Arsenal are the exception in a Premier League landscape dominated by uncertainty and transition. It might be premature to speak about the Gunners in dynastic terms on the back of their first league title of the Arteta era – but the club has a genuine opportunity to capitalise on the chaos surrounding their closest rivals.
It’s worth defining what we mean by a dynasty, because this clearly goes beyond being a perennial contender – something Arsenal have already achieved. What we are concerned with is a team that can evolve without losing its identity, replace important players before decline sets in, and keep winning consistently once the original project has become familiar to its rivals. Mikel Arteta’s new contract is something of a watershed moment in Arsenal’s development – can he emulate Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester City under Pep Guardiola (minus City’s reported financial wrongdoing) and Arsenal under Arsène Wenger in delivering sustained success?
Winning a league title is a considerable achievement, but doing so across multiple squad iterations and many years is a completely different proposition – and one that Arsenal fans will see as the next step in the club’s progression. What do Arsenal need to become an institution of dominance?
Mikel Arteta applauds the fans at the Emirates Stadium in London, England. (Photo by Katie Chan/Action Plus/Icon Sportswire)
First, it is worth briefly covering how Arsenal got to this point. Mikel Arteta has transformed a club once mired in uncertainty, and at times ridicule, into one whose ambitions are measured against the highest level. Arteta still produces ‘meme-worthy’ motivational content, but the psychological shift at the club has been genuinely transformational, coupled with a clearer footballing identity and a renewed emphasis on strategic recruitment. The first phase for Arteta was about creating a team capable of winning; the next is about creating a structure that can keep winning.
Arsenal don’t operate in isolation, and the chaos surrounding them, at least domestically, is the perfect platform to establish their dominance. Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are all going through painful rebuilds and transitions that are unlikely to produce the consistency needed to challenge for the title any time soon. Their closest challengers, Manchester City, are embroiled in the largest financial scandal to hit English football, and even if sanctions are delayed, they are still likely to be affected on the pitch this season.
The stability achieved at Arsenal was typified by a summer transfer window that favoured a refresh over seismic change. Fans might well have been frustrated by a perceived lack of ambition, but the lack of business was a testament to Arsenal’s strength compared with the desperation and shortcomings of some of their rivals – most notably their North London neighbours Spurs.
But the approach to the transfer market is still critical to sustained success. Sir Alex Ferguson often spoke about the need to constantly refresh his squad to prevent complacency and any regression in standards. As he told the Harvard Business Review in 2013, “the cycle of a successful team lasts maybe four years”, after which change is needed – which is why he planned his squads three or four years ahead. The key, though, is doing this without losing coherence or identity.
Arsenal will now carry the weight of expectation – from fans, the media and their own players. A challenger can frame a season around progress, but once you are champions, anything short of winning represents a step backwards. This weighs especially heavily in the face of setbacks, of which there will always be many – Arsenal’s recent loss to Brighton is the first of a long season. There is also pressure, both internal and external, to keep developing the style of play. Arsenal won the league serving up what we will kindly describe as pragmatic, title-winning football – but as defending champions there is a push to enhance the style side of their game. These pressures all work against a club trying to build a dynasty.
Success for the club would centre on winning multiple league titles over a sustained period, coupled with regular involvement in the latter stages of European competition. They would need to transition between generations of players without losing their footballing identity. And perhaps the area where they could eclipse other clubs is in sustaining that success through managerial or structural change.
One title has validated the project. Sustained success would transform Arsenal’s place in the modern history of English football.
Arsenal have demonstrated that they can reconstruct a contender. The more difficult task is proving that their progress is not dependent on one exceptional cycle of players, one manager or one particular competitive moment.
A dynasty is only recognisable in retrospect. It is built through repeated adaptation, difficult decisions and the ability to remain successful after the original formula has stopped being new.
Arsenal have spent years trying to become a team capable of winning the Premier League again. Their next challenge is considerably more ambitious: becoming a club for whom winning it is no longer an event, but an expectation.
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