Phase 5 complete: How Mikel Arteta made Arsenal Premier League champions

Arsenal’s 22-year wait for a Premier League title is finally over. On Tuesday night, Mikel Arteta’s side were crowned champions after years of heartbreak, ridicule, near-misses and relentless pressure, completing one of the most dramatic rebuilds in modern English football.

What once looked like an impossible mission, restoring Arsenal to the summit after two decades spent in the shadow of rivals and state-backed superpowers has now become reality.

The significance of this triumph stretches far beyond the trophy itself. Arsenal did not buy instant success or stumble into contention, but instead completed a six-and-a-half-year reconstruction project led by a rookie manager who inherited a divided dressing room, a disconnected fanbase and a club drifting further away from elite European football every season.

Arteta survived public criticism, internal pressure, humiliating defeats and repeated accusations that he was “overthinking” or incapable of delivering silverware at the highest level before finally delivering Arsenal’s first Premier League title since 2004.

Now, Arsenal are not only Premier League champions, but also one match away from completing the greatest season in the club’s history. Victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final in Budapest on May 30 would secure Arsenal’s first European Cup and complete a remarkable double.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at how Mikel Arteta made Arsenal Premier League champions.

Phase one: Cleaning up the chaos

When Arteta arrived from Manchester City in December 2019, Arsenal were broken structurally, tactically and emotionally after losing their identity during the final years of Arsene Wenger and the failed Unai Emery era.

Expensive contracts had piled up, recruitment lacked coherence and standards inside the dressing room had deteriorated badly, with Arsenal finishing eighth in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, their worst league finishes in decades while rivals mocked the club’s decline.

Arteta’s first months were brutal, as Arsenal suffered embarrassing defeats to Burnley, Wolves and Aston Villa during the COVID-affected campaign before dropping to 15th in the table by December 2020, leading to genuine calls for him to be sacked.

The “Trust the Process” slogan became a meme among rival fanbases, while Arteta himself was mocked as a “cone man” because of his time working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Despite the criticism, Arsenal’s hierarchy refused to panic, with Stan and Josh Kroenke continuing to back Arteta publicly and financially even as fan protests intensified.

Arteta later revealed he had “100 per cent backing” from the ownership during the difficult early years because the problems at Arsenal were understood to run far deeper than formations or style of play.

During this phase, Arteta focused heavily on discipline and culture by moving on senior players who no longer fit his vision, including Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette and Shkodran Mustafi.

Arsenal reset their wage structure and dressing-room dynamics in a process that was painful and unpopular at times, but Arteta believed standards had to come before sentiment and insisted on his non-negotiables.

Phase two: Rebuilding the identity

Once the dressing-room culture began changing, Arsenal moved into the second phase of the rebuild by constructing a young and ambitious core capable of growing together.

Martin Odegaard, Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Thomas Partey became pillars of the new team, while Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe emerged as symbols of the club’s future.

Many of those signings faced heavy criticism initially, with Ramsdale mocked after suffering relegations with Bournemouth and Sheffield United, White’s transfer fee constantly questioned and Odegaard dismissed by some as a “Real Madrid reject.”

However, Arteta valued personality and mentality as much as talent as he looked to reshape Arsenal’s identity both on and off the pitch.

The Spaniard also rebuilt Arsenal emotionally by introducing unusual motivational techniques, including placing an olive tree at the training ground to symbolise resilience and roots, hiring speakers from outside football and even bringing in pickpockets to steal players’ phones during a public appearance.

At the same time, Arteta deliberately worked to reconnect supporters with the team and transform the Emirates atmosphere into one of the loudest in Europe after recognising how passive and disconnected the environment had become.

Still, setbacks continued, with Arsenal narrowly missing out on a top-four finish in 2021-22 following painful defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, prompting renewed accusations that Arteta lacked elite-level experience.

Rather than abandoning the project after those disappointments, however, the Kroenkes doubled down on their support for Arteta and continued backing the rebuild.

Phase three: Returning to the Champions League

The next stage of Arteta’s rebuild centred on restoring Arsenal to the Champions League after years outside Europe’s elite competition.

