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Champions of England: Inside Arsenal’s title victory
Arsenal have finally conquered England for the first time in 22 years since their Invincible season in 2004. It was party time in North London after Manchester City failed to win against Bournemouth on Tuesday night, gifting Arsenal the title with one game to spare.
Festivities commenced in London with fans painting the town red, no pun intended, with circulating clips showing overjoyed Arsenal fans over the moon. Mikel Arteta, the mastermind behind Arsenal’s fortunes will be looking to lead Arsenal to their first ever Champions League title as they head to Budapest after their last match against Crystal palace away at Selhurst Park on Sunday May 24 where they will be handed the Premier League trophy.
Mikel Arteta’s masterclass
Mikel Arteta was appointed in December 2019 to spearhead the transformation of the English club, entrusted with the job despite having never held a managerial position before, with the closest thing to managing a top flight football club having been his role as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
He inherited a crop of decent players such as Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Alex Lacazette and Granit Xhaka. He led the club to an FA Cup and a Carabao Cup in the same season signalling earlier success and future potential of which gradually materialised as the club’s hierarchy’s faith in the Spaniard is paying off. A stellar transfer strategy has been one of the main factors that engineered Arsenal’s fortunes.
Initial signings that did not pay off such as Willian from Chelsea, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Aaron Ramsdale and Oleksandr Zinchenko and recently Raheem Sterling did not deter the club’s prospects. Arteta runs a well-oiled machine having reignited Arsenal’s culture of giving chances to young players from the academy such as Bukayo Saka, now Fulham player Emile Smith-Rowe, Ethan Nwaneri and presently Myles Lewis-Skelly and 16-year-old Max Dowman having grown from strength to strength season upon season.
Important long term signings such as Martin Odegaard, William Saliba, Declan Dice, Kai Havertz, David Raya would prove pivotal to the realisation of the clubs ambitions and cultivating a competitive team not just domestically but a feared opponent continentally.
David Raya has been awarded the golden glove after 19 clean sheets to his name, reflecting a consistent performance throughout the season.
After a decent champions league campaign last season, eliminating Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu after dominating them in the first leg tie at the Emirates Stadium only to be eliminated by eventual champions Paris Saint Germain in the final, the club made statement signings like striker Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze and Martin Zubimendi.
A remarkable squad depth and a winning mentality has propelled Mikel Arteta to commanding heights of English football in what might be the burgeoning of an era of dominance.
