Arsenal Champions

It wasn't easy, but Arsenal finally got over the line. Man City looked to have clawed their way back to parity at one point, closing a 9 point gap (albeit one with a game to spare). But they could not win against Everton, and when they drew against Bournemouth, the title finally returned to Arsenal. I thought Arsenal were going to win the EPL in 2023, when they built a commanding lead for the beginning of the season, but I guess now is better late than never.

The games were difficult. One particularly wrenching game was the one against West Ham. Arsenal, at that time, needed to win it. There was a goal at the end by West Ham, but it was disallowed. That goal could have given West Ham 1 more point. It wouldn't have made up the gap with Tottenham, but I don't know if it would have given them a psychological edge.

Then the next game was against Burnley. It was regarded as an easy one, as was the one against Crystal Palace. But they are only easy because Arsenal already had the psychological advantage of being ahead of Man City at this crucial point. Those games were nervy 1-0 wins, and they wouldn't have given Arsenal much of a goal difference advantage, but winning the league is all about grinding out the wins during squeaky bum time.

Ultimately, after Arsenal got derided as “bottlers”, it was Man City who bottled it. Man City did not bottle the title challenge during that first unforgettable premier league title in 2012, when they had to score 2 goals within 10 minutes. They didn't bottle it either in 2022, when they had to score 3 goals within 30 minutes. They did bottle it in a few FA cup finals and a few European knockout matches. But this Man City side are a young side who was a refresh of the older Man City side with the old warhorses. So they'll have to learn how to be title contenders all over again.

Arsenal did lose title challenges in 2023 and 2024. But the 2023 side were unexpectedly thrust into this position. There were different versions of Arsenal: the one that played exciting attacking football, the one that played very cautious and defensive, the one that relied on set pieces and gamesmanship. Ultimately, Arsenal managed to get over the line after trying every trick in the book.

Arsenal winning the premier league happened to me during the years which I regarded as rites of passage. They won the league when I took my PSLE, when I passed my Grade 8 and exited my tweens, when I ORDed from the army, when I graduated. And again after a very rough start to my working life which settled in.

And after that, it was failure after failure. The Wenger years after the invincibles were really painful to watch. Even when Arsenal were at their best, they tended to have a soft underbelly. Especially the 02 03 season, when Arsene Wenger said that he could go a full season unbeaten. Then his side bottled it. And people don't remember this because the following season, he actually managed to achieve that feat.

There were the various collapses. Arsenal's title chasing collapse in 07 08 was quite painful, because at one point it seemed that they could go on to win a title. Arsenal tend to start seasons well and tail off at the end. I don't know if this has some effect on their psyche.

The really significant part now is: what does it augur for me? Which milestone have I reached in my life? Am I ready to be the head of my household? Am I moving forward with my career?

Another thing is that Arsenal have ended a very long title drought. To be fair, a lot of title droughts ended in my lifetime.

Nottingham Forest (1979, first time)

Aston Villa (1910 to 1981)

Everton (1970-85)

Arsenal (1971-89)

Leeds (1974-92)

Manchester United (1967-93)

Blackburn Rovers (1914-95)

Chelsea (1955-2005)

Man City (1968-2012)

Leicester City (2016, first time)

Liverpool (1990-2020)

Arsenal (2004-26)

There will probably not be another title drought broken for a very long time, unless there are changes to the big six. The next big drought will be Man U and Chelsea, and it's strange but those 2 did dominate football together for around 10 years between 2004 and 2013, and they are the ones in drought. If Tottenham break their duck, it will be very massive, but I don't think they will.

I think Arsenal will win another title. But I don't know if they have what it takes to build a dynasty. This will be the first time in quite a while we have neither Klopp or Guardiola in the premier league. Those two are like the Wenger and Ferguson of 20 years earlier.

One of the most impressive things is when a manager comes into a mid table side, rebuilds the whole club, and turns it into a winning machine. Bill Shankly did that with Liverpool. Brian Clough did that with Derby, and their second title should have been credited to him. Matt Busby did that with Man U. Don Revie with Leeds. Arsene Wenger with Arsenal. Jose Mourinho with Chelsea, albeit with financial doping. Jurgen Klopp with Liverpool, and Pep Guardiola with Man City. With all due respect to Roberto Mancini, although he did bring the club forward.

