The sky should be the limit for Arsenal with the business Arteta has done this summer, the arrivals of Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice, and the other bonus signings tipped to join. In truth, I’m inclined to ask myself, “Why Can’t Arsenal Win The 2023-24 UCL?”
The Gunners have traditionally been formidable opponents. Their pursuit of European triumph in the UEFA Champions League has proved elusive. Regardless, there are several convincing reasons to believe that the current Arsenal club, led by Mikel Arteta, has what it takes to win the historic title on their much-awaited return after at least six years in the cold. Here’s why I don’t consider them going for the UCL next season to be an ambitious goal and why they can win it:
Squad Reinforcement and Tactical Evolution
As noted in recent weeks, the Gunners are looking to strengthen their team. And they’re doing a good job at it. With the signings completed (as mentioned above) and those said to be targeted in the coming weeks, Europe isn’t ready for Arsenal if they can be even better than they were last term.
Arteta’s Tactical growth
We haven’t seen the best of Arteta’s tactics. Why say so? Over the years, we’ve seen him evolve from a 4-2-3-1 formation to a 4-3-3, and who knows, we may see him play 3-4-3. Another hope for advancement in his tactics is the talk of him embracing squad rotation next season. Lest we forget, Arteta is yet to discover his ultimate team, and once he “finds it”, we may see his true colours.
It is impossible to stress how crucial a talented and seasoned manager is to achieving Champions League success. Arsenal are lucky to have a manager with an outstanding record and in-depth knowledge of the league. He is well-suited to lead the Gunners over the challenges of the Champions League with his tactical mastery.
European Experience
Jorginho and Havertz have won the Champions League; Rice has recently won the Europa Conference League; and Timber, Zinchenko, and Jesus have all performed admirably in European competitions when they played in them. Some of these players will provide much-needed inspiration for the Gunners to know how to succeed in the UCL. That could come in handy if they try to win it next term.
There’s always a first time for something, and if Liverpool in 2019 and Chelsea in 2021 won the UCL when they weren’t at their Ultimate best, why can’t Arsenal do so at their best?
Daniel O
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Because we are not good enough ?
Optimism is really good but reality should set in afterwards. We ain’t going anywhere close to that trophy this season, especially not with our very high propensity capitulate when it matters most
Aiming is one thing, winning it is another. That said, the PL and CL will take priority and we will give both competitions a go IMO. I think we have already had a learning curve for the PL and are in great shape to win it this season, but the CL is a learning curve still to be experienced.
EPL and FA Cup should be our priority IMO….
As long as our CF is still not able to dominate the opposition’s CBs, forget about UCL
Remember about how Haaland stopped De Ligt and Upamecano to allow his teammates score. None of our CFs can do something like that consistently, because they’re generally poachers
PSG seemed to have realized that all UCL semi-finalists last season had that type of CF, hence the chase of Vlahovic. Arsenal should replace theirs if they have the chance to do so
I think best not get ahead of ourselves. The premier league title is the one to focus on however I do expect us to be competitive in every game we play regardless of the competition, opponent or team selection. I am reading way too many comments that it’s a must lift trophy season or MA needs to go. Please take a look at the football we have been playing and implementing over the past 3 years, that is what I’m ultimately looking forward to seeing again this season. The glory will come soon enough now.
I bet Kroenke wants a major trophy after investing a lot of money into Arteta’s/ Edu’s project and waiting for several years since he bought all shares
Because we are three signings away, but below are the positions in question.
1) A proper # 9
2) Next defensive midfielder
3) A settled left back sorted out.
Phase 9?
PJ-SA
How did you jump from phase 4 to 9?
I Strongly believe believe another defensive midfielder will be acquire in phase 4
A fan made a very detailed expectations list of the process, in it he went on to say some sort of trophy should be delivered in this phase, hope am correct here, but it was indeed a truly impressive take on the gaffer and the process.
Think you are trying to ridicule the process though 🙂
Only if Arsenal can have a killer instead in front of goals and a perfectly sound engine chamber and a non-leaking defence. We are good to take any trophy on offer. I see Arsenal is not too far from achieving such glory.
We have not even kicked a ball in the new season and somebody is talking of winning the CL! Wow 😯. Talk of heating up the system already.
I pity Arteta and his team. The weight of expectations will be massive. Last season they “overachieved”. Next season that word will not be heard concerning their performances.
I just hope we are not in for one hell of an underwhelming, anticlimactic season.
Postive thinking gives positive results!
We have to have ambition after all we have spent. Achievements don’t happen without ambition, pretty football is not a trophy, although it’s great to watch. We would be naive if anyone thinks that next season is still just a step in the ‘project’. The pressure is on and there is no escaping it. Bring it on.
We are way better than most who went far in the competition throughout seasons. Why not?
The whole point is to be aiming for a CL win. It’s the biggest club tournament outside your own national league
Self belief should go a long way and apart from not participating for toooo many years, there is nothing to suggest that we can’t be really competitive this coming year
Well there is
Mentally we couldn’t handle pressure of a prem title race and couldn’t get past last 16 of Europe
But now we can suddenly win CL ?
No Dan
I wrote that we should be aiming to win which I believe is different from stating that we should or can win.
Going along as a second fiddle team doesn’t look like Arteta has in his plans.
I do believe that the team will be better placed this coming season
Always aim high, but we have to be realistic, Arsenal are terrible in Europe and always have been! Just making the QF would be huge for us.
Mikel Arteta sets his team collectively as a unit. For this unit to work, individual players gotta do their job precisely with diligent and focus. That’s why even when Saka, Martinelli or Odegaard don’t contribute attacking wise, they blew their hearts out defending for the team. We can see Trossard became tired after a number of good games initially last season. Pre-season training is very important for Arteta as his tactics are physically overwhelming for his players. Xhaka and Odegaard memes are full of their cheekbones. Once the players are set physically and well verse of the tactics, Arsenal as a team gonna be a world juggernaut.
It’s about doing the right thing in the pitch. That’s all a team needs to think about. Ambitions don’t win trophies, players playing well and not willing to lose a single match. Without complacency, right attitude, not with hyper emotions but a controlled emotion. Hyper emotions soon fade so can’t be relied upon to be consistent.
So, if arsenal remains level headed in every scenario, not lose hope nor be overly hopeful, just focusing on what needs to be done on the pitch, I they might surprise us next season, like they did last season.
The author is quite right that we should aim to win the CL. We already have one of the best teams in the PL which is one of the best leagues in the world.
Several of our players have clearly improved and we have strengthened the squad. At our best we should be a serious challenge for any team in Europe.
It will be very tough, however, as this will be a new set of circumstances for many of our players. Even though it should be an objective, unlike the author, I feel it would be one of our more ambitious ones.
We have NOT proved we can play under pressure and someone is saying we should aim to win the CL. What have we done to say we can win the CL with the current set up?
If we are hoping to usurp Man City who are the European champions to the league, then we should be good enough to win the Champions league as well. I believe the management will have the mindset of going into the competition with the intention of winning it.
As much as we have moved forwards, we have failed badly when the heat us on. Our structure has failed to get over the line at the sharp end.