3 hours ago
3
Mikel Arteta wants to get his messaging absolutely right. According to him, Arsenal are not about to defend their Premier League title. They are set to attack another one.
Remember Win the dog, who the manager brought in to the club’s training ground a few years back? She must now be called “Won”. But it is when Arteta quibbles over another bout of semantics that he highlights why he is entering the new season with such energy and optimism.
Do not talk to him about Arsenal’s stability. He prefers the word “consistency” along with more thrusting ones like “ambition”. The overall theme is clear. When Arteta surveys the landscape at the top end of the English game, he sees a settled environment at his club and flux elsewhere.
In terms of the so-called Big Six – the richest clubs in the country, as ranked by Deloitte – there are new managers at Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea; a virtually new one at Tottenham and a relatively new one at Manchester United. It has been a summer of unprecedented change in the Premier League with nine clubs with a new man in charge. Of those who hold out hope of a title challenge, only Aston Villa have a fully bedded-in manager in Unai Emery.
Rather abruptly, Arteta finds himself as the longest-serving manager in the division; he took over from Emery at Arsenal in December 2019. Emery is second on the list, having been at Villa for three years and nine months, and only one other – Daniel Farke at Leeds – has been at his club for more than three years.
When Arteta was given the job at Arsenal, Pep Guardiola was two titles into his storied City tenure, Jürgen Klopp had won the Champions League at Liverpool and was on his way to winning the league that season and José Mourinho had just joined Spurs.
Arteta has seen them all off, with Guardiola’s departure from City at the end of last season being the most significant single shift in the dynamics for the forthcoming campaign.
Arteta is now the big beast, the only current manager to have won the Premier League, and as Arsenal prepare for the curtain-raiser at home to Coventry on Friday night, it is hard to ignore the confidence they are projecting. With virtually of all their rivals in transition, uncertainty undercutting the excitement, predictions difficult to make in the face of little actual evidence, Arsenal are reassured by their firm foundations. They sense opportunity, another title; the creation of a dynasty. That is the ultimate goal.
There is something more. Namely how everything changed for them in the closing weeks of last season. City had done the hard work, clawing back a nine-point deficit from the middle of March – a period when they had a game in hand. But in the five-match shootout that followed, City blinked first, drawing at Everton. Most know how nerve-racking it was for Arsenal. Not least Arteta. The Emirates Stadium was a sea of anxiety when Arsenal last played there – against Burnley in the penultimate game of the season. They got a 1-0 win over the line.
Then City drew at Bournemouth and it was over; Arsenal’s 22-year wait, the oppressive weight. It is impossible to underestimate the feeling of liberation. Nobody can question the bottle of this team. Nobody will taunt them with the cry of “second again, olé, olé.” It is plain Arteta and his players will feed off it and perhaps it will lead to a more expansive style of football. The fear of falling short inhibited their game as the heat rose last time out.
Arsenal have made changes behind the scenes, looking for the marginal gains, most notably in the medical department where the head doctor, Zafar Iqbal, was mutually consented in early June. Arnaldo Abrantes has come in from Aston Villa to replace him. If the players can stay fitter for longer, Arsenal believe they can stay ahead. They have protected themselves with moves to deepen an already well-stocked squad. Bruno Guimarães is the most eye-catching addition, with Ezri Konsa about to follow.
Arsenal versus City still feels like the primary head-to-head. Guardiola had Arteta’s number last season, winning two and drawing one of the three meetings between the clubs. City were much the better team in the Carabao Cup final that they won 2-0. But that was under Guardiola and that was with Rodri and Bernardo Silva. If Guardiola’s exit has hit City the hardest, then those of the commanding midfielders to Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, is not far behind.
City’s faith in their new manager, Enzo Maresca, is rooted in what they saw of him when he worked on their coaching staff; he was an assistant to Guardiola in the treble-winning season of 2022-23. Previously, he coached the Under‑23s to the Premier League 2 title in 2020-21.
It is a well-thought-through appointment; the kind a well-run club makes. Yet at the same time, it is not one to quicken the pulse. Maresca, quite simply, has enormous shoes to fill. Ditto Elliot Anderson, the impressive young midfielder upon whom City have bet the house. Can City be better given the personnel losses they have sustained? They must surely do so given the direction of travel at Arsenal. City do retain the cheat code that is Erling Haaland.
There are parallels between City and Liverpool, who want their new manager, Andoni Iraola, to have a similar impact in his first season that Arne Slot managed in 2024-25. Slot took Klopp’s team and glided to the title. Maybe consistency in the dugout is not everything?
On the other hand, Slot was given only one new player – Federico Chiesa – who barely played that season and he essentially stuck with what had made the Klopp collective so successful. It was evolution not revolution. When he tried the latter last season, Slot found that his tenure unravelled, although his rotten luck with injuries must be acknowledged. There was also the death of Diogo Jota.
after newsletter promotion
Liverpool have moved on Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konaté and, most crucially, Mohamed Salah, even if he was a shadow of his former self last season. Salah has not yet been replaced; it would be impossible to replace the prime-years version of him and Iraola, who has a number of injury concerns, has it all to do.
Coaxing more from Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak is fundamental. Iraola’s style has the capacity to hold Anfield in thrall; the aggression, the front-foot slickness, the boldness to go one-versus-one all over the pitch. How quickly can he impose it?
Chelsea will be interesting under Xabi Alonso, who has been allowed to add players to fit into the 3-4-2-1 he used to such stunning effect at Bayer Leverkusen. Alonso has also been permitted to break from the club’s youth-first signing model and bring in much-needed experience.
Morgan Rogers, alongside Cole Palmer and behind João Pedro, with Moisés Caicedo and maybe Reece James in the deep midfield roles, has a very nice feel to it. There is talent in central defence. The lack of European football will be a temporary blessing.
Ask any chief executive what supporters want at the start of a season and the answer is invariably the same: be better than last season. Which will not be a problem for Chelsea after the implosion to limp home in 10th. Or Spurs, who finished 17th for the second campaign in a row and narrowly avoided relegation. Roberto De Zerbi, who was appointed as the manager with seven games to go, kept them up and in the first summer since the end of Daniel Levy’s near 25-year as chair, the new hierarchy have been determined to act decisively. Their heavy spend on Premier League-proven players has allowed the fanbase to dream.
De Zerbi is a man to generate buy-in. In him they trust. Ditto a midfield that will feature Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes. With Conor Gallagher or James Maddison expected to fill the No 10 role, Spurs look to have a proper unit to hold things together. They will also benefit from no European football.
What about United, for whom everything suddenly came together after the appointment of Michael Carrick in January, initially for an interim spell? His record meant the club had to give him the job on a permanent basis – he finished the season with 12 wins and three draws from 17 league matches. It was 2.3 points per game. Transpose that over a 38-match campaign and you get 87 points. Arsenal won the title with 85. Are United dark horses for glory?
Concerns remain. Carrick was largely untroubled by injuries and when United have their best XI on the field they are a match for anybody. When they miss a few, as they normally did under Ruben Amorim, they can flatline. United were always going to have to add a good number of signings this summer, particularly as they prepare to go from a Europe-free season to a return to the Champions League. They have not yet done enough; the final week-and-a-half of the transfer window could be crucial. As Mike Tyson almost said, everybody has a plan until they are punched in the face by the Champions League.
Are Villa really about to take another step forward after the highs of last season when they finished fourth and won the Europa League? It feels unlikely given the departures, headlined by those of Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne, with Konsa primed to go, too. Strangely, there is a whiff of transition about them. It is possible to find reasons to fret about every team. Apart from Arsenal.
