Arsenal have shown significant progress under Mikel Arteta in recent seasons, establishing themselves as consistent challengers in the Premier League. However, despite improvements in their playing style and squad strength, the lack of silverware remains a key concern. Many supporters and pundits alike believe that a club of Arsenal’s calibre should have converted their strong performances into trophies by now.
Over the past three terms, Arsenal have finished second in the Premier League. They have built a team capable of competing at the top level, with high-profile signings and improved results against major opponents. Yet, since their last major trophy win in 2020, the Gunners have failed to secure any honours. The pressure is now mounting for Arteta to deliver the success that the team’s development suggests is within reach.
Arteta Has the Tools but Needs the Trophies
Arteta is widely respected for his tactical approach and has been backed by the club through key transfer windows. The squad has depth, and the performances on the pitch often reflect a team capable of beating any opposition. However, without trophies to show for their efforts, there is a growing concern that Arsenal may be falling short where it matters most.
While Arteta continues to enjoy the support of the club’s hierarchy, fans are beginning to question how long they must wait for silverware. A trophy would not only validate Arteta’s project but also restore Arsenal’s status as one of the most successful clubs in England.
Henry Reflects on Missed Opportunities
Thierry Henry, who knows what it takes to win at Arsenal, expressed his thoughts on the matter. Speaking in an interview, he said, “I understand that at the very beginning, you arrive and it’s not your team. You need at the very least three or four transfer windows to change everything that you want to.”
He added, “It takes time and you have to give a manager time to be able to implement what he wants to do. For the last three years Arsenal have been in a situation where they should have at least brought one cup or reached a final,” as quoted by the BBC.
Those comments highlight the growing belief that while progress has been made, results in the form of trophies must now follow. The development phase appears complete. What remains is the delivery of success to match expectations.
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He is not entirely wrong. We could have won a cup or got to a final. We almost got to a champions league final. I could also say the same about him and the Arsenal team he played in. One European final with all that talent. He and his teammates massively underachieved in Europe.
Crazygoner,
I agree with you regards Arsenal under achieving under Wenger. Yes they won plenty of trophy’s, but with the talent that squad had they should have won consecutive Titles which they never did. And they definitely under achieved in the Champions League.
But that said they we’re a pretty special bunch, that brought us more than our fare share of success to be fare. OH, those were the days. 👍😉
The invincibles had it all and should have won the CL. A missed opportunity.
Reggie,
I second that sentiment. 👍😉👏
I always knew that the league was and still is the pinnacle but now the other trophies won under Wenger were not quite enough.
The other trophy’s won under Wenger were not quite enough, says who SueP?.
You should be more careful with your words. “Arsenal underachieving under Wenger”. Trophies are your mantra so at least don’t underestimate the other ones that Wenger won Derek.
I’m expecting another paragraph about another club winning a trophy in Europe tonight. That’s what it’s all about – trophies
I’m still not quite understanding you SueP.
You’ll certainly never hear me complain about us winning any of the three domestic trophy’s or any European trophy that we’re in.
I’ve never underestimated any trophy won by our club under any manager.
Bit it’s fare to say that the club did under achieve under Wenger when you look at the quality of player that he had.
There’s no doubt that they should have won back to back titles, which they didn’t do. And in the Champions League they also underachieved.
But nowhere will you find me underestimating any trophy won under the great man. Him or any other manager, come to that.😉👍
No one else won more at Arsenal
No one else had 22 years.
Didn’t need it mate
In the same period as say a George Graham or Herbert Chapman no one won more
Then in my opinion the ambition changed and he did a great job keep us in the top 4
If that’s not good enough why is it okay for Arteta ?
In the first 8 years of GG and AW they both won the same amount of trophies, 6. GG never had European football though for about 5 years due to English clubs being banned. For all that anyone knows he may well have succeeded before winning our second European Trophy.
Well it GG was 9 years and won one less trophy
Then when you compare the trophies Mr Wenger’s is stronger
Prems and FA Cups are better then League Cups or Cup Winners Cup
( Let’s not act like Spurs fans lol )
In terms of league in 9 years Wenger never finished as low as GG did
GG did have European football
He lost to Benfica
He left Arsenal in a mess and Mr Wenger changed us
For someone who claims to be a gooner ( and I see through it lol ) you don’t find many Gooners who seem to constantly want to discredit the greatest manager in our history
It was just over 8 years, not 9, so they won the same amount of trophies. As for discrediting the League Cup and the CWC, wow 🙄. Not sure if you know, but the CWC was the second ranked European trophy after the European Cup. Still, it would seem you’re one of those so called Arsenal fans who are quite a snob when it comes to trophies.
