouth

3/4/23

As the season comes to an end, the most crucial/decisive last couple of games is called the run in. Every point, goal, save, and tackle matters. Such fine margins as Arteta describes it. Against a struggling Bournemouth, Arsenal found themselves losing 0-2 at home. Their lead at the top was slim having gone on a 3 game winless run including a 3-1 loss to title rivals Man City a month ago. Partey and Ben White scored to make it 2-2 but Arsenal needed a win. Chance after chance the ball just wouldn’t go in. 98th minute, Arsenal had a corner. The ball is played in, headed away by a Bournemouth defender and falls perfectly to Reiss Nelson who takes a touch and burries it past the gk. The entire stadium erupted. Some players fell to their knees in joy, other players were running away crazy. Arteta himself was running up and down the touchline and greeted by a little boy who had somehow gotten on the pitch from the crowd amidst the chaos. Complete ecstasy in the entire stadium. This had to be the year.

Arsenal 1-1 Sporting (3-5 on penalties)

3/16/23

With challenging for the title, the Europa league wasn’t high on Arsenal’s priorities. Losing the tie wasn’t the bad part. Similar to last season in the first 9 minutes RB Tomiyasu got a season ending injury and 12 minutes later Saliba also got a season ending injury. Arsenal didn’t have enough defensive quality to deal with Saliba’s injury. Rob Holding was a massive level below Saliba and simply not good enough while January signing Kiwior was still getting used to England. Arsenal still had a narrow lead at the top of the table but it would be tough to hold it.

Man City 4-1 Arsenal

4/26/23

As expected Saliba’s injury deeply affected the team's performance. That beautiful football earlier in the season was gone, the entire defensive line was all over the place. The midfield was getting run through. Rob Holding lacked Saliba’s speed and composure being caught out multiple times. The collapse started at Liverpool where Arsenal blew a 0-2 lead and ended up drawing. The next game Arsenal also had a 0-2 vs west ham but blew another lead to draw 2-2. Arsenal then drew to bottom place Southampton 3-3, even losing 1-3 at one point in the game. For the third game in a row Arsenal drew. Their title charge was collapsing and the next game was against Man City. Although there were 5 games left, losing Saliba and drawing 3 games in a row completely destroyed any belief and Man City sensed that, easily brushing Arsenal aside 4-1. The fans, players, and Arteta knew that this wonderful season was over. The team gave it their all and played amazingly but just came up short due to lacking squad depth and experience. The jump from missing out on top 4 to being title challengers was extremely positive. The Arteta era had well and truly began and hopefully trophies would follow in the future.

2023/2024

Arsenal 1-0 Man City

10/8/23

After the collapse of last season, Arteta knew he needed more depth and more physically in the squad. He broke Arsenal's transfer record and signed midfielder Declan Rice for 105 million. Arsenal started the season well winning 7 out of 9 games before facing Man City. Over the years time and time again Man City has crushed Arsenal. If Arsenal were to win the league they needed to be able to beat their title rivals. In this game Arsenal was able to match Man City and it was very even until the 86th minute. Partey lobbed a pass to Tomiyasu who took the ball down and passed it to Martinelli to finesse the ball into the back of the net. The first time Arsenal have beat Man City in the league since 2015.

Fulham 2-1 Arsenal

12/31/23

Arsenal had a good start to the season but their form was starting to drop. In the last 4 games Arsenal had won only 1. Arteta was finding it hard to replace Xhaka who left in the summer. Kai Havertz was signed to play in midfield but he struggled to find any form. Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko struggled with injury problems and weren't as effective as last season. Arsenal took an early lead in this match and were cruising towards victory but in the second half Fulham scored twice and Arsenal weren’t able to respond. 3 games now in a row without a win, dropping down to 4th place a couple points off 1st. Arteta needed to come up with a new game plan and freshen up the squad to save the season.

Arsenal 5-0 Crystal Palace

1/20/24

With being knocked out of the two cup competitions early on, Arsenal had a couple of weeks off, so they took a training camp to Dubai for 2 weeks. On the first game back it was clear that going to dubai really helped. One of the main improvements was set pieces. Rice’s and Saka’s corners were always hit in a dangerous position and Gabriel was the perfect target, scoring from a corner twice in the first half. Arsenal were playing more direct, focusing on quick/effective attacks. Trossard scored to make it 3-0 and Martinelli capped off the brilliant performance with a brace off the bench. Arteta found his blueprint for the rest of the season. Gk Daivd Raya who was signed in the summer was starting to get better every week, a clear improvement on Ramsdale. Kiwior started at LB making the team stronger in defense. Gabriel and Saliba were forming one of the best cb partnerships in the world. Midfielder Jorginho came into the starting 11 to play in a midfield pivot next to Rice. Jorginho dictated the play while Rice provided defensive cover and also ran forward to get into the box for attacks. Odegaard was on another level and one of the best midfielders in the league. Trossard began to start at LW. He’s so efficient at scoring and creating chances. Saka also went up another level and was having his best ever season. Kai Havertz was moved to ST and started to play much better.