Arteta viewed qualification as essential for both the club’s financial growth and long-term credibility among the continent’s top sides.

Although Arsenal ultimately lost the Premier League title race to Manchester City in 2022-23, the season confirmed the team’s progress by returning them to the Champions League and proving they could compete with the strongest sides in England.

That disappointment also hardened the squad psychologically, as repeated near-misses became fuel for further improvement rather than causes of collapse.

The following seasons brought similar heartbreak, with Arsenal finishing second to Manchester City and Liverpool despite playing some of the best football in Europe.

Critics labelled them “bottlers,” while pundits questioned whether Arteta’s obsessive tactical control could ever deliver major trophies and rival supporters continued weaponising the phrase “trust the process” whenever decisive moments went against Arsenal.

As expectations increased, the pressure intensified because Arsenal were no longer viewed as a rebuilding side but as a team expected to win major honours.

Cup exits, damaging defeats in title races and tactical decisions that backfired all increased scrutiny on Arteta, particularly after losses to Southampton in the FA Cup and Manchester City in the League Cup final this season reignited criticism.

There were even reports suggesting Arteta’s future could come under review if Arsenal finished another campaign without silverware.

Instead of collapsing emotionally under that pressure, however, Arsenal became mentally tougher, with players who had suffered repeated disappointments learning how to handle decisive moments.

The team gradually evolved from exciting challengers into emotionally resilient contenders capable of coping with the demands of a title race.

Phase four: Building a winning machine

After years of painful lessons, Arsenal finally became a complete side as Arteta recognised that attractive football alone would not be enough to beat Manchester City across a 38-game season.

The club invested heavily to add greater physicality, control and ruthlessness to the squad, with David Raya replacing Ramsdale to bring calm leadership to the defence.

Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino added versatility and physicality, Declan Rice delivered leadership and midfield dominance, while Martin Zubimendi introduced composure and tactical intelligence.

Squad depth also improved dramatically after years in which injuries regularly destroyed Arsenal’s momentum, with Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Piero Hincapie, Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Norgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga all strengthening the side.

Under Nicolas Jover, Arsenal also became one of the most dangerous set-piece teams in Europe after scoring a record 18 goals from dead-ball situations during the title-winning campaign.

Defensively, Arsenal evolved into the league’s most complete side thanks to their aggressive pressing structure, compact organisation and ability to either dominate possession or grind out difficult victories when necessary.

This maturity separated Arteta’s Arsenal from previous teams that had often been criticised for being emotionally fragile or too soft in decisive moments.

Behind the scenes, Arteta’s methods also became increasingly sophisticated through psychological exercises, team-building activities and military-style motivational sessions designed to strengthen the squad’s mentality under pressure.

Even during difficult periods this season, including injuries to Odegaard, Saka, Merino, Havertz, Timber and White, Arsenal adapted without losing consistency.

Phase five: Delivering the ultimate reward

The final phase of Arteta’s project was always about winning major trophies, with the Arsenal manager repeatedly insisting the rebuild could only truly be judged once the club started lifting the biggest honours again.

That pressure became enormous after years of near-misses because anything less than silverware increasingly felt like failure.

Arsenal have now finally crossed the line, with this Premier League title serving as validation for everyone who remained committed during the darkest periods of the rebuild.

From the ownership group that resisted changing managers to the supporters who endured years of ridicule while continuing to trust the process, the title triumph rewarded those who stayed patient.

Josh Kroenke’s relationship with Arteta ultimately became one of the defining elements of Arsenal’s resurgence, with the Spaniard evolving into one of the most influential figures in the club’s modern history.

The faith shown by Arsenal’s owners was eventually rewarded with the club’s first Premier League title since 2004.

Now, Arsenal stand on the brink of history because victory over PSG in Budapest would elevate Arteta’s rebuild beyond simply ending a trophy drought.

It would place this Arsenal side among the greatest eras the club has ever experienced, with the process once mocked across football now returning Arsenal to the summit of English football and perhaps soon, to the summit of Europe as well.