The Nearly Men of North London: Why Arsenal's Title Dreams Keep Slipping Away
by Chike Nwoye
28 Feb 2025
Arsenal’s Wednesday draw at Nottingham Forest (and Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Newcastle) all but sealed the coffin on the Gunners’ Premier League dreams. It’s now 21 years since they famously went an entire season unbeaten to claim the 2003/04 title, and if you had told me back then that North London’s finest would go two decades without another Premier League crown, I’d have dragged you straight to the nearest MFM for deliverance. Yet, here we are. But it’s not just the absence of the league title that stings—Arsenal are staring down the barrel of a fifth consecutive trophyless season (unless they somehow win the Champions League).
So, where did it all go wrong for Mikel Arteta and his side? Let’s break down why.
If Arsenal fans got a pound every time their season fell apart because of injuries and fatigue, they’d have enough to sign both Kylian Mbappé and Viktor Gyökeres this summer. Once again, a lack of depth in key areas has come back to bite them.
November saw Ben White undergo knee surgery that would keep him out for three months while club captain Martin Ødegaard missed 12 games with an ankle injury. Just as Ødegaard returned, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Martinelli all dropped like flies in quick succession.
While losing four key attackers is extreme bad luck, Arsenal only have themselves to blame for not fixing the issue when they had the chance.
Both Jesus and Saka went down while the January window was still open, yet the club decided not to act.
A day after their FA Cup loss to 10-man Manchester United (12th January), news leaked that Arsenal had secured the signing of Martín Zubimendi with the club hoping this would quiet the fans. Sounds good—except he’s a midfielder (a position they already have covered… for now) and he wouldn’t arrive until July.
So, honestly, were the fans meant to throw a parade for the owners? What about the “now”?
NBA- EPL Parallels
Basketball and football may be worlds apart, but Arsenal could still learn a thing or two from how the Golden State Warriors handled their season.
The Warriors have been one of the best NBA teams for the past decade, and with Steph Curry—one of the greatest players in the history of basketball —they’re always a threat. But after a rough end to the 2024 calendar year, it was clear they couldn’t just sit back and hope for Curry to save the day.
Instead, they got proactive before the trade deadline and brought in superstar forward Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat.
That move might have just revived their season. Since Butler’s arrival, the Warriors have won 6 of their last 7 games, and Curry is back to doing what he does best - dominating. I mean, that brother just dropped 56 points on the Orlando Magic on Thursday night. Sheesh! Anyway, the Jimmy Butler trade doesn’t guarantee a championship, but it definitely gives them a better shot at one, and that's all you can ask of the senior leadership of any sports club.
Back to football, if history tells us anything, it’s that you need a deep, quality squad to conquer England. Obviously, there is the exception to the rule, which is Leicester City in 2016, but look at other EPL past winners… look at Manchester City, who won 4 straight titles with a squad full of world-class talent. Even in a down season, they spent over £200m in January to stay competitive.
The message couldn’t be clearer: a marathon season needs a marathon squad and Arsenal are still running a sprint team.
The Shadow of History
Arsenal aren’t just battling opponents—they’re battling ghosts. Twenty-one years without a Premier League title lingers like a shadow, and every slip-up - which usually comes in the second half of the season, feels like déjà vu. At some point, the tag “Bottlers” and “Chokers” will stick.
Meanwhile, serial winners like City, Real Madrid, Bayern, Liverpool, and PSG play with an air of inevitability.
Arsenal? They play with the weight of expectation and the fear of falling short. Until they shed that mental baggage, even the most gifted squads will struggle to cross the finish line.
An Unwelcome Trifecta of 2nd-placed Finishes
Now, with a third straight second-place league finish looking inevitable, it’s easy to assume Arsenal are bound to win the league soon. But here’s the thing—it’s never that simple. Just ask AS Roma.
Between 2005/06 and 2009/10, Roma finished second in Serie A four times, twice missing the title by just three points. Despite consistently knocking on the door, they never broke through. Then they retooled and came back stronger.
