More than two decades later, Arsenal is English champion once again. Manchester City's 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday assured Arsenal a first Premier League title since Arsene Wenger's "Invincibles" in 2004.
The Decision to Trust Arteta
It was Aug. 28, 2021 and Arsenal had just lost 5-0 at Manchester City, slumping to the bottom of the Premier League standings with a third straight loss to open the season — something that hadn't happened since 1954.
Mikel Arteta, a year and a half into his first senior coaching role, said he was questioning himself amid growing concerns he wasn't the right manager to take Arsenal forward. Mesut Ozil, who had just left Arsenal after being frozen out by Arteta, sarcastically posted "Trust the process" on social media.
The board, headed by American owner Stan Kroenke, stuck with Arteta. He'd started life at Arsenal by winning the FA Cup at the end of his first season in charge.
Building a New Culture
Arteta began the tough process of reshaping the squad by getting rid of players viewed as destabilizing, like Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It meant instilling more discipline and building a new culture at the club.
Still, it would take longer than planned — nearly six years — for the next trophy to come.
Trusting Youth, Then Spending Big
In the early years of his tenure, Arteta placed his trust in younger players to revive Arsenal's fortunes. Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe were among the academy players promoted to the first team.
An 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli arrived from Brazil in 2019. Another 18-year-old, William Saliba, joined the same year from France and was initially loaned out. Over the next couple of years, players under the age of 23 — such as Ben White and Martin Ødegaard — were signed.
To make the final step, the club needed to buy slightly older, elite-level players like Declan Rice, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze.
Rice cost a reported 105 million pounds ($138 million) — then a British-record fee — in 2023. Gyokeres and Eze were signed for a combined price of around $160 million last summer.
Near-Misses and Unconventional Methods
Finishing as runner-up in the Premier League for the past three years saw Arsenal's players and Arteta derided as "nearly men," even chokers, by many soccer pundits.
An alternative view is that it built up the prerequisite experience and resolve to finally launch a successful tilt at the title. Arteta kept believing in his squad — and kept coming up with unorthodox methods to inspire his players.
A professional pickpocket was reportedly hired for a preseason dinner and took items from players, highlighting the need for them to be alert at all times. Arteta brought a lightbulb into the locker room ahead of one game, linking that to his demand for the team to shine.
Arsenal has been mentally tougher this season, holding on after yet another strong start to the campaign and seeing it through to the end despite City's trademark late-season rally.
Back-to-Basics Approach Wins Titles
Arsenal's title-winning campaign has been ugly at times. For a couple of seasons, Arteta's Arsenal has been the emblem of a more back-to-basics approach in English soccer.
But ugliness doesn't matter. What matters is that Arsenal is champion of England once again.