From Criticism to Champions: How Mikel Arteta Built Arsenal’s Title Winners

Arteta outduels mentor Guardiola as Arsenal clinch Premier League crown

Twenty-two years after the Invincibles, Arsenal are Premier League champions once more, with Mikel Arteta delivering the club’s greatest season in modern history.

Mikel Arteta has beaten his former boss Pep Guardiola to the Premier League title, completing a transformation that began when he took charge of Arsenal in 2019...

Mikel Arteta has answered his critics by reviving Arsenal and bringing the club back to the summit of English football.

Two decades after Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles season, Arsenal have finally delivered the title, proving the long-term plan put in place when Arteta took over in 2019.

The club took a risk appointing their former captain six and a half years ago despite his lack of senior management experience.

That gamble paid off partly because Arteta had learned under one of the best. He spent years working alongside Pep Guardiola, who later became his main rival for the title.

When Guardiola joined Manchester City ten years ago, he turned to Arteta for insight into English football. The two already knew each other from their time together at Barcelona as players.

“As a player and as a coach, he's been an inspiration for me, and he's the person who decided to bet on me, to include me as a second coach,” Arteta said of Guardiola last year.

“I'll always be grateful to him, otherwise I wouldn't be here.”

Unlike many modern coaches, Arteta has not copied Guardiola’s blueprint to build the team that edged past his former boss for the title.

He never broke through at Barcelona as a player, but the experiences from his playing days shaped how he approaches management.

After short stints at Paris Saint-Germain and Rangers, Arteta found stability and purpose at Everton under David Moyes.

“I learned from him on the field and off the field about building a team and getting the right characters in the team to build what you want,” Arteta said of Moyes.

The current Arsenal team is built on a strong defensive base and has used set-pieces as a key weapon on the way to the title. That approach looks closer to Moyes’s methods than to Guardiola’s style of play.

A clear plan from day one 

When Arteta first met with Arsenal’s board, he laid out a five-phase strategy aimed at bringing the club back into contention in the Premier League and in Europe.

Reshaping the squad

He moved quickly to change the dressing room dynamic, letting go of seven players including big names like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil to build better harmony in the group.

Patience pays off

Winning the FA Cup just months into his tenure gave him breathing room, but it took another six years before he delivered more silverware.

In Arteta’s first full season, Arsenal ended up eighth, their lowest league finish in 25 years. They didn’t improve the following year, during the Covid-affected 2020/21 campaign.

The Arsenal. Your Premier League champions. pic.twitter.com/gNnfzesrhP

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 19, 2026

The next season they had a chance to return to the Champions League after years away, but a late slump saw them finish fifth and miss out.

Even after making clear progress with three straight second-place finishes, questions remained about whether Arteta could take Arsenal all the way to the title.

Arteta’s focus on building from the back drew criticism for being overly cautious, and his energetic touchline behavior has often put him on a tightrope with officials and fans.

Even this season, doubts resurfaced when Arsenal lost four straight domestic games in March and April. Those defeats ended their runs in the FA Cup and League Cup and let Manchester City back into the title race.

This time Arteta steadied the team and finished the season strongly. Arsenal beat Guardiola’s side and moved within reach of what could be the club’s best season yet.

This belongs to all of us. pic.twitter.com/7cUNDp2KR5

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 19, 2026

If they defeat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Budapest on May 30, Arsenal will win the European Cup for the first time.

“Sometimes when it is harder at the beginning then it is better so to see that transformation and the joy in the people,” Arteta said ahead of Arsenal’s final home game against Burnley.

“It's something that is beautiful to watch.”

After years of coming close, Arteta finally has the moment he’s earned.

Arsenal will mark their Premier League title win with a celebration against Crystal Palace on the last day of the season.