Mikel Arteta has spent six and a half years exploring every possible incremental gain to end Arsenal's 22-year wait for the Premier League title. Here is how he did it
Mikel Arteta, head coach of Arsenal
Mikel Arteta has masterminded Arsenal's title win(Image: James Gill/Getty Images)
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Mikel Arteta had to make a change. After three years of frustration of finishing as runners-up, Arsenal were fed-up of falling short. Second again ole-ole, as rival fans kept taunting them.
The Arsenal boss was determined to come out on top this season - and stay there. Arteta’s ambition and the club’s ambition is to seize this opportunity as a period of domination. And people who know Arteta best insist that he will barely allow himself time to celebrate now because he is already focused on what he can do better next season.
So, what changed last summer? There were two big obvious changes quite apart from Arteta’s extraordinary eye for small details and improvements behind the scenes. Andrea Berta, the club’s sporting director, was already in place but this was his summer. Arsenal spent big, increased the squad depth and, biggest of all, they signed a big-name striker in Viktor Gyokeres.
Then in came a new No2 in Gabriel Heinze. Arteta knew the ex-Manchester United and Argentina defender from their time together at Paris Saint-Germain. Heinze is fierce, a pit bull and highly demanding. At times this season, there have been some concerns in the dressing room that Arteta is intense enough without having someone just as intense alongside him. Arteta’s other trusted coach Albert Stuivenberg is very demanding, too.
But, ultimately, you are judged on what you achieve over the course of the season. And finishing as champions for the first time in 22 years is the ultimate vindication.
However, it would be wrong to suggest that it has all been plain sailing. Football rarely is. The number of games - 61 and counting - has been tough, the training schedule unrelenting and the endless team meetings and also hours of work on set-pieces. It has been exhausting.
It was noticeable that, amid all the celebrations at Arsenal’s training ground on Tuesday night, there was no Arteta. The manager had gone home to be with his family but also to allow the players to savour their moment together.
Players jumped in the swimming pool - and set-piece coach Nico Jover was among those who were pushed in. The coach who had masterminded 24 set-piece goals this season and made Arsenal the best in the business has been on at them all season. It was all good fun.
Arsenal fans celebrate their team winning the English Premier League,
Arsenal fans descended on the Emirates Stadium to celebrate on Tuesday night(Image: Brook Mitchell / AFP via Getty Images)
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Berta was the one who really championed Gyokeres, told the scouting and recruitment team to ignore the data and leg work which had been done on Benjamin Sesko because they should sign the Sweden striker for £64million from Sporting Lisbon.
Noni Madueke was another big signing for £52m. Arsenal had looked at him before, liked him before he went to Chelsea and saw him as a player with pace and movement to unlock opponents with low blocks.
Eberechi Eze was another key signing. But Eze is a great example that unless you play by Arteta’s rules - you don’t play. He had a brilliant autumn, scored a hat trick against Tottenham, was brilliant against Bayern Munich and then got dropped for not tracking a runner at Aston Villa.
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It is so unfair to just cast Arsenal as a dull, set-piece team who do not play football. They have saved their best performances for the Champions League - like against Bayern - and have looked free from pressure.
That pressure so nearly caught up with Arsenal - and could have destroyed them. Arteta’s reaction to defeats has been on occasion to work harder, train harder and become even more intense.
The players were feeling the strain. They needed a reset after losing the Carabao Cup final. That was a low moment, they had lost to title rivals Manchester City at Wembley and suddenly the doubts were creeping in. It got even worse after Arsenal lost at City last month. The title was slipping away. Declan Rice was filmed on the pitch defiantly insisting: “It’s not done.”
Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhaes, Gbariel Martinelli, Piero Hincapie and Gabriel Jesus celebrate the Bournemouth goal
The players gathered to watch Bournemouth vs Manchester City on Tuesday(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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In the dressing room afterwards, it could have been flat. Instead, it was defiant. They were determined to go again. Rice spoke up, Bukayo Saka is a leader and Martin Odegaard, though his actions on the pitch speak louder than his words, talked about never giving up.
Tellingly, Arteta gave the players two days off. They needed a rest - both mentally and physically. Arteta’s mindset is to always try different things, different ideas and different training. Sometimes you just need a rest.
Arteta’s infamous “fire” press conference - ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg tie with Sporting Lisbon - followed a bizarre meeting with the players around a hastily built fire when the players were invited to write down their fears and then burn them.
Another idea was for them to join up by a rope, clamber into a stream by the edge of the training ground and support each other. That was abandoned on safety grounds. Imagine if someone turned their ankle…
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 18: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, waves to the fans after the team's victory in the Premier League match between Arsenal and Burnley at Emirates Stadium on May 18, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Mikel Arteta has won his first Premier League title as a manager (Image: Stuart MacFarlane, Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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Arteta had inherited a toxicity at the club when he took over in 2019. It was actually the atmosphere at the training ground which did for Unai Emery. The club hierarchy feared the mood at London Colney meant results were never going to improve. Senior players were shipped out, Arteta favoured younger, hungrier players and also values the importance of the fans. He is obsessed with atmosphere.
He comes up with ideas, loves the “tifo” banners and it was the manager who helped make the “soundtrack to the season”, an AI generated song which belts out the names of all the players. Arteta worked on it on his laptop in his office. Anything to make a difference.
Arteta is driven. He is obsessed with winning and single-minded. The club would love to tie him down to a new deal and the expectation is that he will put pen to paper.
The only time he has ever come remotely close to leaving was back in 2023 after Arsenal just missed out on the title the first time. He admitted publicly he questioned his future at the club. Paris Saint-Germain were interested before they took Luis Enrique.
That is how hard Arteta pushes himself. He could not stand to be regarded as a failure. That is why he knew he needed to change. And also why you can be sure he will keep evolving to reach the top.
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