After three consecutive Asian seasons, how should Arsenal, who has no championship in another year, judge?

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Yan Yu

Liverpool fished for a long time and finally waited for the award ceremony. The five battles here also had a climax, and a tragic comedy of Newcastle losing but being "carried into the Champions League" by Manchester United. In the corner where no one paid attention, Arsenal won the final round 2-1 and sat in the Premier League runner-up for the third consecutive year. There is no need to savor the game itself, although it also has some interesting points, such as the left-back Tierney, who was determined to leave half a year ago, scored a "farewell goal" or played a guest role in the central defender. In addition, the long shot in the 90th minute was the absolute main force that was most disliked by fans in the past season - "soft-footed captain" Odegao.

Such an ending is interesting and a disadvantage. After all, the opponent is just a relegated team Southampton, and "Sanya" has long been unable to escape. After another year of hard work, Arteta's team still failed to achieve a new breakthrough. Manchester City fell, Liverpool was the Premier League champion, and Arsenal "did not waste his time." But looking back on the past, is everything really that bad?

is frustrating, but there are also highlights

It must be admitted that this was a frustrating season overall. The old saying goes, "There is another decline and the three are exhausted", and it is really true that it is used on gunmen. If it is an unexpected surprise to say that the Premier League's long-term lead in the 2022-23 season is an unexpected surprise, the loss to Manchester City in the 2023-24 season is "a breath away", and in 2024-25, it becomes "the old enemy is weak and he collapses." Manchester City won the lowest Premier League score in the Guardiola era in third place, and Arsenal, second, is actually not much different. 74 points is the second lowest in Arteta's full season coaching, just above 69 points in the 2021-22 season, and at least 10 points lower than the past two seasons. Another thing that is quite eye-catching is that the Gunners have 14 draws in the 38th round of the Premier League, the same as when they only won the 8th in the league in the 2019-20 season.

In addition, this year's theme is another "year of broken waste", which makes Arsenal even more useless. The criticism of "the four majors are empty" is to say it in the smallest, and to say it is the club's lack of temperament, the coach has no life, and the championship has no chance - look at Tottenham next door, you can be the European champion at the 17th in the Premier League. What is the confidence that you are a wealthy every day? Oh, and it seems that there are also fresh European championship titles, which are still the Champions League, but the women's football team. The old meme "Women Arsenal is the champion" still cannot be pronounced in Chinese pinyin.

Precisely because another year has not broken through the upper limit, patience is easily gone amid all kinds of ridicule. Although the slogan "ArtetaOut" is not very loud, many fans are indeed clamoring for a change of coaches, because "the team cannot win the championship under Arteta's rule." This inference is actually very emotional and a bit one-sided. After all, Espanyol is not without a champion. He won the FA Cup in his first half of his season as coach of the Gunners, and that trophy became the stepping stone to him winning the absolute trust of the club owner.

Five years have passed since I won the championship last time. Is Arteta still relying on his old capital? Obviously not. He transformed Arsenal from a down-and-out giant who almost slipped into the middle of the game into a powerful team that can participate in the Premier League championship every year. This is a fact and his ability. Even in 2024-25, where there is no advance or retreat, the Gunners still show some highlights, right? In addition to the Premier League, the Champions League double-kill against Real Madrid is a kind of increase in belief, and Rice's free kick score twice is a classic. Even if people later say "Real Madrid is not strong this year", returning to the Champions League semi-finals after many years is also a progress in a sense.

Also, don't forget the personnel aspect. When fans suspected that Arsenal had another loss-making business last year, the heavy-weight new player Karafiori was always injured continuously, leaving cracks in the left gate, 18-year-old Lewis Skelly emerged from a Gunners' youth training midfielder to Britain's most promising left-back. The same young attacking midfielder Envanelli also showed his strength, leaving some good impressions in the Premier League and the Champions League. There are also successful cases like Merino’s cameo as a center, which also demonstrates Arteta’s ability to tap potential and transform players.

pass, but it is far from enough for the Spanish coach to see the potential of the players and use this energy. It cannot be said that he has no ability. Of course, there is a considerable reason why Arteta is willing to do this, that is, because he was "forced". For example, if the forwards such as Havertz were not injured, it would not be the turn of "Mei Chaofeng". Injuries are also one of the important reasons for Arsenal's weak championship. In addition, many fans must still remember that there have been many controversial punishments in this Premier League season that are not conducive to Arsenal, famous cases such as the second yellow card received by Rice in September last year.

Obviously some "objective factors" have dragged Arsenal down, and they are also lucky this year. However, here we are not trying to "rehabilitate" Arteta, but we just don't ignore his good side, but we also need to point out the real shortcomings. Regarding the overall performance of the Arsenal coach in the 2024-25 season, the competitive network scored a 6.5 point, which is more reasonable. It probably means that it is better than passing the exam, but it is not much better. Indeed, the second place in the Premier League and conceded the least goals, can the Champions League semi-finals be considered as failing? Arsenal is not a "big boss" at all, and there is no reason to look too high. But from another perspective, Arteta and the team do feel that they are encountering bottlenecks, and some of the troubles are caused by themselves..

For example, is there many injuries just because of bad luck? The elitism of small lineup pursued by Arteta is also a source of disease. He always points to a set of "strongest lineups" and emphasizes that all members are oppressing and assisting in defense as a whole. Isn't that someone will not be able to support it one day? In this season, the Gunners include Odgao, Saka, Martinelli, Havertz and Gabriel, who have experienced long-term injuries. Except Odgao, who has an ankle injury, the remaining four have hamstring injuries, which is probably not just a coincidence.

In addition, judging from the late season, Kiviol successfully topped the vacant central defender, Arsenal is not without room for rotation. They could have allowed a little more players to participate in the cruel competition in the Premier League, but Arteta has always been willing to believe in the ten main players. In all 38 rounds of the Premier League, the Gunners have a total of 15 players playing time of more than 1,000 minutes, but they also include the five players mentioned above who have had long-term injuries. Zinchenko and Sterling, who seem to be able to play in the top class and rotate, and star Envanéri, have less than 900 minutes of league appearance.

The staff is not in place, and the lack of super scorers has not been solved, Arsenal's impetus is a natural result as before. Of course, many people think that Arteta's thinking is becoming more and more utilitarian. The result of wanting to win and being afraid of losing is that the team's creativity declines and the offense is no longer so beautiful. On the surface, it is indeed very different, and the "classic quotes" left by the Spanish coach at the press conference also make people worry that he is moving closer to Mourinho or Tenhamhe.

In terms of fans' perception, this is a bad tendency, but if you think about it carefully, isn't Arteta's master the same? Even if you play poorly or even lose, it can be said to be "I think we show our style" or "we are the best side"? The two are almost the same stubborn, but Guardiola has the glorious protection of the past, and Arteta lacks enough proof. And this will put the Gunners coach under greater pressure in the following season.

"If you don't win the championship, this best defense line will be wasted." Many people say this, it seems a bit too impatient, but what they are saying is the truth. But didn't Arteta say it at the end of the season? "(Boss) Josh (Korenke) has clarified the team's direction and ambitions. We will try to see what we can do, make very subtle decisions, and respect everything that has brought us to this day." The meaning of this is that Arsenal is preparing to open a busy summer window and let's take a look next season.