Monday Coffee: Arteta Lacks the Memory of Victory

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26/02/2026 17:04:45 ScoreStream

During the 2008/09 season, Liverpool, managed by Rafa Benitez, faltered badly in the closing stages and lost the Premier League championship to Man United, despite a largely brilliant season.

1. Benitez was shocked, but not entirely surprised. Speaking to the English press, he summarized the team's misstep in one sentence: "We lacked mental strength because we had no recent memory of winning a championship."

Benitez probably didn't anticipate that it would take nearly another decade for Liverpool to end their 30-year English league title drought. Before that, in the 2013-14 season, the Reds led for most of the campaign, with 11 consecutive wins, but Steven Gerrard's slip against Chelsea caused them to lose the title to Man City.

At the decisive moment, even Liverpool's most reliable player made a mistake. The reason was simple: Gerrard had never won the Premier League, a fact that remained true until his retirement. He had no memory of standing atop English football, and thus, when close to the goal, even a player of his caliber showed clear hesitation.

The title race is heating up daily: Arsenal stumbled while Man City secured a dramatic victory against Newcastle, closing the gap to just 2 points. This narrative feels very familiar for Arsenal, almost predictable. Whenever they get close to the title, they invariably commit a serious error.

2. Does Man City make mistakes? Of course, even many. But they recover quickly, and as the season reaches its climax, Pep Guardiola's team becomes increasingly composed and formidable.

Even last season, when they nearly forgot how to play football during the winter, Man City still managed comfortably to secure a Top 4 finish and even reached the FA Cup final.

Arteta possesses no championship experience, neither as a player nor as a manager. Photo: Getty

In the four preceding seasons, they performed exceptionally well in the final stages to clinch the title. In the 2023-24 season, they overturned the situation against Arsenal itself with a winning streak in spring. The year before, they did the same to Liverpool, successfully breaking away in the final rounds. The year prior to that, they won 24 consecutive matches across all competitions to claim the crown.

In 2019, City also won all their final 14 matches to narrowly overtake Liverpool. The season before that, they won 18 consecutive games, setting a new Premier League record. It seems Pep's City always knows how to accelerate when their rivals are running out of steam.

This habit stands in complete contrast to Mikel Arteta's Arsenal: Much like Liverpool of the past, the closer Arsenal gets to victory, the more they falter.

The last time Arsenal won the English top-flight league was over 20 years ago, and this longing triggers a common psychological state in those without winning memories: They don't know what to do when they are about to achieve it.

3. This psychological state can lead to foolish mistakes, reminiscent of Gerrard's infamous slip years ago. For Arsenal, Mikel Arteta made a perplexing decision in the draw against bottom-placed Wolves: While leading 2-0, he suddenly instructed his players to adopt a deep, defensive block, completely ceding control of the game to the opponent.

But looking at Arteta himself, you might not be too surprised that excessive tension caused his error. As a player, Arteta never won the Premier League either. He only won the FA Cup twice with Arsenal. His most recent national league title as a player was also over 20 years ago, with Rangers in the Scottish league.

This season presented a "perfect opportunity" for Arsenal: Man City weakened while other rivals like Man United and Chelsea are struggling to rebuild. Arteta has had sufficient time to build a fairly solid foundation in philosophy and squad to conquer the Premier League with Arsenal.

But like Icarus, whose wax wings melted when he flew too close to the sun, Arteta and Arsenal have stumbled due to a lack of victorious memories. Pep and the Man City collective are all too familiar with the final sprints to the title. The data of victory is deeply ingrained in this team, and in Guardiola himself, a true champion whether as manager or player.

No one is saying Arsenal or Arteta are incompetent, but their failure to win the title has its full historical reasons. No matter how hard they try or how serious they are, both face the harsh reality of natural selection: It's possible they may never win it, for decades to come, because they lack the most crucial memories etched into their psyche.

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