Ferguson did that with man U, most famously. The first title winning side had little in common with the people who were already there. He had to clear out Paul McGrath – even though McGrath was still good enough to excel for Aston Villa years later. There are the people you had to get out of the system. The first title winning side had Brian McClair, Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes from the old side. The rest were people he brought in. Similarly, Arteta had to find a way to get rid of Aubamayeung and Ozil, and Lacazette had to be released. He had to be very ruthless with his goalkeepers. First, he got rid of Bernard Leto, and brought in Aaron Ramsdale. And even Ramsdale was not good enough. He was only good enough for a team fighting for the UCL places, and David Raya was the one who would win you the EPL. Emile Smith Rowe was another one let go, although he's obviously good enough for Fulham.

When Arsene Wenger won the league with Arsenal, his teams were famous for being the opposite of George Graham's “defend at all costs” style. Arsene Wenger's first team managed to combine the solid backline inherited from George Graham with the stylish and expressive attacking play up front. His later teams suffered because Wenger being able to build a solid team wasn't one of his biggest strengths. Mikel Arteta managed to mix and match Wenger's style with Mourinho's gamesmanship and Guardiola's tactical thinking. His side also peaked at the right time, when neither Klopp's Liverpool or Guardiola would have their amazing 90+ point seasons. Perhaps nobody would ever reach those heights again, because Man City and Liverpool have brought something new to the premiership that other people have dissected and worked out.

Perhaps the EPL would dominate Europe to an extent that they did during the first 7 years of my life, when they basically won 6 out of 7 European Cups. The new Europa League and Europa Conference League is a bit of a disaster because English teams have been winning many of the prizes: Aston Villa, West Ham, Chelsea, Tottenham and maybe even Crystal Palace.

But a lot of credit to Arsenal for coming in first in a super competitive English Premier League, although Klopp and Guardiola leaving has made it less competitive for quite a while. Next year will be harder, because Chelsea will improve under Xabi Alonso, Liverpool aren't going to have 2 bad seasons in a row – either they'll improve or Arne Slot will leave. Man United will have better players and a better manager in Michael Carrick. Man City won't have Guardiola, but will inherit the team that was starting to gel together.

The most important thing for me, though, is this superstition that something interesting will happen to my life when Arsenal wins the league. It is a very unexpected drought. But Arteta, Wenger and George Graham all have had their doubters. George Graham was up against the greatest Liverpool side. Wenger had to wrest the throne from Man U who managed to defend it against Aston Villa, Blackburn and Newcastle. He had to come up with something special. Arteta brought Arsenal to a level very similar to Wenger's: never the greatest side ever (except during their invincibles season). But they were always near enough to the title that they could win it if Man U slipped up. Arteta's side winning wasn't much of a surprise, and was a long time coming. But he also had doubters, because this was Arteta's first job, and Arteta's not as much of a great manager as Guardiola or Klopp were. Still, he was willing to try every trick in the book to get Arsenal through.

I guess the previous droughts were shorter. George Graham was playing an extreme form of 80s ultra-defensive football. Arsene Wenger went in the opposite direction. That said, a drought of 22 years was a very long time, and Wenger was responsible for 14 of those years. His best chance at killing that drought was during the 15 16 season. I think that the fact that Arsenal lost the league to Leicester made me almost give up on that club. The next season started a long streak of Arsenal finishing behind Tottenham in the table. Maybe it was the failed title challenges in 2008, 2011, 2016, 2023, 2024 which made me question whether Arsenal would ever win the league again.

But Arteta, just like George Graham and Arsene Wenger were saviour figures at the club. They weren't people like Ancelotti, Pellegrini, Ranieri or Conte, who came in to give an already great club something extra special to get them over the line. He had to build it back up from a mid table side to a champion's league regular, and finally, a champion. And this time, hopefully Arsenal wouldn't have their progress disrupted from having to pay to build a stadium, so maybe no more long periods of disappointment. Which means, if they were to win the league more regularly from now on, it might be an omen that I might move forward with my life.

I've always been quite a reluctant Arsenal fan. I've never believed that I should be a great supporter of a team not from a city I live in. But it's mainly because of this superstition that Arsenal winning the league is a door opening in my life to something. I don't really know what. And I don't have any anxiety anymore about Arsenal going for a long time without winning the league. Somehow time just flies.

Unfortunately, Hearts wasn't good enough to win the Scottish league, and very unfortunately had to play against Celtic in the season decider. They didn't break their duck like I had hoped. But well we can't have everything go our way in a season.