A Familiar Story… Why Arsenal Don’t Have What it Takes to Win a Premier League

Weak Mentality and Over-Reliance on Set-Pieces: Every Reason Why Arsenal Won't Win the League

Shock. That was the overarching emotion of the fans inside Molineux as Wolves scrapped their way to an entirely deserved 2-2 draw with league leaders Arsenal thanks to a Gabriel Magalhaes and David Raya defensive calamity.

A stoppage time equaliser from @Wolves means @Arsenal go five points clear at the top instead of a possible seven 📊 pic.twitter.com/HNUtSsLfXR

— Premier League (@premierleague) February 19, 2026

But at the same time, was it actually that surprising? Fans have come to expect an Arsenal implosion at the late midway stage of the season, and with just two wins in their last seven Premier League games, people are largely getting what they predicted.

Their gap to Man City, which sat at six points a few days into January, could shrink to as little as two if Pep Guardiola’s side see off Newcastle at the weekend, and if that happens, Mikel Arteta will all of a sudden find himself under some uncomfortably familiar scrutiny – does he, or his side, have what it takes to be the best team across a 38-game season?

We have seen them ‘bottle’ significant leads in the table before, and it seems we are in the midst of another dramatic fall-off this year. It’s no longer a question of if Arsenal can stand strong until the end of the season – it's now a matter of why.

Slow and Steady Wins the Title Race

The one thing any side with title ambitions needs is patience – the Premier League trophy is not won in December, nor is it won after a big result against a rival. The overwhelming mindset both in the dressing room and among the fanbase must be one of realism and humility at this stage in the season.

But Arsenal fans, and to an extent their squad, see things differently. Even as early as November, hordes of Gunners fan pages were loving life, unbearably gloating with statements like “hand us the title now” and “walking the league".

We are winning the Premier League Title this season. pic.twitter.com/syIzUGjJFd

— Arsenal X-tra (@Ar_senalXtra_) February 9, 2026

It was clear that this generation of Gunners fans have no idea what it actually means to win a Premier League – accustomed to cup success throughout the 2010s and 2020s, the average Arsenal fan is more used to the short, sharp nature of domestic cup glory: seven games, and you're champions. Sometimes we think they have become so used to this type of winning that they have managed to convince themselves that the league works in the same way.

The league is an entirely different prospect – across 38 games and eight and a half months, every side must battle through congested schedules, injury crises, rival drama, and no shortage of controversy of their own, and only the strongest sides are able to ride this risk-riddled wave to lift the coveted trophy at the end of the season.

The problem is, it’s not just the Arsenal fanbase who made light of all of this – the players and, to an extent, Mikel Arteta himself have shown that they do not have the right mentality to go and win a Premier League title.

Arteta’s over-reliance on set pieces, corners in particular, was always going to be found out. Focusing on dead-ball scenarios and bringing in specialists in that area in a bid to be a step ahead of everyone else worked for a while, but in recent weeks, it has been proven to be unsustainable.

Nothing funnier than watching Arsenal fans complain about corners 😭 https://t.co/N2ECICmlW0

— Martien 🇳🇱 (@MartienBall) February 13, 2026

Paired with his lack of commitment to developing patterns in open play, Arteta, for perhaps the first time in his Arsenal stint, demonstrated naivety, and it seems to have spread to some of his squad. The fact he even made an attempt to waste time in the 94th minute against one of the Premier League's worst sides in its history speaks volumes, and the fact that it didn’t work only illustrates our point.

Only recently did it come to light that Gabriel boasts another social media account, disguised as a football page, that he uses solely to irritate rival fans, which entails either promoting Arsenal as the best team in England or chatting nonsense about other teams.

Though I’m sure it’s a lot of fun, it doesn’t reflect the mentality of a title winner. All it shows is a player who, because his side is top of the league, is letting his head get too big, and cockiness rarely goes unpunished in the Premier League.

Record-Breaking Defence? What Defence?

It’s not only their mentality that needs work, but all of a sudden, their alleged “record-threatening” defence seems to be rather fragile too.

Tipped to break Chelsea’s record of conceding just 15 goals in a Premier League season, the centre-back pairing of Gabriel and William Saliba, along with full backs Jurrien Timber and Ben Riccardo Calafiori, looked unsurpassable early in the campaign, conceding a measly five goals in their first 11 games.

Gabriel Magalhães

A true reflection of the current Arsenal regime, not as unlikeable as Arteta but a close second

His previous hair line reflected the amount of trophies he’s won in his career, the answer being not many

He celebrates like he’s scored a goal when he makes a… pic.twitter.com/2AdXDj1NAk

— Mikey Mike (@MikeyHotspurs) February 16, 2026

However, the early praise appears to have gone to their heads, as the Gunners have conceded the same number in their last five league fixtures, a big part of their drop-off in form. What’s changed?

At the start of a new campaign, players are fresh, fully fit, and performing at their highest possible level. Not many fans consider this, but throughout a season, the performance levels of the majority of players drop, be it through sheer game load or through niggling injuries they are trying to play around.

The Arsenal backline, though made up of a selection of elite-level players, has proven vulnerable to this effect as the season has gone on. Their recent, and unexpected, leakiness is the primary driver behind their shrinking lead at the top of the pile.