How many European trophies did Wenger win in his 22 years with us and the years he was at Monaco ? To save you looking it up I’ll tell you. None is the answer. Got to all three, the UEFA Cup, the CWC and the CL and lost the lot.
Please explain the “I see through it” when referring to Gooners ?
Dan, it’s true Wenger was more successful than Graham, especially with prestigious trophies, but George gave us a team you could relate to, with mostly home grown players and 5/6 sourced in London & the Home Counties.
edit: teams you could relate to.
Very true Jax 👍. He brought us back to being a big club after nearly 2 decades of not winning the League.
Dan,
Considering a certain poster has claimed on here in the past to be a fan of Wenger, his answer to your post that no one won more trophy’s at the club. He then come’s back at you with No one else had 22 years, would suggest that he doesn’t actually like Wenger.
As you will have seen on countless posts from him, that any time Arteta is questioned, this poster, will find a way to shoehorn a dig in at Wenger.
Or am I the only one to notice this. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️
And Dan, just a heads up. This poster knows that I’m talking about him, as the other day he questioned why didn’t I mention him by name. Well the reason is, I don’t want to risk offending him. Don’t forget Dan, apparently the wrong emoji can trigger him, and woe betide any one who mixes’ up the difference between Mate and Friend. 👍😉 OOPS! I hope I’m not going to trigger him.😂👍
Crazygoner, Henry played in two European finals for us. His first one was in Copenhagen in the 2000 UEFA Cup Final, which we lost on penalties.
Martin Keown blasted one of our best chances over the bar from 6 yards.
GG 86-95 9 years – 6 trophies
Wenger in 9 years – Wenger 7
More league titles . More FA Cups
If you don’t want to count his last season as it’s not a full season , don’t count Wenger first
Either way …..Wenger was more successful mate
Wenger only missed just over a month in his first season, while George missed 3 months in his last.
And why was that lol ? He was failing , loseing control so started making silly mistakes
Even way you dress it up
More League title
More FA Cups
Going unbeaten in a season
Never finishing outside top 4
Wenger was simply more successful in the same length of time
Yet he set the team up to reach another European Final, and for all anyone knows we may well have become the first club to successfully defend the CWC.
He was the first manager in England to win the domestic Cup Double.
Also pre Wenger, the managers at The Arsenal had a different remit, to win trophies.
HD, the first foreign manager to win the PL was?
I’m not allowed to mention his name! 😱
Was it Wenger Ken…
👍
Wenger did win trophies
GG had lost his way in the league
Go check where we were finishing
Mr Wenger came in and cleared up his mess
FA Cup and Prem double probably better ?
Twice lol
Oh and of course went unbeaten for a whole season
Don’t know your problem with Mr Wenger but he’s factually more successful im afraid
I don’t need to go and check where we were finishing, I was at the games 😁.
Wembley ’87, winning the League Cup against Liverpool, and in doing so, we became the first team to beat them after Ian Rush had scored for them.
Wasn’t at Anfield, but we, against all odds, won the League after winning 2-0. That was the first time they had lost by 2 goals at home in just over 2 years iirc.
Copenhagen ’94, what a great few days, culminating in winning our second European Trophy.
As I posted previously, before Wenger turned up the managers had a different remit, they had to win trophies. None of this finishing in the top 4.
But Wenger turned up and did better lol ?
Only after the first 8 years 😁
Exactly mate
Making him the most successful manager in our history
Yes he was. Still, he should consider himself lucky that the entry for the top European competition and the remit for managing The Arsenal changed.
And GG was lucky after 91 the remit was allowed to be a cup team and fail in the league
Mr Wenger changed that
Actually the remit after WW2 had always been to win a trophy, be it a Cup or the League.
Remind me how long lasted as our manager without winning the PL ?
*Wenger lasted
Oh I agree mate
Hence why I dont like the Koronke Family as owners and stressed we will never win title under them
So you blame the Kroenkes then. No blame for the Board before Silent Stan became the majority shareholder in 2011 ?
Not the same because he won 2 Prems and 3 FA Cups and did better in Europe
As for saying the same about him personally
He also won a World Cup…..and Euros ….and CL …….and 2 La Liga ….and French title …..and Copa Del Ray ……Super Cup ….Club World Cup …..
