Mikel Arteta has pinpointed two key factors he believes led to Arsenal falling short in the Premier League title race for a third consecutive season.
Despite a strong push, the Gunners have been unable to match the consistency of champions Liverpool and are now set for another second-place finish, trailing Arne Slot’s side by 15 points with just two games left. As a result of the early title win, Liverpool players have been celebrating in Dubai, while Slot jetted to Ibiza.
Arsenal had hoped to close the gap in the second half of the season but failed to sustain their momentum. With exits in the Champions League and both domestic cups, the club’s trophy drought has now extended to five years.
Arsenal will play its final home game of the season on Sunday as Newcastle United travel to the Emirates Stadium. Reflecting on the campaign, Arteta admitted that back in August, he had envisioned this fixture as the moment his side would be lifting the Premier League trophy. Instead, with the title out of reach, the focus now turns to ending the season on a high in front of the home fans and securing a second-place finish.
The Spaniard told Sky Sports: “At the start of the season, if I had to visualise that moment, it would be playing the last home game on the final day and lifting the Premier League. That’s what I had in my head. Now, with everything we’ve gone through in the last 11 months, I think we can all hold our heads up but still have that pain in the tummy, because that’s what we want to achieve.”
That, of course, will not be the case, and Arteta has pointed to “red cards and injuries” as the two main reasons Arsenal failed to match Liverpool’s relentless pace in the title race. The Gunners have seen six players sent off this season — the highest tally in the Premier League — and have also been hit hard by injuries, suffering more fitness setbacks than any of their top-flight rivals.
Key players such as Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel have all spent significant time on the sidelines, further hampering Arsenal’s ability to sustain a title challenge.
(Image: AMA/Getty Images)
When asked what impacted the Gunners season most, Arteta said: “Red cards and injuries, for sure. But without that, we don’t know what would have happened. Would we have been much closer? For me, the answer is without a question, yes.
“Because of what we have been producing and the performances that we had. But we’re going to have to do something else [next season] because the bar will be raised. And when you look at the points that we’ve had in the last three seasons, the consistency of not winning a title is very rare. So we are very close, close in the probability so much, we have to continue to be there and be better.”
When questioned about Arsenal’s faltering title challenge, the 43-year-old added: “One number is availability. Without that one, you have no chance to win anything. There are some other statistics that are very, very relevant to winning football matches – not just dominate them, but to win them.
“But we are very clear on what brings success to us and what we have to do, then work on them, be more efficient and be better. The other one is the capacity to change games every three days and during the match – that’s where we have a big margin.”
