Arsenal’s concern is understandable. The club has not won the title since 2004, but this season was expected to be theirs.
If Liverpool, the reigning champion, monopolized the headlines by spending 450 million pounds during the summer transfer window, Arsenal actually recorded the biggest net expenditure and had, according to general opinion, the deepest talent pool in England.
Theo Walcott even wondered if Manchester United, champions of England and Europe in 2008, could “compete” with Arteta’s squad, while Piers Morgan assured that Arsenal were capable of the quadruple, having according to him “the best team in the history of world football”.
Exaggerated comments, certainly, but symptomatic of the media hype that accompanied the Gunners, expected not only at the end of a long title drought, but also in the annals of the game. An investment of more than a billion pounds sterling in transfers since the arrival of Arteta made, by all accounts, a major success imperative.
As legendary full-back Nigel Winterburn pointed out hasGOAL in November: “I don’t think Arteta and the club had anything to make excuses for. If you look at the last three seasons without complacency, we just haven’t been good enough.
But I think this is the strongest squad Arsenal have ever had at the Emirates, in terms of depth. The players we have signed this season give me great confidence that we will be very, very difficult to beat. »
That was true, at least until a month ago. Before March 22, Arsenal had only conceded three defeats in 49 matches in all competitions. From ? Four losses in six games – and it’s not so surprising that the collapse began with a 2-0 infliction by City at Wembley.
The Carabao Cup final offered Arteta’s team the opportunity to win their first trophy since the 2019 FA Cup and, above all, to send a strong signal to a team which had overtaken them twice in the final straight of the championship. Instead the Gunners were dominated from start to finish, which inevitably raises questions about the level of the coach and the mentality of his squad.
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