Mikel Arteta provides defiant message after Arsenal miss out on Premier League title

Mikel Arteta told Arsenal supporters to not be "satisfied" in a defiant post-match message after the Gunners beat Everton 2-1 on the final day but missed out on the Premier League title.

Arsenal's hopes of securing their first title triumph in 20 years were slim heading into Sunday's season finale, with the Gunners requiring a favour from West Ham at the Etihad while toppling Everton themselves.

Manchester City, though, dispatched the Hammers 3-1 to secure an unprecedented fourth-straight league title, although Kai Havertz's late goal at the Emirates ensured Arteta's men ended a stellar 2023/24 campaign on a high.

Havertz's strike sealed a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Everton and an 89-point haul for the Gunners, rendering their absence of silverware all the more painful.

But this Arsenal team will be back with Arteta at the helm, and the Spaniard made it abundantly clear that his side will go again in 2024/25.

"All this is happening because you started believing... Don't be satisfied. We want much more than this and we're going to get it," he told the Emirates faithful (via James Benge) after Arsenal's win on the final day.

Arsenal's progression under Arteta has been remarkable, and while the club competed with City for the title last season, their charge on this occasions was one reminiscent of Liverpool's in 2018/19. Their points haul wasn't quite as impressive as the Reds', but the Gunners' ability to match City stride for stride down the stretch was similar.

After Sunday's win, Arsenal ended the campaign with 16 wins from 18, but City's relentless brilliance meant it wasn't enough.

And the players were feeling it.

Sunday's match-winner, Havertz, was in tears after the final whistle blew, but the German echoed Arteta's sentiment of Arsenal going again in 2024/25. "I can tell them next year we are going to be an even better team, and we are going to give everything next year again," he told TNT Sports.

Captain Martin Odegaard offered inspiration and the end of last season after the Gunners collapsed during the run-in, and Arsenal have certainly shown in 2023/24 that they've learned from previous heartbreak. Odegaard, too, supplied an optimistic and determined message to the Emirates crowd.

"I think you all believe in us now. To be honest I can’t wait to come back after the break. We have to use the break to come back even stronger, even more hungry, and push to win everything," the skipper, who produced an outstanding season and is doubtlessly a contender for Arsenal Player of the Year honours.

You're hurting now, we all are, but how can you be nothing short of optimistic over the future of this football club with this manager and ever-maturing group of players leading the way? Mikel Arteta's Arsenal will be back.

They'll get their Premier League title.

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