Arsenal Can Be Proud & Take Next Steps Despite Failed Title Bid

• Brighton End Gunner’s Title Hopes, But Arteta’s Men Have Grown Greatly.

A year ago, I certainly didn’t think I would be writing about Arsenal letting the Premier League title slip from their grasp right at the end of the season.

That was how much we all thought they needed to improve in order to compete with the likes of City and Liverpool just 12 months back, but here we are.

Brighton bounced back from their shocking 5-1 defeat against Everton to end the Gunners title hopes in front of Arsenal fans who haven’t celebrated a league title in over 19 years, it was heartbreaking.

However, if we look beyond their last match, recent form, and naivety in the last month, and analyse their season as a whole, they have grown massively compared to 12 months ago.

Arsenal qualified for the Champions League for the first time in 6 years without even realizing it. What would have been the target for the season became an achievement overshadowed, understandably, by disappointment, but that is still growth.

The Next Step For Arsenal

The next step for Arteta is to realize that some of the experience that his team needs to be mentality monsters like their title rivals this season has to be bought/brought in.

Arsenal need to go into the market looking to sign high quality leaders that know what it takes to win in difficult situations. 2–2 draws against West Ham and Liverpool, losing away to relegation threatened Everton, and dropping two points at home against Southampton could have been avoided.

We wrote about the last stretch of the season (after the March international break) being the most dangerous for the young squad. Inexperienced Arsenal players proved that theory right with series of stupid mistakes in high-pressure situations, including one yesterday against Brighton.

It is nice to invest in young exciting players, but to become a team that wins the big trophies you need to blend youth with matured, quality and experienced heads who are able to keep their cool when the stakes are high.