Arsenal 2-1 Everton

5/19/24

Since the Crystal Palace game, Arsenal played 18 games, winning 16, drawing 1, and losing 1. They absolutely crushed teams with scorelines such as 0-6 vs West Ham, 0-6 vs Sheffield United, and 0-5 vs Burnley. They also beat good teams such as 3-1 vs Liverpool, 2-3 vs Tottenham, and 0-1 vs Man United. They drew 0-0 with Man City away which wasn’t bad but in April Arsenal lost 0-2 to Aston villa. Ultimately the loss is what cost them the league. In Man City’s last 18 games they won 15 and drew 3, with one being vs Arsenal. Both Arsenal and Man City were near perfect but Man City won the league on the final day by 2 points. It was heartbreaking for Arteta and the Arsenal players but at least they didn’t collapse and blow their lead at the top of the table like last year. Massive improvement, surely next season will be the year.

2024/2025

Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal

11/10/24

2nd 2 years in a row. This had to be the year Arsenal finally win. Good news, Man city were having a terrible season and kept losing games, but Arsenal weren’t any better. In the first 11 games Arsenal only won 5, losing 2 and drawing 3. There were two main issues with the squad. 1st discipline. In the first couple of games Arsenal had 3 red cards. Rice was sent off in a 1-1 draw against Brighton for lightly tapping the ball away and getting a 2nd yellow card. Trossard got sent off in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Man City for a 2nd yellow card for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Then in Arsenal’s 2-0 loss vs Bournemouth Saliba was sent off for fouling as the last man. The 2nd problem was injuries, they were the worst they ever were. Odegaard got an injury early on and would be out for months. Even when he returned he never regained his form from the last two seasons. There were injuries in defense, attack, and midfield. Saka was out for a couple of months while both Strikers Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz got injured in January leaving Arsenal with no fit Strikers. After Arsenal drew this game they were 9 points behind leaders Liverpool who were having an unbelievable season. There would be no title race this year, the league was pretty much over. Arteta hadn’t won a single trophy since 2020. His job wasn’t under threat or anything but the fans were becoming impatient.

Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid

4/8/25

In the space of a week Arsenal got eliminated from both cups so the champions league was the only trophy left to win. Luckily Odegaard and Saka were both back from injury for the champions league quarterfinal. Arsenal controlled the first half and missed some chances. In the second half Saka was fouled and Arsenal had a freekick 29.4 yards out. Rice stepped up, his first ever freekick for the club. No one thought anything would happen but Rice unleashed a powerful shot in the top corner to give Arsenal the lead. The stadium erupted in joy. A couple of minutes later Saka was fouled a little bit closer to the goal, 27.7 yards this time. Rice stepped up again and blasted another perfect shot into the top corner. Scoring 1 free kick is really impressive but 2 in the same game! That’s why Arsenal spent so much money on him. To top it off Merino scored a cut back to make it 3-0 against last year’s champions league winners. One of Arsenal’s most famous champions league victories in their history. Despite all the noise coming from the Spanish media that Arsenal would lose their lead in the second leg, they didn’t. Arsenal easily beat Real Madrid 1-2 in the second leg to confirm their place in the champions league semi final for the first time since 2008.

PSG 2-1 Arsenal (1-0)

5/7/25

Arsenal lost the first leg 0-1 and needed to come back. They started the game really well, forcing top saves from PSG keeper Donnarumma. In the 27th minute PSG midfielder Fabian Ruiz scored to make it 1-0(2-0) on aggregate. In the second half Raya saved a penalty but Hakmi scored a couple of minutes later to make it 2-0(3-0) on aggregate. Despite Saka scoring a goal it was too late and Arsenal lost the semi finals. 2nd place in the Premier league for the 3rd year in a row, knocked out of both domestic cups again, not even reaching a final since 2020, and knocked out of every European campaign. Despite the clear improvement and challenging every year Arsenal still had 0 trophies to show for it. The media labeled Arsenal and Arteta bottlers. How many more seasons until the fans start to turn on him?

2025/2026 

Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal

9/28/25

After the injury crisis last season Arteta knew he needed to sign quality depth and made 6 signings. This game was even until Arsenal went down 0-1,10 minutes before half time. Arsenal played on the front foot, creating lots of chances trying to equalize. It didn’t come until the 84th minute where Arsenal finally took one of their chances and Merino scored to make it 1-1. In the 96th minute Arsenal had a corner, Saka whipped it in and Gabriel scored with the last kick of the game to win 1-2. This was a game Arsenal would have lost or drawn last season. There was a feeling that this could finally be the year.