From 2013/14 to 2017/18, they stayed in the top three for five straight seasons—including three runner-up finishes and a Champions League semi-final appearance—yet the Scudetto remained out of reach.
That failure to take the ultimate step saw stars like Mo Salah, Alisson Becker and Edin Dzeko come and go, and now it’s been 24 years since they last won the league.
Lessons From A Neighbouring Foe
The same story applies to Arsenal’s fiercest rivals, Spurs. Under Mauricio Pochettino, they became genuine contenders, finishing in the top three for three consecutive seasons and even reaching a Champions League final. But silverware? Nowhere to be found. The lesson here is clear—just because Arsenal are close doesn’t mean a title is inevitable.
So, the real question is: how do they finally get over the line?
"Strike While The Iron Is Hot"
Let's do a quick metalwork lesson: When a blacksmith heats iron in a forge, it’s easiest to shape while it’s still red-hot. Wait too long, and it hardens—missing the window to mold it. In other words, you’ve got to “strike while the iron is hot.”
Right now, there’s no denying Arsenal are sizzling. Mikel Arteta has taken them from being Europa League guys to genuine league contenders and UCL regulars. But there’s still work to be done before key players question the project. Last summer’s £100m splash on Declan Rice was a bold statement of intent, but oddly, there hasn’t been a follow-up.
Their defense, arguably the best in England and maybe Europe, has been rock solid for three seasons now, with David Raya’s chances of winning the EPL Golden Glove looking like sure odds for members of our online betting community, but questions linger about other positions.
The one thing Arsenal have not lacked in recent decades has been world-class finishers. Ian Wright, Anelka, Henry, RVP, Adebayor, and Aubameyang collectively tormented opposition defenses for the best part of two decades. But now, that’s the one glaring exclusion from Mikel Arteta’s squad building.
After two successive 2nd-placed finishes to Manchester City, the Arsenal manager failed to get in a 20-30 goal striker and an understudy for his starting forwards. The aftermath has been bleak: Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are out for the season, while Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have both missed significant portions of the season and are both out injured
With Eddie Nketiah and rising star Chido Obi-Martin leaving in the summer transfer window, everyone expected Arsenal to go big for a striker—but nothing happened. How long until doubts about the club's ambition start to creep into the squad especially with lethal finishers like Viktor Gyökeres, Benjamin Sesko and Alexander Isak available?
A Familiar Lurking Presence
And let’s not pretend Real Madrid aren’t lurking. The final jewel in Florentino Perez's latest Galacticos project is a star center-back to lead their defense, and rumor has it William Saliba is on Real Madrid's radar.
We all know how hard it is to resist that iconic white jersey—just ask Manchester United fans who watched Cristiano Ronaldo leave for Madrid in 2009, even after winning the Champions League and Ballon d’Or while in England. Or ask PSG fans who saw Kylian Mbappé walk away for free, despite the President of France and Emir of Qatar personally urging him to stay in Paris.
If Arsenal want to keep players like Saliba and Bukayo Saka locked in, they need to make it worth their while. And what better way to show ambition than by striking while the iron is hot—starting with signing a top-class striker?
So, in summary…
Can Arsenal Break the Curse?
The good news? They’re close—painfully close. With a young, talented core led by Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, and Martin Ødegaard, the future looks promising. But promise alone doesn’t win titles.
If Arsenal want to get their hands on the Premier League trophy, they need to:
Strengthen the squad: Depth matters—quality backups in every position, most notably in attack, are non-negotiable.
Develop a ruthless edge in crunch time: No more stumbles when the pressure’s on during the second half of the season.
Own the moment: Champions don’t run from history—they make it.
Tick those boxes, and the next 21 years could tell a very different story. But hey, the season isn’t over yet—there’s still a Champions League fixture with PSV on the horizon. One of our betting tips is to back the Gunners to qualify for the quarter-finals ahead of the Dutch side. Pulling that off could inject some much-needed life into what’s been a relatively underwhelming season for the North Londoners.
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