Is Arsenal record goal scorer and was for his nation
So he did okay lol.
You can’t compare any of our players with him
We should have won a league and done much better in the domestic cups, which we have been shockingly bad. The CL is hard and our tactics baffled me but it remains out of our compass.
Reggie
That is why the the measuring sticks were taken away and the goalposts moved; so they can try to convince that anything is “success” or “progress” because it is based on arbitrary standards.
This year we scored far fewer goals, out of the title race in February, and no single player in double digit goals. Yes we still are 2nd, a great accomplishment considering the injuries, but no “progress” whatsoever.
Stagnant is the word, not improvement in play or squad strength as the article suggested. Adding a goal scoring striker is now obvious to all, no more papering over with versatility.
There always seems to be an excuse. We should not do excuses. Excuses bring you nothing.
Excuses and reasons are two different things Reggie.
The reason we lost the CL final against the best team in Europe at that time, was because we played nearly 80 minutes with only ten men.
The excuse was that the referee should have shown common sense, rather than following the rule book – he was absolutely correct, so no excuses.
You are referring to Wengers Arsenal Ken, yes I agree.
Funny thing is everyone blaming Arteta but i believe he has over achieved with this team. 70% of the players he got were nobody before now but he was able to get them playing. The fans can see we needed a proper striker since Abu left. My question is cant those above see this too? The biggest clubs in the world buy players for the team with or without the consent of the manager. The board go out and buy the best players either the manager ask or not. As a club we need more pressure from the board too. It’s like everyone is relaxed over there.
I think we should have have done better in the domestic cups, but I don’t think we’ve ever really had a squad good enough to win the league/ Champions League in terms of quality, depth and experience.22/23 & 23/24 City were better than us and deservedly won. This season Liverpool have been the best and most consistent so deserved as well. We are really close though.
Voice of reason Onyango
The only reason I blame Arteta is because he never buy a striker. And without a striker I don’t expect him to win the league or CL, but I expected him to win the domestic cups or atleast reach the finals more than twice. Man Untied reach 5 finals in 5 years (Though I can’t swap his team with United’s team but if United can do it, why can’t we?).
We lead Liverpool on the table for two consecutive seasons and we can’t lead them these season when it matters.
Anyway, I’m so happy that his decision on player signing doesn’t matter anymore. Let Berta do the signing (which I know will include a striker), let him focus on coaching.
I believe he will win a trophy with a good striker. He just doesn’t know it yet or maybe his ego is telling him he can prove us wrong by winning the league without a good striker (that is not working out well for him for the pass 3 years ).
He will see the different next season when he finally have a good striker. So I’m supporting him for the last time. So after next season, if he doesn’t win a trophy or reach 2 finals, I’m revolting.
Who are the “us” he wants to prove wrong 😡😡
We couldve won something by now with better squad building. But we always spend on defenders and ignore obvious weaknesses like striker and winger. Listen, Kai is serviceable. But let’s be honest, Arteta’s ego is what keeps him consistently in the starting XI. If we had bought someone better last summer our chances of success last season would’ve been far better. And honestly, I have little hope we get ST and LW this summer yet again. If we sign another defender and do not fill those two position I won’t be shocked one bit. And at that point if we go trophy less again I’ll be Arteta out. Because there’s only so much nonsense I can take.
Maybe you can explain how the squad should have been built. Have you got a spare £100-£200m to address the “obvious weaknesses”?
Or are you suggesting Arsenal should have ignored the following “obvious” injury concerns: Tomiyasu, Zinchenko, Timber, BW, Partey.
David, as every player you named was actually signed by the manager himself, I don’t think any “obvious” weaknesses could be attributed to anyone else, do you?
As for the spare money, I do believe that MA has earnt that much money and more for the club , by participating in the CL for two seasons.
Trouble is and just like every other manager, some of his signings haven’t worked out, not only injury wise, but actual talent.
seasons
I highlighted players for whom there were injury concerns. Whether or not he brought those players in does not negate the fact that cover was required. Cover costs money which can then impact overall squad building as there is only so much that can be spent in one window and the club needs to take into account the financial rules.
It’s unclear whether you think Arteta was solely responsible for players getting injuries. As this seems to be the current easy narrative for people.
Forget about reaching a cup final, The least I expected in our recent seasons(2023/24 in particular) is a league title. So disappointed we’ve had nothing to show for our efforts despite our new found competitiveness. Hopefully it becomes a thing of the past next season onwards, but first a strong summer transfer window should be achieved.