While Arsenal’s record-breaking 12th FA Cup win against Aston Villa may only have happened just over a week ago, the Gunners will doubtless be preparing for the new season already, with the minds of Arsene Wenger and co firmly on the task ahead rather than the glories of the past.
After a highly successful campaign in which they lifted a piece of silverware for the second season in succession and were close to ending up as Premier League runners-up, there are signs that the north London club are re-emerging as a genuine top flight superpower, capable of making a credible challenge for the Premier League crown.
Here are five reasons why the Gunners can be serious title contenders next season…
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Silverware becomes a familiarity, rather than a distant memory
Prior to their FA Cup victory last season, it had been nine years since Arsenal had lifted a trophy.
That one came against Manchester United in 2005 in the same competition, and the drought that followed was evidence, according to many (including a significant number of Gunners fans) that Wenger had lost it, that the club would be unable to seriously compete for the top honours while the Frenchman was still in charge.
The win against Hull City at Wembley in May of last year broke the duck, and by retaining the famous cup against Aston Villa this time around, Wenger has shown that the ‘perennial loser’ jibes were without any foundation whatsoever.
The Frenchman remains a supreme tactician and manager, and the feeling of lifting a trophy two seasons in a row will have given his players the confidence and belief that they do have what it takes to deliver in the biggest games.
Arsenal players now know that they belong to a squad full of winners and champions; this mentality can help them aim for higher glories next season.
Wenger is finally splashing the cash – and successfully
Like it or not, money rules football.
To become successful, you need to spend big. As admirable as Wenger’s anti-extravangance approach was for many seasons as he put all his faith into developing the club’s young, homegrown players, it didn’t bring the club any success.
While the long-serving manager probably still feels like splashing the cash is a bit of a cop-out, that seeing a team transform from plucky youngsters to legendary winners is football at its purest, he is unlikely to have been preoccupied with scrutinising his principles when watching Alexis Sanchez lift the FA Cup at Wembley.
Wenger has belatedly realised that the spending of money – and lots of it – is the only realistic way of winning silverware, yet it is one thing to blindly bring in expensive imports, another thing entirely to make sure they are a success and fit in the team’s system.
Wenger’s signing of Sanchez – Arsenal’s best player by far last season – was a masterstroke, and if the Frenchman can be equally as effective in this summer’s transfer window, the Gunners could begin to have the makings of a formidable force.
Time is on their side
It’s hard to believe that Jack Wilshere – who seems to have been around for a long time – is only 23-years-old, yet this is only because the midfielder was exposed to first team football at a very young age.
The same can be said of Aaron Ramsey (24), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (21) and Theo Walcott (26), all of whom have been involved with the senior side for a number of seasons now, but whose peaks years are still to come.
Every successful team needs older, experienced players, but by identifying a core group of players and ensuring that they grow up and develop together from their teenage years and into their twenties, Wenger is establishing a continuity and sense of stability which can only be beneficial for the club when these players reach the prime of their careers.
Time is certainly on Arsenal’s side; they just need to make sure their chicks don’t leave the nest.
They have the strength in depth
Arsene Wenger will almost certainly be active in the summer transfer window, with a new goalkeeper, defensive midfielder and striker believed to be his top priorities.
Assuming he delivers in all three positions – and there’s no reason why he wouldn’t – then Arsenal’s squad has the look of one that is capable of coping with the gruelling demands of a ten-month marathon season.
As well as a wealth of players in the centre of the park – including the hidden gem that is Francis Coquelin, who proved to be a revelation at the base of the Gunners’ midfield last season – they have impressive backup options in all other areas of the team.
This, coupled with the new recruits they will bring in this summer, stands them in good stead for the new campaign.
Chelsea’s closest challengers?
With Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini clinging onto his job by the skin of his teeth after a dismal second season in charge and Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United still a work in progress, it may very well be the case that Arsenal head into the new season as Chelsea’s closest competitors for the title.
The Blues will rightly be healthy favourites, but the Gunners may relish the challenge of being the team with the best chance of toppling their London rivals.
Last season showed they are able to record crucial victories and credible results against their closest rivals – especially away from home – and if they can begin the campaign in impressive fashion (which they have admittedly failed to do in recent years) then their traditional late-season purple patch could see them remain relevant in the title race right up until the final ball is kicked.
