On Arteta’s Arsenal and trophy pressure

The razzmatazz has commenced. The 2025-26 English Premier League season opened yesterday at Anfield Stadium, where the champions secured a hard-fought victory against an impressive Bournemouth Football Club. But all eyes are on the fixture of the week. Old Trafford is hosting Arsenal Football Club, and both teams, Man United and the Gunners, have had an arch-rivalry over the years.

Yet, there are a number of reasons that make this week’s encounter special. Both teams have delved (it is not AI) into the market to strengthen their squads. Man U, for instance, can boast of an entirely new attacking force after shelling out over 2007 million on them. On paper, they look unstoppable.

Arsenal, on the other hand, have done what has not been seen in many years. Arsene Wenger would have tagged bringing 6 players in a window as a revolution that would disrupt the rhythm of the team. But a lot has changed since the Wenger/Fergie rivalry era, where a thin squad could do the job.

Last season and Injuries

Arsenal suffered many injuries to key players last season, with Bukayo Saka, Havert, Gabriel, White, Jesus, and others out of the team for months. This negatively hamstrung the squad and impacted negatively on the quest for trophies. Arsenal were playing a holding midfielder in both quarter-finals and semi-finals of the Champions League. This, perhaps, is why Andrea Barter brought in six players to strengthen the squad, as the team remains active in the market to revamp its left wing depending on the outgoings in the squad.

Arteta’s Tactical Tweaks

It took Mikel the last match of his preseason tests to show a glimpse of his tactical intentions for the new season as the manager was too busy to experiment with different players, especially the new hires, to either bed them in or improve their physical aspect of the game. Yet it was against Bilbao that Arteta started with both Decalan Rice and Zubimendi in the team, while Vicktor Gyokeres led the attack. It became glaringly clear that Arteta would not use Zubimendi, the new brainbox of the team, in the way he played his predecessor, Thomas Partey. Arsenal switched to a double pivot to enable the two key midfielders to complement each other.

Zubimendi played like Ruquelmi in his prime. Rice also played deeper in order to allow Calafiori the freedom not only to overlap but occupy the areas that Rice used to as no 8. Both Martinelli and Saka were occupying more central positions during the match, against the permanent hugging of the lines as Martin Odegard played more freely.

Thus, the most interesting part is the evidence that Arteta was willing to make some compromises on his obsession with total control. Arsenal are playing more vertically to adapt to Gyokeres’ style, who plays on defenders’ shoulders and tries to drift to both wings with emphasis on the left wing. This is likely to bring the best out of Martinelli, who can occupy the space in the central attacking areas that Gyokeres’ movements create. Arsenal are becoming less predictable.

The question remains about onArteta’s squad management

Arteta has done a marvellous job with Arsenal so far, but one area of his game that has been questioned is his squad management. Arteta, perhaps, due to a lack of trust in other players, has not been very efficient with the rotation of his first 11, resulting in long-term muscle injuries. The coach had defended that charge in the past, but with the kind of quality in the squad now, he has no hiding place anymore. For the time in the team’s recent history, Arsenal can boast of two very good players in every position. The players may not be like-for-like in terms of qualities, but the team is likely to benefit even more from that, as that will enable Arsenal to play differently in different matches.

Max Dowman’s breakthrough

If there was anything that stood out during Arsenal’s pre-season match, it was the excitement of seeing a 15-year-old Dowman winning difficult matches for Arsenal. It was a thing of joy that Arsenal unearthed a polished diamond in the young player. If managed well, Arsenal have a future Ballon d’Or-level player who is going to win trophies for the team.

Trophy demands

After all is said and done, the question on every fan’s lips is, will Arsenal give us a major trophy this season? Yes, with a little luck, Arsenal can do the job. But the opposition is stronger this year than ever, as all the competing rivals have improved their squads significantly, promising a huge season for us. Bring it on.

Musa wrote in from Abuja