For 120 minutes, Arsenal were on the brink of being crowned champions of Europe. Five penalties later, they were left with nothing but what-ifs.
It’s been almost exactly 48 hours since the Champions League final, where Paris Saint-Germain were successful in defending their title as European champions after deciding it on penalties against Arsenal. There’s been lots of talk about the game itself and the implications of what it means for Mikel Arteta’s side. What could they have done differently? Is the season a failure? What comes next?
I think now is an appropriate time to have everything digested from the weekend and tackle these questions that plague the squad.
First, the final. I wasn’t surprised by how it went. Nor should anyone be. This Arsenal side had just come off the back of winning their first Premier League title in 22 years. That definitely gave them a much-deserved boost in terms of pressure, as now they had their domestic campaign wrapped up. It translated to what we saw on the pitch. For a side that hadn’t lost in the Champions League all season, while only conceding six goals, there was a clear path into how Arteta was going to approach this.
Catch PSG on the counter. Arsenal are one of the very few teams in Europe that could defend the way they did for an entire match. PSG, with their suffocating press, knew what kind of gamble they were taking with it. The low block is something that made things impossible to decipher, and in just 5 minutes, all it took was for Arsenal to break those lines, PSG to slip up, and for Havertz to capitalize on the counter to put them ahead.
Fast forward to penalties, and it’s one of those things that can’t be taught. You either know how to take them or not. Practice them all you want; the pressure you feel when walking to the spot, staring the keeper down with the world’s eyes on you, is something that can never be replicated.
Gabriel Maghaeles faced that reality, which, in hindsight, is questionable as to why a centerback who’s never taken a penalty for the club is the one deciding its fate in arguably the biggest game in their history. Valiant to volunteer as the fifth taker, but questionable. What can’t be questioned, though, is how undeserving he is of this finale. The Brazilian international has been colossal to this project, blossoming into one of the very best centre-backs in the world alongside his partner William Saliba, and hopefully it hasn’t stained the ongoing legacy that he’s leaving at the club.
Now, the second question: Has this season been a failure?
I find this one a bit puzzling to wrap my head around, because of the weight the Premier League title holds in the eyes of Arsenal and its supporters. Now, we can acknowledge the fact that at one point in the season, there were talks about a QUADRUPLE being in the realm of possibility. But in a matter of weeks, it was all hindered. Knocked out of the FA Cup in the quarter-finals by Southampton. Losing the Carabao Cup final to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, who have been the ones they’ve been trying to catch for years now. Dropping points in the Premier League as they approached the run-in. Champions League knockout stages and the accumulation of matches kept getting stacked. It all led to doubts about whether this Arsenal side could leave the season with any kind of silverware.
So the fact that, after coming second for the past couple of seasons, they had finally gotten over the hump and crossed that line that led to them being champions of England over Guardiola- that’s massive. It’s not just a title. It’s a testament and an embodiment of perseverance and a reminder of where the project stands. This side finally had a champion’s mentality, one that was missing in previous Arsenal sides that had come so close to achieving glory.
Obviously, it would’ve been monumental to have been crowned European champions as well, and I’m not suggesting it’s something to brush off, but in terms of taking a step back and really asking if this season had been a ‘failure’? No. It’s not.
This leads to the last and possibly the most important question that Arteta has to face. What next?
This has a lot of layers to it. Quite obviously, you go again in the league. They are now the ones being hunted as opposed to the ones that are hunting, and that plays into things. But to achieve success in the Champions League alongside the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, they’ll need to invest handsomely in the squad again to have the proper depth to rotate between all competitions. Get another striker. The Viktor Gyokeres signing was a good one, as with 21 goals across all competitions, he became the third player in club history to break the 20-goal mark in his first season in the Premier League era, but they need more up top. They need a different kind of profile from the one he provides. More of a link-up specialist who’s technically gifted.
The left-hand side is definitely the most crucial one. It’s been something that millions of Arsenal fans have been crying out for. To keep it simple, you cannot have an aging Leoandro Trossard being your starting left winger in a Champions League final. Yes, he’s produced some massive moments like the West Ham goal, but this side has raised the floor massively since he’s come in, and this project has surpassed him. Now Gabriel Martinelli. Worthy of keeping, but with bigger aspirations, you need more than someone who provided one goal in the entire Premier League campaign. Sure, it was arguably the biggest one, as it was the one that defeated Manchester City early on in the season, but need more output. Both tidy players have played their part to get to where things are, but it’s time for something bigger.
I had found a tweet from an Arsenal account that had perfectly answered the question of what’s to come for them. They had talked about how, after losing the 2006 Champions League final to FC Barcelona, there were a lot of doubts and questions regarding where things were going. Thierry Henry, arguably the best player that has ever worn the Arsenal colors, was moving on. There was a transition into the Post-Highbury era with the Emirates Stadium being ready to go. Lots of uncertainty.
But then, they mentioned the feeling after Saturday’s final. There wasn’t any of that. It was quite the opposite. There were no questions as to where this squad could go, because they proved they could do massive things. They were a penalty shootout away from doing something no Arsenal side has ever done. This season was the statement that the Gunners have well and fully arrived.
Stability. Culture. Hierarchy. This is what Arteta has built with this Arsenal side, and the Premier League title is a clear indicator of what’s to come for this club. Titles, titles, and even more titles.