The curious case of Mikel Arteta and his bizarre Liverpool title logic

Mikel Arteta is a difficult man to like if you are not an Arsenal fan. We suspect that Mikel Arteta is increasingly becoming a difficult man to like if you are an Arsenal fan, though all his awkwardness and lack of warmth will soon be forgiven if he delivers the Champions League trophy.

Arsenal face PSG in Paris as they attempt to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit, with a Champions League final against Inter Milan – unlikely conquerors of Barcelona – the prize.

Regardless of what you might think of Arsenal, and there is certainly a growing enmity among non-Arsenal fans, it would be a phenomenal achievement if Arsenal’s second trophy under Arteta was the actual big one.

So quite why he chose the occasion of his pre-match press conference to make a bizarre point – featuring some ludicrous logic – about Liverpool’s title win, is a mystery.

Yes, he has faced extensive criticism of his failure to win any trophy since the 2020 FA Cup final, but his instinct to denigrate Liverpool’s title victory was a curious one. It’s not the flex he thought it was that Liverpool have won the title early and with ease.

“Winning trophies as well is about being in the right moment, in the right place,” he said. Now that might be true to a certain extent – particularly in knock-out competitions – but the Premier League title is won by the best team in the Premier League over 38 games. It’s not a happy accident if you finish top of a 20-club pile after nine months.

But this is where it gets curious…

“Liverpool have won the title with fewer points than we have in the last two seasons. With the points of the last two seasons, we would have two Premier League titles.

“So, you have to be at the right moment, in the right place. Hopefully, here we are in the right moment, in the right place in Paris tomorrow, to earn the right to be in the final.”

Liverpool have only won the title with fewer points (82) than Arsenal have accumulated in the last two seasons (89 and 84) because Arsenal entirely faltered in their own Premier League title challenge and the Reds could wrap things up early. There is now a 15-point gap.

They still have three games left and could yet reach 91 points, though it would not denigrate their achievement should they not pick up another point.

The idea that Arsenal “would have two Premier League titles” were it not for this ‘right moment, right place’ phenomenon is self-serving nonsense. And it does rather ignore the fact that Arsenal were in a position to take advantage of a weaker Manchester City team just like Liverpool.

The truth – as illustrated by these Premier League tables – is that they made a mess of it, by failing to create chances, by throwing away leads, by drawing too many games.

But it feels like self-examination is beyond Arteta; there’s a reason why we looked at the dislikeable pair of him and Jurgen Klopp last year and concluded that the German was rather easier to respect.