Arsenal: Perennial Bridesmaids or just Committed to the Bit? | OneFootball

What on earth is going on with Arsenal at the moment?

Keeping up with Manchester City is arguably one of the most difficult things to do in soccer right now, along with winning a league title and building a dynasty.

Few things, however, match the difficulty of sustaining a long-term commitment to finishing second. On that note, Arsenal are operating at a whole new level.

Perennial Bridesmaid tag has haunted Arsenal for years

How does it get to this point? Is it simply scar tissue from so many previous failures building up over the years?

Indeed, Arsene Wenger’s final few seasons may have seen three FA Cup triumphs, yet they failed to win a Premier League trophy. Between 2004/05 and 2017/18, Arsenal finished second once.

Through that stretch, It appeared that finishing fourth was Arsenal’s claim to fame. Failing to spend as much as Chelsea or Man City meant a spot in the Champions League was deemed good enough for the club.

Is this now affecting Mikel Arteta? He did play under Wenger after all…

Arsenal have started each of the previous four Premier League seasons in impressive fashion, leading the division for large stretches.

The 2022/23 campaign was their first proper title challenge in years, and the first for the new manager, so you could forgive Arteta for succumbing to a resurgent City.

But the following season, the same thing happens. By 2024/25, it isn’t even funny anymore (well, it is to everyone that isn’t an Arsenal fan). It certainly appears the Gunners have formed an identity built around bottling league titles.

It looked as though things would be different this season. Arsenal started like a runaway train, losing just twice in the league before the end of January.

Then things start to slip, again. That loss to Manchester City in the EFL Cup final back on March 22 might turn out to be the catalyst in yet another botched job by the Gunners.

Their 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth last week offered City a glimmer of hope in the title race, which they took full advantage on Sunday. Hosting Arsenal at the Etihad, they condemned Arsenal to yet another defeat and halving the Gunners’ lead to three points.

Bottling or simply not good enough?

Is it fair to call it bottling, or have Arsenal simply not been good enough when the pressure is on?

Of those in the squad facing City last weekend, that had one rostered player who had won a league title in his career: Gabriel Jesus.

Coincidentally, that was with City, but until Arsenal get over the line, they will continue to be labelled as a team that struggles with the weight of expectation.

Perhaps this is too harsh, I mean, Pep Guardiola has built one of the finest dynasties in English football since taking over in 2016.

Liverpool reached 97, 99 and 92 points in three seasons between 2018/19 and 2021/22, yet could only lift one league title.

Arsenal are facing the same sort of outcome, and they haven’t even managed to get over the line as of yet.

One thing is for certain: the consistency to finish second is impressive. Will that change over the next few weeks, or will Arsenal continue to be the best of the rest as City dominate once again?