Arteta's title defence mentality could help Arsenal defy history

No Arsenal manager has ever retained the Premier League title. Not Bertie Mee, not George Graham, not Arsene Wenger. Mikel Arteta is determined to be the first, and Sky Sports' Adam Bate argues the psychology behind that pursuit could be exactly what helps the Gunners defy the odds this season.

Arsenal ended a 22 year wait for the league title last season, a moment of catharsis for Arteta and everyone at the club. The challenge now, as Bate's analysis for Sky Sports explains, is to stop that triumph feeling like an ending.

The piece draws on basketball coaching legend Phil Jackson's book Eleven Rings, in which the 11 time NBA champion coach argues the season after winning a title is always the hardest. Jackson quotes former player Rick Fox comparing a championship to winning an Oscar: it defines who you are forever, but it also changes expectations in ways that can fracture team chemistry.

History as motivation

Arsenal's own history offers a built in incentive. The club's famous 1930s treble of titles came under three different managers, with Herbert Chapman's death leading to Joe Shaw taking charge as caretaker before George Allison won the third. No single Arsenal manager has ever retained the league crown, a fact Arteta is clearly aware of.

The Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, painful as it was, may have added fuel rather than finality. Declan Rice said after that defeat in Budapest: “We are going to use this moment to fuel us for the upcoming seasons, speaking to the players and the manager, there is no reason why we are stopping here. Next year, we are going to go even stronger and we are going to be ready again.”

Ten games into the Premier League season, Arsenal sit five points clear at the top of the table and are odds on to retain the title, while also sitting third and unbeaten in the Champions League standings. They currently hold the best defensive record in both competitions.

Shaping the narrative

Bate points to deliberate messaging from the club. The champions branding around the Emirates Stadium came down quickly, and the summer's two most expensive signings, Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa, were experienced players yet to win major honours themselves.

Arteta reinforced that framing when he signed a new four year contract extension in October, saying: “What is so exciting is that this is only the beginning of what we can achieve together.”

That comment drew a pointed response from Jose Mourinho, who said: “I saw something interesting that would not happen at Real Madrid. Mikel Arteta renewed his contract and said something like, 'We are still starting, this is just the beginning.' And he has been there for years.”

Mourinho's remark is notable given Arteta is already the longest serving manager in English football, with next month marking the seventh anniversary of his reign, three years longer than any other current Premier League boss.

Whether that sense of unfinished business can carry Arsenal through the physical and mental grind of a title defence will become clearer as the season progresses, but the early signs, and the manager's own words, suggest no one inside the club believes the job is done.