The Rondo: Arsenal 2004 vs 2026 - which title team is better?

Arsenal Rondo GFX

After an extended period of angst, Arsenal finally clinched their first Premier League title in 22 years - a remarkable end to a long road.

And so Arsenal finally get to celebrate. The Emirates has been a nervy place for the best part of three years now, Arsenal trying as much to overcome the mental hurdles of chasing a Premier League as the actual football. This thing is a true grind, and the Gunners have almost inadvertently proved that year after year.

But now, that blocker is gone. With Man City failing to beat a well-drilled Bournemouth on Tuesday, Arsenal clinched their first league title in 22 years. It hasn't been pretty, but this was probably a deserved triumph. They have been the best team in the league for a sustained period. No matter how you look at things, the ball didn't really lie here.

Still, it's worth looking at legacy. Most title-winning teams of late have been built on attacking quality, and bolstered by an excellent defense. These guys are the opposite. It is often said in the States that defense wins championships, and that's been the case with Arsenal this year. Make no mistake, they deserved this. It just came in a different way.

But what is the legacy of this title-winning side? How much vindication is it for Mikel Arteta? And where do Arsenal go now? GOAL writers break it down in another edition of... The Rondo.

Arsenal players celebrate winning PL-title

Are Arsenal deserved winners?

Tom Hindle: You'd have to say so. The proof was in the pudding, at the end of the day, and Arsenal figured out a winning formula. There will always be critics due to the style of football, but the Gunners figured out they could be really good defensively, nick a goal, and then sit on a lead. Was it a little weird that they did all of that with a wealth of attacking talent? Sure. But, um, scoreboard?

Alex Labidou: It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t The Gunners of Ian Wright or Thierry Henry lore, but Mikel Arteta and Co. got the job done. There is an entire generation of Arsenal fans who only knew of success through old clips of the 2004 Invincibles. Think about how much football has changed since then, how much the world has changed in that span? This was a well-earned triumph for a long-suffering Arsenal fans.

Ryan Tolmich: Deserved? For sure. They were clearly the best and most consistent team, although it has to be said, they aren't an all-time great champion by any stretch. Rather than running through the league, they largely showed they were the best at outlasting it, which is a skill as well. Credit to them for getting it done, in particular, with the immense pressure on them as they silenced narratives about bottling once and for all.

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What does this mean for Mikel Arteta? Is it a little bit of vindication?

TH: It's massive for Arteta. It's probably worth remembering that Arsenal were pretty much nowhere when they first hired him, and that he hadn't had any first team managerial experience (even if a Pep apprenticeship ain't bad). He probably doesn't get enough credit for his ability to tweak, reinvent and figure out ways of winning. He tried the "play sexy soccer" stuff a few years back and got pipped at the end of the year by Man City. This one was a war of attrition, and it worked. Yes, the TikTok, olive tree, lightbulb, LinkedIn bro stuff is weird and uncomfy. But supposedly these things add up. Hats off to him.

AL: Trust the process was oft used during the glory days of the Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons Sixers, but it might be better served for what Arteta delivered with Arsenal. The Spaniard is more of a throwback to David Moyes or Jose Mourinho’s successes with Chelsea as opposed to the man who served as his manager mentor in Pep Guardiola, but style doesn’t matter if you win. Arsenal, in their previous iterations, played pretty football and often took home nothing.

A lot of credit also has to go to Josh and Stan Kroenke for being patient and sticking with several managers and front office managers despite early failures. As a result, they’ve seen almost all of their franchises lift at least one title in the past decade. Are the Rapids next? Time will tell, but you wouldn’t bet against it.

RT: Definitely vindication. The pressure was growing on him to deliver, particularly when this season started to go sideways in the spring. He steadied the ship, won a long-awaited title, and has them eyeing one more, the one the club actually covets most: the Champions League. Regardless of the result of that PSG game, he's delivered.

Arsenal v Burnley - Premier League

Is it fair to criticize their playing style? Or is this just how you win?

