How many years will it take for Arsenal to match Liverpool?

Arsenal should try to rebuild in the same way Liverpool did.

Arsenal is a team in transition, one of the biggest markers that the Gunners are not where they should be is the fact that they haven’t qualified for the Champions League since the 2016/2017 season.

Mikel Arteta has been brought in to reshape the future of the team and the Spaniard has done a good job in terms of proving his doubters wrong so far.

However, the rebuilding job is just starting at the Emirates and I’d love to liken Arsenal’s current situation to that of Liverpool before Jurgen Klopp came in.

The Reds had just challenged for the league in the 2013/2014 season, but they lost Luis Suarez and they struggled through the 2014/2015 season before sacking Brendan Rodgers in October 2015.

Jurgen Klopp came in and took the club to both the Carabao Cup and the Europa League finals, but he didn’t win any of them.

Gradually, he has now made the Reds European champions and they will be England’s champions at the end of this season.

It took him exactly four seasons to land his first trophy for the Reds and I think Mikel Arteta might need that much time as well.

Next summer would be Arteta’s first as Arsenal’s manager, and the Spaniard faces losing some of his star men apart from signing new players.

If he does keep hold of the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, he would be closer to his goal and Arsenal can start by returning to the Premier League’s top four next season.

However, if he fails to keep either player, he may have to start rebuilding his team again in the summer with a new frontman.

With the progress being made under Arteta if he is backed well in the next transfer window, Arsenal can land a domestic trophy next season.

An article from Jacob B

31 Comments

  1. Difficult to say….
    It can happen in 1 summer or can take 4-5 summer or never match
    It all depends on 3 factors…
    Owners injecting equity so club purchase players from Market… 2nd is quality of singing….
    Even if you spend 200 Mn but if your spending is done on poor player then it’s if no use….
    And 3rd is handling contract situations of important players…. not allowing any player to enter into its last year where he can dictate his contract talks as per his will…. and why can’t we have 1 year contract extension at the option of club the way Man Utd put this clause in signed player…
    If original contract is of 4 years but it can turn out to be 5 if club exercise this option… This type of clause would have been saviour for Arsenal in this Aubameyang situation…

  2. Jacob B, Arsenal are (that’s ARE not IS) a team in transition.
    Sorry, I’m a bit pedantic about this but so many contributors say Arsenal is or the Gunners is, but it’s Arsenal are and the Gunners are…… lights blue touch paper, stands back…….

        1. @Declan,I’ve just checked,it says Arsenal is a count noun so a singular verb needs to be used!

    1. Declan. As a linquist and English Language degree holder, I strongly advise you to beware of tripping up those who do not write the Queens English as well as some others do.

      If they really WISH to write correctly there is ample opportunity for them to study. But most are not that bothered and I accept that, personally. What MATTERS is their comments, whether or not properly punctuated or correctly phrased.

      1. If you take Arsenal as a team then it is correct to use ‘is’. If you look at Arsenal as an aggregate then ‘are’ is okay. It all depends on the context. However was this argument really necessary? It was just an unwelcome digression from the topic of discussion. Many of us on this website just learnt English as a second language mainly because of our colonial history. English is an international language which has suffered a lot of abuse mainly by its native speakers! Interestingly I have observed that we foreign users of English have better command of the language than the native speakers. The reason is simple. We study formal English in school and have little time for slang, local jargon and some other unintelligible expressions.

        1. David,
          You are quite right and I commend your fluency in a language which is not your mother tongue.

          However, if slang and other words did not find their way into our language we would never reflect the times in which we live.

          Grammar is, of course, important

          1. SueP. I don’t in any way deny the value of slang, jargon, idioms, metaphors, proverbs etc in a language. In fact such figures of speech greatly enrich a language. It is only dead languages like Latin that don’t have such. English is obviously one of the most vibrant languages in the world today. That explains its widespread use all over the world.

  3. One important detail is that Klopp has been backed financially by the owners,there is no way we can afford fees like for VVD, Allison and Co!so unless MA works miracles in the transfer market or even coaching,it will take us a bit longer than Liverpool to start challenging for the PL let alone for the champions League!!

      1. Reggie,in the last 5 seasons Liverpool gross spending is 470M to Arsenal 443M but you’re right when it comes to net spending Arsenal 250M to Pool 93M,they got great fees for their players especially for Coutinho!

        1. The bottom line of any business is the net spend or profit. We have bought and sold poorly, Liverpool haven’t.

  4. One season more and once we have a robust midfield to control and dictate the game that is when we will be able to rub shoulders with other contenders.Once Ozil, Xhaka are out,our resurgence will begin. Hope Aubameyang has the patience to wait that long. Ozil can never be rated with Arsenals Rosicky Fabregas Carzola Nasri or even Wilshire when fit.

