Mikel Arteta has warned Arsenal the competition will be even tougher if they hope to mount another Premier League title challenge next season.
Wolves visit the Emirates Stadium on Sunday for a fixture that at one stage looked like it would mark Arsenal’s coronation as champions for the first time in 19 years.
Instead they go into their final game eight points adrift of champions Manchester City, the same margin that Arteta’s side led by in early April, with their courageous title tilt having finally been ended by defeat to Nottingham Forest last Saturday.
Arsenal’s challenge has wilted since they threw away a 2-0 lead against Liverpool at Anfield on Easter Sunday, followed by successive draws against West Ham and Southampton before City finally took control of the race with a thumping 4-1 win against the Gunners at the Etihad.
Arteta called for his players to end a nevertheless memorable season on a high against Wolves, but pointed to what is likely to be an even more intense struggle next campaign if the club are to finally end a two-decade wait to be champions.
“The competition is going to be even harder next season,” said Arteta. “In my opinion it’s been the hardest this season in 22 years that I’ve been in this league.
“In order to (compete) we have a really promising plan, we have to reflect a little bit, take a step back, make sure this is the right one and go again with more determination and hunger in the tummies to do even better.
“Now is about finishing the season in style and providing a great performance and a victory in front of our people to show our gratitude.
“(We) received a lot of incredible energy they have given us throughout the season, and (we will) start to build for next season. We have to wrap it up in the best possible way. It’s been some journey, full of emotions.
“Looking with a bit of perspective, there’s a lot of things not only on the field that have happened at the club that deserve a lot of credit for a lot of people.
“We have to nail everything that we do, we have to seek excellence in everything that we touch and we participate in that’s going to have a big impact at the club.”
Arsenal’s late collapse was in part precipitated by the loss of defender William Saliba to injury in March, with the deputising Rob Holding criticised for failing to match the 22-year-old’s imperious form across the season.
Arteta remained hopeful that the back injury the defender picked up during the team’s Europa League exit to Sporting Lisbon will not stretch into next season and that he will be ready to resume training after the summer.
There is also optimism that Takehiro Tomiyasu, who has played only 21 times in the league due to injury, will be fit to take part in pre-season.
Arteta said of Saliba: “He’s evolving the right way, the last few weeks have been much more positive than the previous two months.
“We wanted to protect him, it’s an injury that needed some care and attention. We’ve been pretty conservative to give him the best possible chance to have a good pre-season and to go again next season.
“Tomiyasu will be (back) around pre-season like Willy, they’ll be in a good place. They’ve been working so hard the boys, it’s been a really difficult year for (Tomiyasu) with some issues that he’s had.
“He’s a tremendous person, a top professional, we just want him to be available because when he is he’s really helpful for the team.”
Arsenal can fight for Premier League title again despite falling short in 2022-23, claims Willian
Willian understands the frustration Arsenal will have after their failure to push on for the Premier League title, but believes the Gunners can challenge again next season.
Arsenal came close to ending a 19-year wait for a top-flight title before a late-season collapse saw incumbent holders Manchester City seize another crown.
The manner of Arsenal's faltering finale represented a dramatic downturn after they had led the Premier League table for 248 days of the season.
Willian, who spent a single campaign at Emirates Stadium during the 2020-21 season, has backed his former club to be challengers again soon enough.
"When I was there, I could see that Arsenal had a bright future ahead of them very close because of the way [Mikel] Arteta was working," the Fulham attacker told Stats Perform.
"The way I saw him working the team, I had no doubt that Arsenal would be back fighting for the top in the next few years.
"Unfortunately, they were fighting with a team that [is on] another level. It's an outstanding team. It's not easy to fight for the title with Manchester City.
"They must have a sense of frustration. They were fighting for the title the whole [season], and they let the title slip away practically.
"But they are back in the Champions League. Of course, there must be a bit of frustration, but they have to be happy with what they did.
"Without a doubt, Arsenal [had] an excellent year, and they have everything to fight for the title again next season."
City's latest title is their fifth Premier League crown in six seasons under Guardiola and looks poised to form part of a generation-defining treble with the FA Cup and Champions League finals to come.
The latter in particular remains the chief honour left for the club to win, and Willian believes that it is Guardiola's intelligent grasp of his squad that makes them such a threat.
"I think Guardiola, with his ideas, [is key]," he added. "He converges that with the execution of the players, which are, as they say here, "top class" players.
"I heard Guardiola once say that he gives the ideas, he tells them what to do, but they also have to have quality on the pitch. Otherwise, it's no use.
"He is a great manager, I think the best in the world in years, and together with the quality of the players on the field, City is very strong and hard to be beat."
Willian backs 'best manager' Mourinho for more European success with Roma
Jose Mourinho ranks as the best manager Willian has worked with and the former Brazil attacker hopes more European honours will be heading the Roma coach's way.
Willian was part of Mourinho's Chelsea squad as the Blues secured a Premier League and EFL Cup double in 2015.
The Fulham winger and Italian coach have since gone their separate ways but Willian still holds Mourinho in the highest of regards, hoping his former boss can lift yet another trophy this season.
Mourinho has guided Roma to the Europa League final, in which they face Sevilla, and Willian made it clear where his allegiances lie for that showpiece on Wednesday.
"For me, Mourinho is the best manager I've had, I always say that," he told Stats Perform. "In the way he works every day, in the way he talks, in the way he motivates.
"He is a different manager and, for me, the best I've had. As he says: 'The special one'.
"I hope that he wins this trophy because he is a manager that sometimes gives a lot of people the impression that he is arrogant or something like that.
"But on a daily basis, we see that he is a great manager. He jokes when he has to, and he hits hard when he has to.
"He's real. When you don't play well, he says it in front of you, but when you play, he says it too. He's a great manager, an amazing manager.
"He is a winning manager, and he has a chance to win another title in his career."
Victory over Sevilla would secure Mourinho's sixth European title of his managerial career, having lifted various UEFA trophies with Porto (two), Roma, Inter and Manchester United.
The most recent of those successes came last season as Roma triumphed in the inaugural Europa Conference League with a final victory over Feyenoord.
German Jorg Schmadtke named Liverpool sporting director
German Jorg Schmadtke has been appointed as Liverpool’s new sporting director.
The 59-year-old, who left a similar role at Bundesliga side Wolfsburg at the beginning of 2023 after more than four years, will take up his post on June 1 once work permit formalities have been completed.
He will replace Julian Ward, who is due to leave the club this summer after more than a decade.
Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon told the club’s website: “Firstly, I would like to welcome Jorg to Liverpool Football Club in the knowledge that he will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into a role in which such qualities can only be beneficial both to him and us.
“Jorg will work with our football operations department as it continues to provide support for Jurgen Klopp, in keeping with our ongoing endeavour to keep growing and developing the club in all areas.
“At the same time as we welcome Jorg, we must also bid a fond farewell to Julian Ward, who has served us with unstinting diligence, fortitude and energy in a number of roles, the most recent one being sporting director.
“We wish Julian and his young family the very best for the future and thank him for everything he has done for Liverpool FC during the past 11 years.”
Former goalkeeper Schmadtke made more than 300 Bundesliga appearances for Fortuna Dusseldorf, Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach during his playing career before moving into administration.
He had spells at Cologne, Hannover and Alemannia Aachen before joining Wolfsburg.
Schmadtke joins a club which, by compatriot Klopp’s admission, endured “a bad season”, finishing fifth in the Premier League and missing out on Champions League football next term as a result.
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