Wolves 2-2 Arsenal

2/18/26

Arsenal started the season brilliantly. The main emphasis was on the defense. Raya, Gabriel, and Saliba were all playing at a world class level and with Declan Rice in front of them a lot of teams failed to create even a single chance. In the first 26 games they only conceded 18 goals and won 17 times, drawing 6. During the winter Arsenal’s attack was beginning to struggle. In January Arsenal drew 2 games 0-0 in a row before losing to Man United 2-3 at home. Man City also dropped points going 3 games without a win during the same period of games but some fear crept into the fans and players. Arsenal were only 5 points ahead after this game. Any other team would have gone clear of Man City and practically confirmed the title like Liverpool last season. Against Wolves Arsenal were easily winning 0-2 then all of a sudden the team lost control of the game. They couldn’t string any passes together and were dropped really deep. Eventually Wolves scored 1 and with the final kick of the game made it 2-2. Wolves were sat 20th, the worst team in the league. There was definitely a sort of anxiety amongst the Arsenal players. Was another bottle incoming or would Arsenal get it over the line?

Man City 1-2 Arsenal

4/19/26

The whole season there were talks about Arsenal winning the quadruple. Well in the space of two games Arsenal lost the Carabao cup final to Man City and the FA cup quarter final to championship side Southampton. Arsenal were really struggling in attack and just lost 1-2 to Bournemouth, meaning if Man City beat Arsenal, they’d be level on points and 1st because they have a better GD. Chekri opened the scoring with a dazzling run past the Arsenal defense. Havertz equalized immediately through a Donnurma mistake. Arsenal began to drop deep and defend in the second half but Haaland eventually broke through to make it 2-1. Arsenal tried to respond by hitting the post and just barely missing a header but it was too late. Man City were ahead of Arsenal for the first time this season with 5 games left. In this position in the past Man City have always gone on to win the league.

West Ham 0-1 Arsenal

5/10/26

Man City ended up drawing one of their games in hand meaning with a win Arsenal would be two points clear at 1st with 2 games left. Arsenal started this game really well but around the 20th minute Ben White got an injury. Arteta made a mistake by moving Rice to RB and bringing on new signing Zubimendi at midfield instead of just keeping Rice in midfield and bringing on Cb Mosquera to play RB. Due to the change Arsenal struggled for the rest of the first half. At halftime Arteta did bring on Mosquera and moved Rice back to midfield. It was a cagey game, West ham needed to win or they could face relegation. Around the 75th minute West Ham midfiler Mateus Fernandes dribbled past the defense and was through on goal but Raya made a world class save. A couple of minutes later after some quick feet Odegaard cut the ball back to Trossard who slotted it past the keeper to make it 0-1 Arsenal. Arsenal dropped deep in their defensive shape. With 2 minutes left West ham had a corner and scored. VAR looked back and saw that a West Ham player was grabbing onto Raya's arm and the goal was ruled out. Arsenal won and were 2 games away from the title. Arsenal won their 1st game 1-0 against Burnley. The next day on 5/19/26, Man City played Bournemouth and drew 1-1 clinching the title for the Gunners. All the Arsenal players were gathered together watching the game and went absolutely crazy in celebration. Arsenal fans all over the world took to the streets to celebrate. The whole of London was crazy with Arsenal fans everywhere celebrating. 22 years. 22 years of pain was finally over. Arteta finally did it. It’s been a crazy journey with lots of ups and downs but he practically revived this club.

PSG 1-1 Arsenal (4-3 pens)

5/30/26

After winning the league Arsenal had their first champions league final since 2006 to look forward to. Havertz opened the scoring early on in the 6th minute. Arsenal defended and defended, similar to the fa cup semi final against Man city in 2020. Arsenal struggled to hit psg on the counter attack like they did to city that year. PSG were awarded a penalty and scored in the second half. The rest of the game was even and so was all of extra time. PSG ended up winning on penalties with Gabriel missing the deceive one. Despite the loss Arsenal and Arteta have come so far. In Arteta’s first 3 seasons in the champions league he’s been to the quarterfinals, semi finals, and then finals. Arsenal used to be a joke in the champions league, losing to Bayern 10-2, failing to make it past the round of 16 multiple times. There’s still work to be done especially in Arsenal’s attack if they are to win the champions league for the first time but Arteta has made Arsenal into champions and extremely competitive in Europe. A phenomenal job especially for his first ever managerial role, hopefully there are more trophies to come in the future.