Dominik Szoboszlai left Liverpool’s second goal on a plate for Luis Diaz. Mikel Arteta’s pre-match words had already done likewise in terms of the punchline for the Anfield faithful.
“Best team in Europe, you’re having a laugh,” they harrumphed after the freshly crowned Premier League champions scored two goals in as many minutes against the team who were supposed to be their challengers.
Arsenal are hurting, as well they might be. This game had been circled in the calendar months ago as a potential title decider. Such jeopardy faded rapidly as winter turned to spring and Arteta’s team formed a guard of honour to clap Arne Slot’s team onto the field as the best team in the land.
Or are they?
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“Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons,” Arteta said ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain, when Luis Enrique’s brilliant team confirmed another trophyless season for the north London outfit.
“But with the points of the last two seasons, we have two Premier Leagues, so you have to be in the right moment in the right place.”
It’s a cool story. One that boldly ignores the fact that Liverpool could yet finish with 89 this term. Lose to Newcastle United next weekend and Arsenal could head into the final day of the season not yet guaranteed of Champions League qualification.
As Arteta has clearly stated, they would be a huge miss in Europe’s top competition.
“I don’t think there’s been a better team in the competition from what I’ve seen,” he said after the 2-1 reverse in Paris, pointing to PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s form in both legs. Post-match emotion, perhaps. But Arteta was still trying to pump up his team’s tyres a couple of days later.
“We have the best league in the world [in England], yes? We all agree,” he asked those assembled at his pre-match news conference for the Liverpool game. “And we were the only team on the park in the [Champions League] semi-finals. That’s the level.”
Arsenal were indeed the last Premier League team left standing in the Champions League semifinals. But Liverpool and Aston Villa were also knocked out by PSG. They merely had the misfortune of running into them sooner.
Sunday’s comeback from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 on Merseyside might give Arteta a little more fuel to keep this misguided narrative going — the inference that the team 15 points behind the champions is actually the best in England. But it’s worth asking who he’s saying this for and who it benefits? The lack of a solid answer means it’s time to change the record.
Will Arsenal win the Premier League next season?
Undoubtedly, Arsenal have grounds to feel sorry for themselves. The improvement since Arteta took charge of a dishevelled institution in December 2019 had been relentless prior to this season. They were too green in 2022/23, gobbled up by a treble-chasing Manchester City. Last term, they did little wrong before being pipped at the post as Pep Guardiola’s great side won a historic fourth title in succession.
This brought about a swelling of emotion that 2024/25 was to be Arsenal’s year. It’s important to acknowledge that Arsenal Football Club are not Arsenal Fan TV or any other boisterous online outlet. But there is a lot of noise, there always is with clubs like this.
The key is to harness this noise but never to act in its service. Jürgen Klopp got this pretty spot on at Liverpool. His predecessor, Brendan Rodgers, did initially as a young Reds side came mightily close to glory in 2013/14. Then he started to feed the noise as the job ran away from him.
It can be a fine line, as Manchester United continue to find out. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tummy-tickling talk of “what this club does” and “DNA” while he refused to use Sir Alex Ferguson’s parking space was cloyingly pastiche. However, Ruben Amorim relentlessly telling us that everyone at Old Trafford, including himself, might be rubbish, is pretty draining.
Arteta has managed this well up until this season. Liverpool have sung You’ll Never Walk Alone for decades; Arsenal sing North London Forever because Arteta likes it and told the fans they should sing it. That’s easily mocked by outsiders, but it’s part of the reason a previously well-mannered Emirates Stadium has become an impassioned bear pit. Just ask Manchester City and Real Madrid after they were ransacked in north London this season.
But saying the Gunners were the best team in the Champions League and are unlucky not to have two Premier League titles under his leadership is not an effective way for Arteta to harness the swirling passions around Arsenal. Previously, he fanned conspiratorial talk around officials when it suited. It’s all self-preservation for the short term, serving little more than one-eyed fan fantasy.
There’s also no need for it. Arteta did not turn Arsenal from a team lurching towards mid-table into genuine contenders by telling players or fans what they wanted to hear. Arsenal do lack a prolific striker, but Arteta signed off a combined £110 million to bring in Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, each of whom have played most of their football for the club at centre-forward.
Both Havertz and Jesus are injured at the moment. Arsenal have suffered with injuries this season, but they’re not alone in this absurd schedule of elite football. And injuries need not be terminal for a coach who has spent in excess of £700 million during his tenure. Just look at how they came back from 2-0 down at Anfield on Sunday without Declan Rice, with clever tweaks to the left-hand side of the attack from their astute coach a key part of the story. Arteta’s anger at the first-half display on Merseyside provided a spiky moment of searing post-match honesty.
Have Arsenal suffered injury and officiating misfortune this season? Yes, much like everyone else at one point or another. Enough for a collection of players and a tactician this good to be 15 points behind the champions? Not at all. Sunday’s comeback hinted at the team Arsenal can be, the team that Arteta can lead. It’s time for him to get on with the real business of winning some titles and leave fairytales behind.
