<\/p>\n
After 22 years of heartbreak, Arsenal\u2019s drought is finally over.<\/p>\n
Mikel Arteta\u2019s Gunners, fresh off winning four straight league matches without conceding a goal, have been crowned Premier League champions after Manchester City were held 1-1 by Bournemouth on Tuesday<\/a>. <\/p>\n It ends an agonising streak of three consecutive seasons as Premier League runners-up for Arsenal, while the departing Pep Guardiola has been denied a dream farewell from Manchester City<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportsmail. Sign up now ><\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \u201cCongratulations to Arsenal, Mikel, the staff, all the players, fans for this Premier League,\u201d Guardiola said after the draw.<\/p>\n \u201cYou deserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said in a video posted on the club\u2019s social media channels: \u201cYou did it! Champions go on when others stop.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is your time. Now, go on and enjoy every moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Writing for Sky Sports<\/a><\/i>, reporter Nick Wright declared the triumph was \u201cthe culmination of six-and-a-half years of work\u201d for Arteta, who took charge of the club in December 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cHe inherited a club in a state of drift when he took the job. The squad was an expensively assembled mess. Supporters were disengaged. Standards had slipped,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe transformation has been exhaustive, with Arteta one of few constants. Arsenal, once soft-centred and easily bullied, are now characterised by steeliness and a fierce will to win, described by Pep Guardiola as one of the most competitive sides he has ever faced.<\/p>\n \u201cTheir title triumph, the club\u2019s first in 22 years, provides a crowning moment for Arteta\u2019s Arsenal project, and marks the completion of a steady rise to the summit.\u201d<\/p>\n While analysing Arsenal\u2019s triumph, Wright acknowledged that Arteta\u2019s off-season focus on squad depth, rather than recruiting superstar players, was critical to the club\u2019s success.<\/p>\n \u201cLiverpool generated more excitement by ploughing huge sums into their attack, but Arsenal\u2019s title triumph vindicates the decision to instead add depth in all areas, and build a group capable of absorbing the injury blows that previously derailed them,\u201d he penned.<\/p>\n \u201cArsenal\u2019s league-high total of 22 goal involvements by substitutes highlights their strength in depth.\u201d<\/p>\n Scenes as Arsenal celebrate title win | 01:45<\/p>\n The Telegraph\u2019s<\/a><\/i> Sam Dean also applauded Arteta\u2019s recruitment strategy, pointing out that Arsenal\u2019s substitutes \u2013 or finishers, as the manager called them \u2013 accumulated 39 goal involvements across all competitions this season, the highest among Europe\u2019s top five leagues.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the pitch, Arsenal have had a team good enough to win the title in each of the last four seasons. The difference this year is that they now have a squad capable of doing so,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cLast summer\u2019s focus in the transfer window was on depth, on raising the floor of the squad rather than the ceiling of the team. Overall, the strategy has proved to be effective.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number of high-quality options at Arteta\u2019s disposal has allowed them to compete on multiple fronts and also to change the course of matches.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean also celebrated the team culture Arteta has created at Arsenal, specifically his ability to \u201ccapture a footballer\u2019s mind and soul\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cArteta\u2019s passion, conviction and ability to explain his vision has underpinned every aspect of Arsenal\u2019s rise under his management,\u201d he penned.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has convinced the players to follow him, the club\u2019s owners to back him and the supporters to believe in him on this long, turbulent journey to his and Arsenal\u2019s ultimate destination.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that destination has finally been reached.\u201d<\/p>\n Arsenal claim first title in 22 years | 00:46<\/p>\n The Daily Mail\u2019s<\/a><\/i> Ian Ladyman revisited Arteta\u2019s decision to overhaul the club by sacking key players early in his tenure, with the Arsenal boss prioritising team culture over individual superstardom.<\/p>\n \u201cArteta has been rewarded for having a plan and sticking to it, for realising that the weeds that had grown over foundations once laid by Arsene Wenger needed taking out by the roots,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cMesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Gifted players but not Arsenal players. Not Arsenal people. Not in the way they viewed their work. It took courage to get them out \u2013 Wenger had ducked the issue \u2013 and Arteta needed the confidence of those who had hired him in order to do it.<\/p>\n \u201cArteta knows loyalty, but also understanding it\u2019s a failing when indulged in a blind form.\u201d<\/p>\n Elsewhere, The Guardian\u2019s<\/a><\/i> Ed Aarons analysed Arsenal\u2019s set-piece superiority, notably how more than a third of the club\u2019s 69 Premier League goals came from set pieces. Nineteen came from corners, a league record; which has sparked regular jibes about winning ugly, but paid off in glorious fashion.<\/p>\n \u201cSet pieces have also played a massive role in Arsenal\u2019s success,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cNot much of it has been pretty, although that will not concern fans who will gather on the streets of Islington for their title-winning parade.<\/p>\n \u201cThey say good things come to those who wait, and for Arsenal supporters it has felt like an eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n Guardiola refuses to confirm departure | 01:02<\/p>\n Elsewhere, fans and pundits celebrated Guardiola\u2019s influential stint at Manchester City<\/a> ahead of what will reportedly be his final game in charge of the powerhouse club.<\/p>\n Since the Spaniard took charge in 2016, Manchester City has won six Premier League titles and three FA Cup titles, also lifting the Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can anybody replace what Pep has done for so many seasons at Manchester City in terms of the brand of football and winning trophies?\u201d former Premier League striker Chris Sutton said on BBC Radio 5 Live<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impossible to come in and make the impact which Pep Guardiola has had, not just at Manchester City, but in the Premier League as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n