‘Trust the Process’: A Story of Lost Players, Heartbreak and Finally Premier League Victory

The 27th of February 2020. Only the most diehard Arsenal fans will remember that date; it was, after all, a game we have all tried to forget. Arteta had only joined the club two months earlier, and I remember boarding the train to the Emirates that night still enthralled by his words of a process, of building a culture, a team capable of winning the Premier League. Whilst Arsenal’s league form had ruled out any immediate domestic league success, the Europa League offered a great opportunity for Arteta to make a statement in his first managerial role since leaving his mentor, Pep Guardiola.

In the 119th minute, a loose ball broke into the Arsenal box and Youssef El Arabi found a way past Leno. As the Olympiakos fans streamed onto the pitch, ecstasy etched across their faces, I remember feeling this sense of dread. This impending feeling that nothing would change, the problems that plagued Emery and Wenger’s latter years would continue to persist. Arteta represented a fresh face, new words of motivation, but no real change. Arsenal’s FA Cup win a few months later, doing little more than papering over cracks on a wall about to collapse.

And it almost did collapse. Next season, Arsenal finished 8th again. The season after a run of three straight losses, one of which against newly promoted Brentford, saw Arsenal go into the game against Norwich bottom of the league. It was not a convincing performance, but an Aubameyang strike in the 67th minute probably saved Arteta’s job.
Slowly, Arsenal began to progress, and Arteta began to make his mark. The first casualties were Guendouzi and Aubameyang, both ostracised from the squad for disciplinary reasons. Arsenal recovered to a fifth-place finish, altogether a disappointing end considering they were fourth with three games to go.

‘Fans labelled Arsenal ‘bottlers’, pundits questioned whether Arteta was the man to take Arsenal back into the Champions League’

It would have been easy in the managerial merry-go-round that is the Premier League for the Kroenkes to abandon the project. They didn’t. They invested and over the next three seasons, Arteta built up the team he had envisioned six long years ago. Rice became a stalwart in that Arsenal midfield, and Timber added a defensive dimension to Arsenal that had always seemed to lack under Ben White. Three consecutive second-place finishes hurt Arsenal and Champions League heartbreak against PSG in the semi-finals again called into question whether Arteta was the right man for Arsenal. The ‘Bottler’ tag seemed to be something that he just could not escape.
The 2025/26 season began with an important, albeit unconvincing, 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Game week three was to be Arsenal’s first defeat as an outlandish free kick from Szoboszlai nestled in the top corner past a despairing Raya. Defeat against title rivals Liverpool did little to scupper Arsenal’s form as they went the entirety of October, only conceding one shot on target. Arsenal continued their rich vein of form as other teams started to collapse around them. Liverpool’s Arne Slot side struggled to find the consistency that had seen them win the Premier League the year before, and Manchester City were off the pace.

A goal from 15-year-old Max Dowman against Everton, effortlessly shrugging off the challenges of two defenders before sliding the ball into an empty net, put Arsenal nine points clear going into the crunch time of the season’. A late Alex Scott goal for Bournemouth to take all three points at the Emirates, a few weeks later, dampened the mood within the Arsenal camp, however, as the impending form of Manchester City appeared in their rear-view mirror. 3 points behind with a title-defining encounter at the Etihad to play. In the 16th minute, Rayan Cherki picked up the ball on the edge of the Arsenal box and performed his trademark dribble, jinking between lunging Arsenal legs before poking it past Raya. Two minutes later, a rare error from Donnarumma gifted Arsenal an equaliser. It was to be a tight affair, cagey with few chances between the two teams, but Haaland would break the deadlock. This time, Arsenal could not find a response, although Havertz did come close again just before full-time. Suddenly, for the first time this season, it was advantage City in the title race.

The last five games of the season can be characterised by moments, times when the title could have swung either way. Doku’s late strike against Everton to steal a point could have been one. The overturning of Callum Wilson’s goal in stoppage time against Arsenal certainly was. In the end, however, it was a resilient Bournemouth who won the title for Arsenal. Ironic considering it was so nearly a Bournemouth side that cost them it.

‘A 1-1 draw to Manchester City saw Arsenal win the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years’

Cue pandemonium on the streets of North London. Fans rushed to the Emirates to celebrate. The dark skies were lit with red flares, smoke billowing and a chorus of chants, car horns and music filled the air.

Just five days later, as the season drew to a close, the Premier League trophy was wreathed in red and white. As the players took centre stage at Selhurst Park, Odegaard lifted what Arteta, the Kroenke’s, the Hale End boys and the fans had been dreaming of ever since Arteta had begun his project those 7 long years ago.