After their success last season, there will be higher expectations for Arsenal this time around.
Having proven themselves surprise title challengers last season, Arsenal must back that up with yet more progress in the upcoming campaign.
For former Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant, that can only mean one thing for Mikel Arteta’s men: silverware.
Speaking on TalkSport about what the minimum target must be for the Gunners this season, Pennant said, “failure is no trophy…no trophy, and you’ve got to be challenging Man City…City is a juggernaut, and to go head to head after 38 games is good going.”
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Arteta will certainly be desperate to win something this season, having already tasted such success as manager when Arsenal won the FA Cup at the end of his first season in charge at the Emirates Stadium.
Since then, however, Arsenal have underperformed in the domestic cups and on the European stage. Of course, winning on the continent this season will be a much taller order, now that the north London club are back in the Champions League.
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What Arsenal must be aiming for
The Spanish coach will certainly be eyeing up glory in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup though, as well as mounting another title charge. He has added greater strength in depth to his squad this summer, and the club are now well placed to fight on all four fronts.
The matter of whether Arsenal ending the season trophy-less would constitute a failure depends on the context. If the Gunners reach the latter stages of the cups, and push for the Premier League title until the bitter end but ultimately fall short on all counts, then it would be bitterly disappointing, but would still count as real progress.
However, if Arsenal don’t look like serious challengers in any capacity, after a summer spend that has already topped £200 million, then questions would need to be asked. Arteta needs his new arrivals to bed in quickly and hit the ground running so that Arsenal can start the season with a bang.