Arsenal are in need of a trophy this season to fully convince any doubters that the Mikel Arteta project is going in the right direction.
That’s not to say the Spaniard should be sacked or that radical change at the Emirates Stadium is needed. The Gunners still sit second in the Premier League table and have pretty much cruised through the Champions League league phase, finishing third.
There can be no doubt over Arsenal’s improvement under Arteta and where they have come from. But what if second is as good as it gets under him?
The jury is still very much out as to whether the Gunners can get over the line and win a league title or Europe’s elite competition for the first time. Arsenal have not tasted major silverware success since winning the 2020 FA Cup, with two Community Shield triumphs in 2020 and 2023.
But many doubts over whether Arteta’s side can become ‘winners’ in the truest sense of the word were also raised at Liverpool in Jurgen Klopp’s early time in charge. The Reds lost their first three finals under the German and finished second to Manchester City in 2019.
It took winning the Champions League that same year, beating Tottenham 2-0 in the final, for Klopp‘s team to fully emerge as a trophy-winning force. Liverpool went on to dominate the following Premier League season, winning 26 of their first 27 games.
In the end, no one finished close to them, with the Reds clinching the title in just 31 games. The runners-up, Manchester City, finished 18 points behind them in a season disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Whilst replicating such a dominant campaign is unlikely for Arsenal next term, considering how strong the league currently is, winning this season’s Champions League could give them the boost needed to overcome their domestic struggles in 2024/25.
It’s hard to state how much of a transformative change it could have on them. Shedding the runners-up tag may give them the confidence to get over the line in a title race.
And with some of Europe’s heavyweights, such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, having to slug it out in playoffs, an opportunity could emerge for Arsenal to finally prove they have what it takes to win the game’s biggest prizes again.
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