  5. Brilliant article.

    We as fans need to get our heads out the clouds (some of us) and start being realistic.
    There’s no way for us to magically turn into title contenders by mentioning all these players we should buy as if we have owners like Man City.

    Let’s look at our situation, and unpack how we could improve what we are with the players we have(not bash players and want them sold) and realistically analyze players we could affordably get(that we actually need, and no not DM’s)

    I honestly think we’re short of a few players, and obviously time for us to become title contenders like liverpool

    Future squad going forward, with all the major and old players gone (Aubameyangs, Ozils, Sokratis etc)

    Strikers:
    Martinelli, Nketiah(hope he makes it because I don’t see him as an Arsenal striker), Balogun

    Wingers:
    Saka, Pepe,

    Midfielders:
    Guendouzi, Ceballos, Smith Rowe, Torreira, Willock(hopefully as a box2box mid), Xhaka, AMN(hopefully he stays)

    Defenders:
    Holding, Chambers, Mavropanos, Saliba, Bellerin, Miguel Lopez, Tierney, Mari

    Gk:
    Leno

    Hopefully we buy:
    Gabriel Magalhaes, Zarzana, Szobozolai/Soler, and my dream winger Oyarzabal

    So you can actually see we’re short supply of wingers and wing backs

    1. May be we should look at Wiliam,his Chelsea contract runs out this summer,few days ago he said that talks have completely stopped because he asked for 3 years and they only offered him 2 years and his wife on Instagram said that his Chelsea career might be at an end but they love London and would like to stay there, apparently spurs are watching the situation but we could beat them!!

  6. As regards the answer to the original question in the title- it took Liverpool 30 years to get to this stage from their last.

  7. Arteta will never rebuild Arsenal because he is using his heart instead of his head to make decisions. Can he rebuild the team by playing Ozil and Xhaka, week in and out?
    Now he’s trying to sell young players

    1. three managers now have started with Xhaka. And sorry, but who do we have that is better than him? I look at Guendouzi he is not near ready. Has worse discipline than Graint. Torreira, cannot hold down a CDM position and bring any sort of stability to our midfield. Xhaka is dead seriously the best option at the club even for all the hate he gets. Im not saying he’s good, but until the club gets someone better I dont see how anyone can be mad at ARteta for selecting him. Same story for Ozil. There are zero other CAM’s at Arsenal. Willock has been tried there and has not been good. Ceballos works better deeper. We’ve been linked with a few CAM’s for the summer and hopefully that can improve the team. But you are complaining about positions that Arteta has little choice in because of the lack of quality alternatives.

      1. RSH, i appreciate your opinion but i am not sure that it is the same as mine. Yes the last three managers have all played those two and the theme of play has been similar and the lack of improvement from them has been similar. I disagree that Gouendouzi is less disciplined than xhaka, cards, fouls and sendings off dont support that. Im not sure Ceballos who wont be here next season is better deeper, he in my opinion is better further forwards. And i am far from in agreement that xhaka is the best in that position at the club. Whatever we both say the club is not in a position where it should be and that is because managers have made bad calls and players being used have got us where we are.

        1. Thats fair. I knew i would get some pushback, but I still maintain that Xhaka>Guendouzi. Guendouzi does far too much damage to our play when he holds onto the ball too long and only achieves a side pass. And yeah, technically xhaka’s discipline record is worse, but when he does get the inevitable yellow card, he doesn’t let it ruin the rest of his game. and he has learned not to take additional risks that would get him a second yellow. Guendouzi I feel freaks out when he is disciplined nad is immature and unfocused the remainder of the game.

          I just dont see what he adds to the team and he’s more media hype than actual results in my opinion. xhaka obviously has his own flaws. he can lose his head too and, lose markers, and is overall just not up for it, but i can at least see the positives of his play, which i cannot say for guendouzi.

          you may be right about ceballos though, but i also just dont think we have a player that is as capable in CM role as he is so that would leave yet another hole in our side. ozil i can live with in the side for the remainder of the season, even knowing he will have many performances that frustrate me.

  8. Xhaka and ozil are to us what Craig Bellamy and Charlie Adam were to Liverpool. The fact that they even signed for said club.

  9. The big question in this article rests on the word “IF”.
    If Arteta manages to keep Aubameyang and/or Lacazette and if he gets good support in the next transfer window to bring in the players HE WANTS to suit the style of play he desires for Arsenal are big “IFs” given past experiences with this Board.

  10. The answer is simple. It spells ALIKO DANGOTE. If Asn’l just can get a new owner, the club will be back on top in one season. Snap! Give us the money to buy three-four… yeah, why not, five or six first class players – 2 defenders, 2 midfielders and 2 bloody killers up front… Then herr Klopp can go marching home to his Fatherland. Go Asn’l!

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