It was meant as a rallying cry and a way to claim ownership over a critique of Arsenal’s playing style, but Declan Rice leading a chant of “Set-Piece FC” from atop the title-parade bus is really a foreboding; a bell that chimes for the end of an era and the beginning of something else.
Ironically Arsenal were only undone by the cruel flurry of set-pieces that were required at the end of the Champions League final on Saturday, and given that a single Cristhian Mosquera mistake is all that denied Mikel Arteta’s side another of their classic 1-0 wins, many will claim this as evidence Arsenal’s methodology through 2025/26 can remain for the foreseeable.
It can’t, and Arteta knows it.
“We need to do better, we have to improve and find different margins to get the outcome that we want,” he said after the final. “We'll start to make some very important decisions if we want to reach another level. And we're going to have to show that ambition because we are more than capable of doing it, but it's going to demand us to be very ambitious, very fast and very smart.”
Arsenal have reached the pinnacle of what can be achieved by squeezing the margins.
The only logical next step, as challenging and counter-intuitive as it might seem, is to partially dismantle what they have built; is to be ambitious, fast, and smart, which is to say invest in attacking quality to reach for the same levels as Paris Saint-Germain.
That’s because there is no doubt Arsenal have maximised the current team, and yet even that was only enough for a nervous 85-point Premier League season – a tally that would not have been enough in any of the six years Pep Guardiola won the title – and grinding to a penalty-shootout in the Champions League after beating Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting and Atletico Madrid en route.
No matter how brilliant the achievement, being realistic, there was luck in the draw and both the Premier League and the Champions League will be tougher next year.
Again, Arteta is well aware.
The most important overlooked aspect of the Arteta era has been the enormous overachievement. Lots of money has been spent but nothing on the scale of PSG, or, domestically, Manchester City, but finishing runners-up in three consecutive Premier League seasons created undue pressure and expectation.
Step back, ignore the noise, and it’s quite obvious that a team with Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, Ben White, Mikel Merino...the list goes on...is below the elite level.
Ignorance of that fact has led pundits away from a simple explanation for Arteta’s slow bend towards defensive football: it’s the only real way he can compete with the squad at his disposal.
In fact, the tail wags the dog here. Most of the time Arsenal aren’t deliberately playing conservatively, but rather they don’t have the attacking riches required to break defences open.
Higher individual quality often gives the illusion of tactical freedom, whereas a lack of it – and subsequent reliant on set-pieces – makes slower football appear to be a choice.
Razing what they’ve built isn’t quite as dramatic as it sounds, then.
But Arsenal must make the conscious choice to invest heavily in attacking talent on the assumption that their strong defensive foundation will hold even if things became more stretched at the top end.
It’s a gamble, but it’s one Arteta will know he simply has to take, because another season of pragmatism and defensive priority, another season of Set Piece FC, simply will not yield the same result.
Crucially, the way Arsenal approach the transfer window has to shift, too.
Last summer they looked to spend around £50-60 million on their top targets and sought to add depth, which, having lifted the title, we can’t exactly criticise.
But it always felt strange that Arsenal didn’t combine the Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyokeres money to buy a truly world-class striker in Alexander Isak.
This summer they have to think bigger and bolder, as Arteta appears to have acknowledged in his post-PSG press conference.
Arsenal are reportedly targeting a midfielder, left winger, and striker. It is vital these are not players on a similar level to those already in the ranks, but are instead a noticeable upgrade; are stars, with the price tag to prove it.
Morgan Rogers and Julian Alvarez are early links, which is encouraging, because each of their three major signings need to be nine-figure players.
The club’s finances are in superb shape. They are (almost) on top of the world and therefore among the most attractive clubs to join.
This has to be the moment Arsenal’s board let go of their spending model and embrace a generational moment to give Arteta superstars, ignoring any gut feeling that warns against disrupting the plan that has worked up to this point.
Set Piece FC has to be the start of something, not the zenith.
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