It doesn’t help that the typically ever-reliable David Raya seems to have presented one very clear weakness to the rest of the league, one which has quickly been picked up on.

On countless occasions, the Spaniard has shown himself to be a world-class shot-stopper, particularly from close range – remember that double save against Atalanta, or that impossible reflex stop to deny Ollie Watkins?

As such, opposing sides seem to have had a rethink: “If we can’t beat him from close range, how else can we do it?”. The obvious answer – try your luck from range.

Stunningly, this strategy has yielded irrefutable results. From shots inside the box, Raya has stopped 31 out of 45 attempts, equating to around a 69% save percentage. Of the 13 shots he has faced from outside the area, his save success takes a significant dive to 54%, with the former Brentford keeper conceding six of the long-range attempts he has faced.

Relatively small for a goalkeeper at 183cm, Raya relies on positioning and reflexes when attempting to smother close-range attempts. However, when opposing sides see an opening to hit a firecracker from range, his shorter frame works against him – he has to cover more ground in a race to intercept the ball, by which point it is likely already past him, with Hugo Bueno’s brilliant strike last night a perfect example.

As long as opponents keep taking shots from distance, Arsenal will always be vulnerable, and combined with an increasingly inconsistent backline in front of the keeper, the Gunners will become increasingly susceptible to conceding as the season wears on.

Offensive Offence

If a title-chasing team undergoes a period where they are vulnerable in defence, they often have their attackers to bail them out of tight spots – after all, Premier League winners include the likes of Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, all of whom regularly scored 20+ goals a season, inserting their side into the title conversation even when not playing at their best.

However, Arsenal don’t even have that on their side. With his defence in something of a rut, Arteta will have doubtless pulled the likes of Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka to the side and highlighted the importance that regular goalscoring carries.

If he did have that chat, there has been precious little sign that this discussion ever even took place. £60 million summer signing Gyokeres has just eight PL goals all season, Jesus has just two to his name, and even Saka is having an off period in front of goal, with just four league goals netted in 2025/26.

Bukayo Saka has been below-par at best this season. Injury-prone. Inconsistent. Not himself.

Willian Estevao, on the other hand, has been electric - though still inconsistent, that is to be expected in a young teenager, not in a fully fledged star such as Saka.

Saka's number… pic.twitter.com/MDvUbtaAHh

— Football Park (@FP_CentreCircle) February 18, 2026

Martinelli’s form is the most baffling of all. The winger is the club's second top scorer across all competitions this season with 11, and yet only one of these has come in the league – the Brazilian has generally saved his best for both the Champions League and the early rounds of the FA Cup.

The reason for these poor returns circles back to a point made earlier; there is no fluidity in the final third, with Arteta preferring to perfect his set-piece routines rather than turn his wingers into true goal threats.

With talents like Saka, Trossard, Gyokeres and, to some extent, Martinelli, all are too good to simply try and earn dead-ball scenarios. Each should be trying to wreak havoc by playing to their own individual strengths, instead of bending to the manager's apparent “all styles fit one” philosophy.

There is hope for us all. 🙌

Seriously though, how did he get all those goals in Portugal?! 😳#arsenal #Gyokeres #flop https://t.co/ndQfz0k4uq

— Football Park (@FP_CentreCircle) February 19, 2026

Arteta’s bizarre focus on set pieces has not only resulted in a lack of output from his attackers but also in seven own goals being scored in their favour across all competitions. This is the highest number across Europe’s top five leagues and, across all comps, places Own Goal as their joint third top scorer.

On the one hand, it could be seen as a positive, seen as a “when your luck’s in” sort of thing. But in reality, it underlines the Gunners' attacking deficiency and illustrates that they simply do not have what it takes to compete with the Premier League’s best until the final day of the season.

Arteta is undoubtedly a great manager; he arrived at Arsenal in the middle of their banter era, installed some belief, stability and winning mentality, and took them from top-six chasers to title contenders. But I, along with many of you, I’m sure, am starting to think that the one thing missing from Arteta’s vast skillset is a killer instinct.

He doesn’t have what it takes to suffocate opposition out of a title race and, despite all the posing he may do with his unusual training ground routines and inspirational speeches, lacks the managerial experience to compete with the likes of Guardiola in the endgame of a Premier League campaign.

Last night’s horrific draw with Wolves was an example of just what the club are up against if they are to lift their first PL title since 2004 – their negative play while in possession, their tendency to play dirty with the use of dark arts, and their want to waste time against the bottom-ranked side in the league are all traits rarely found in title winners.

Arsenal FC:

❌ Bottled the 2022-23 PL title
❌ Bottled the 2023-24 PL title
❌ Bottled the 2024-25 PL title
❌ Bottling the 2025-26 PL title
❌ Bottled every UCL in history
❌ “Best team in last seasons UCL”
❌ Phase 7 Arteta Bottling it again 😂

What a time to be alive 🥳🥳🥳 pic.twitter.com/t24CwpQOkJ

— Lea (@Lea_EFC) February 12, 2026

Arteta needs to take a look at his side and reassess quickly, or he could soon find himself knocked off top spot for the first time since mid-September. If they are pushed off of their perch, I can’t see any way they recover from it.