The Title Chaser
In football, momentum is often mistaken for inevitability. A strong run of form can quickly be framed as destiny, and nowhere has that illusion been more evident this season. What once felt like a procession toward the Premier League title is now beginning to look like another psychological test that Mikel Arteta and his team may not yet be equipped to pass.
What this moment exposes is not just a dip in Arsenal’s form, but a deeper issue around mentality, experience, and leadership at the very top. Arsenal did what many teams have done before them: they mistook Manchester City’s slow start as weakness rather than inevitability. Pep Guardiola’s teams do not panic as they absorb pressure, analyse patterns, and strike when others begin to doubt themselves.
Arsenal’s performances since November have lacked the authority of champions. Narrow wins feel laboured, dropped points feel damaging, and games that once looked comfortable now feel nervy. This is where title races are truly won, not in October dominance, but in December resilience and showing ruthlessness in April. At this stage, Arsenal look like a team protecting something rather than hunting for it, and City looks like a predator that can attack its prey at any given time.
Arteta deserves credit for transforming Arsenal into genuine contenders. The squad is talented, balanced, and tactically well-drilled. However, managing a title charge is different from building one. Guardiola has lived this pressure repeatedly; Arteta is still learning it in real time. Pep understands when to rotate, when to slow games down, and when to psychologically suffocate the opposition – a masterclass that he has implemented to create a winning team everywhere he goes.
Manchester City’s greatest weapon is not just Erling Haaland – it is their belief to win. Even when they trail in the table, City play like a side that assumes the title will eventually come back to them. Arsenal is now playing like a team haunted by near misses and recent collapses of failing to win the league title in the last two seasons.
The fear for Arsenal fans is familiarity. This script feels all too recognisable: early dominance, winter hesitation, spring surrender. Unless Arteta can evolve from an elite coach into a title-winning manager, Arsenal risk once again being remembered as caretakers of the league rather than its owners.
To change that narrative, Arsenal must do more than match City tactically; they must outgrow them mentally. That requires calm under pressure, bravery in selection, and the ability to win ugly without panic. Until then, Manchester City remain the league’s final boss.
Unless Arteta casts a spell, the title will come back to Manchester again in May.