TH: Well, football is an entertainment product, so, objectively, as a watcher, there is nothing wrong with watching something and being a little bit underwhelmed. That's fine. The issue here is that it feels like a bit of a culture shock. The world kind of expects aesthetically pleasing football at this point. It's how Guardiola and Klopp won. It's how PSG won. Going further back, it's how Barca won. We want to see the best players in the world being extremely good at what they do. Seeing, well, not that, isn't great. But Arsenal really just needed to win something, and this got the job done. What is funny, though, was how much their fans probably did not enjoy watching them.

AL: Wanting to play a way and being effective at it are two different things, and Arteta deserves credit for going with who he is and winning that way. Because he is from Spain and had Arsene Wenger and Guardiola as mentors, people often forget that his biggest successes as a player might have come as a hard-nosed midfielder for Everton. There are a lot of parallels here.

RT: For fans of the other 100-something clubs that make up the English football pyramid, totally fair. For fans of this one particular club, who gives a damn? No Arsenal fan will look back on this season and say, 'Oh, we won the title but...'. They'll simply remember the feelings that came with winning that title. NBA great Brian Scalabrine once said after winning a title that he's seen now as a benchwarmer, in 20 years he'll have been a starter, and in 50 years he'll tell his grandkids he was the star. That logic works for trophies, too.

Arsenal's L to R Jose Antonio Reyes, Rob

How does this team compare with the 2004 invincibles?

TH: Nowhere near. The invincibles are probably a top 3 PL team ever, if not top 1. This group is miles away (as are most teams).

AL: Ooo, this is tough. The 2004 Invincibles are a historic team and were WAY more fun to watch, but honestly speaking, this 2026 team might be better, considering the strength of the current Premier League. Not to downplay Wenger and his success then, but at that time, he was one of the first foreign managers to be trusted with a storied club in England. His ideas were fresh and unique. And the Premier League wasn’t the best league in the world yet. Now it is. And England recruits the best players and managers to its top flight every year. This 2026 team might be the best in club history.

RT: The same way I compare with Thierry Henry. There are obvious levels to Premier League champions, and the Invincibles are quite clearly at the highest of levels. That's not saying this Arsenal team isn't good; it's saying that that Invincibles team was so, so good that they still talk about them two decades later. Will this Arsenal team be remembered that fondly by non-Arsenal fans? Probably not. This was a big moment for that club, yes, but not one that transcends North London in the way that the Invincibles did.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia PSG 2025-26 Champions League

Where does this leave Arsenal for the Champions League final?

TH: You'd think there's a little bit of belief now, perhaps maybe a little freedom. Arteta is an intense guy, and you don't imagine the standards just dropping out of nowhere. PSG are still a better side, though.

AL: The UCL feels like a bonus, but Arsenal might actually be primed to win it based on its routine experience with the Premier League. PSG have given fans a footballing clinic in the past two years, BUT, they haven’t a real league challenge in years. Arsenal have all of their key pieces healthy - knock on wood - and could be upset specialists in a few weeks.

RT: The same place they were before: crossing their fingers and hoping for the best. PSG are rightfully favorites, and a Manchester City draw across the English channel doesn't change that fact at all. Arsenal can play, yes, and they can do things that make PSG sweat, but they'll need to play an elite game, PSG to dip a bit and to have a little bit of luck to get the job done.

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Do you think Arsenal can kick on and go back-to-back?

TH: Absolutely - mostly because who can challenge them? City are going to be searching for answers with a new manager at the helm. Liverpool aren't trending the right way. Chelsea are flawed and Man United are a little short of the quality (although there is certainly hope in Manchester). Wouldn't be surprised if we were writing the same story next time next year.

AL: No. While it's too early to tell who will win - especially following a World Cup - the early money has to be on the red half of Manchester. People aren’t ready to make the full dive in yet on Michael Carrick’s Man United, but on form, they’ve arguably been one of the top three clubs in England. While this could be Ole Gunnar Solskjær all over again, the vibes feel different this time. If they recruit wisely and move on some of their dead wood, this could fit the 2024-25 Liverpool mold.

RT: It'll be difficult. There's simply too much parity at the top. Manchester City, even without Pep, will be fine. Chelsea and Manchester United seem to be getting better. Liverpool surely won't be this bad again next season, and clubs like Aston Villa, Newcastle, and Bournemouth have shown that clubs outside of that elite group can quickly become really hard to play against. Will Arsenal be the favorites? Probably, but if you're betting on them or the field, the safe money is always the field.