How long can Arteta and the Arsenal stars put up with only being the bridesmaids? | OneFootball

Gooners are right to feel that Arsenal are very close to a League title.

Rival fans will mock that we say that every year, and for those less humble in our fanbase you need to take your medicine. Our peers are not wrong that 21 years is a long time to keep asking for everyone to wait.

Yet Mikel Arteta is not responsible for the majority of those two decades. He’s laid the foundations that for the majority of that time didn’t exist. We have one of the youngest squads in the division, assets tied down to long term contracts and he’s convinced the Kroenke Family to invest.

History of football shows whether it’s a club or an international team, you have to knock on the door a few times before it opens.

Yet Paul Merson’s words ring in my ears from when we let the Aston Villa game pass us by, ‘You might never get this opportunity in your careers again.’

You see, just because we have come close the last two seasons to being Champions, doesn’t mean you have a divine right to carry on being contenders. Don’t take for granted the very reason why only losing one game in 2024 cost us the League …. it’s hard!

Ask Liverpool!

When they last finished a point behind Man City the assumption was, they take a breath and go again. Yet suddenly their minds were willing but their bodies not.

They had given so much to compete they had nothing left to give.

They landed a few punches but realised that they were never going to knock out the machine at the Etihad.

Liverpool were left tired, drained, to the point Jürgen Klopp tapped out, admitting he can’t give the energy it takes to take silverware from Manchester.

Arteta is younger and smart enough to know that returning to North London would be a long-term project. Having done his apprenticeship with the Champions, he will be aware that it was never going to be straightforward to finish above his mentor.

The Spaniard is also human though, and as a professional will naturally be deflated to put so much effort into a campaign with zero rewards. He admitted last year when his body shut down on holiday, he needed convincing he was the right man to end our title drought.

That’s why you have to admire the standards Pep Guardiola has set in English Football.

Because picking up his 4th consecutive Prem means that for years now, he’s mentally been able to deal with must-win conditions every few days and not just do his team’s excel, they do it with a smile on their face.

He now has other coaches raising their standards, crazy winning sequences, big points totals, etc and still he finds a way to collect trophies.

To give you an idea the amount of focus Pep Guardiola puts into his work, the reason he left Barcelona was ‘exhaustion‘. To create what he did at the Nou Camp took attention to detail that was almost obsessive. For the sake of his family, he needed to change the balance of his professional / personal life.

That was in 2012.

For the second campaign running, the sport tried to convince itself that City were not quite themselves when in reality the only game they lost since December was a penalty shootout to Madrid.

They are about to follow up a Treble with a Double.

So, the 54-year-old works himself into the ground to the point he’s noticed it impacts on health, loved ones, friends and the mind but he has the comfort of every medal there is to win.

What happens to the person who puts in the same workload, is equally dedicated and who’s time is just as much spent away from friends and family?

Yet all you have to show for your sacrifices is the tag of being a bridesmaid, accusations of being a bottle job and even murmurings (from the minority) if you can get over the line when it really counts.

LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 19: Declan Rice of Arsenal looks dejected following the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Everton FC at Emirates Stadium on May 19, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Our boss is cerebral enough to know he works with a group who will only get better, is trusted by his employer and that Edu will support him in the market.

He wouldn’t have taken the job at the Emirates without thinking little steps at a time.

Yet any time you get that close it’s a missed opportunity.

Opponents from August will be more aware of our set piece routines, City and Liverpool will be aware of our defensive tactics next time we visit.

Like his players, like us fans …. Arteta deserves a summer off to refresh, but if we are having the same conversation this time next year, then what?

How long does a Saliba wait?

Remember a young Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie ran out of patience.

It’s not as simple as because we challenged this year we challenge again next year.

In his own words, Arteta has to find a way to raise the level even higher.

The question is, who motivates the motivator?

Dan Smith

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