Football is a very interesting sport, and often it mirrors life. On March 22, 2026, at Wembley, Arsenal faced Manchester City in the League Cup final, but Pep Guardiola’s side defeated them 2-0 and left the North London team looking like a shadow of itself.
It was difficult for the Arsenal fanbase to take, but one incident stayed with me: Mikel Arteta insisted that his players remain on the pitch, watch Manchester City collect their medals, and see them lift the trophy.
As I scanned the faces of the Arsenal players, I could see the hurt. As someone who has played the beautiful game and hates losing, I could understand those emotions.
This moment matters because it captures the larger story of Arteta’s Arsenal: a team shaped by public hurt, strengthened by shared suffering, and now beginning to look ready not just to compete with Manchester City, but to replace them at the top.
My mind went back to one of Arteta’s famous quotes: “Learning to find joy in suffering together.” Honestly, I asked myself: who finds joy in suffering? No one likes losing, let alone finding joy in it. Yet there is a salient truth in that quote. It captures a central part of Arteta’s philosophy: success is not only about enjoying victories; it is about learning to embrace difficult moments together.
Pressure, setbacks, injuries, painful defeats and criticism become shared experiences that strengthen the group rather than divide it.
Arsenal ended a twenty-two-year Premier League drought and then faced Manchester City in the Community Shield to kick off the 2026/27 season. Guardiola’s departure had left Manchester City with a huge hole to fill, but what they did not expect was the scale of Arsenal’s annihilation.
It took Arsenal only twenty-five seconds to show their intentions. They played with determination, urgency and clarity from the very first whistle. The Community Shield is often dismissed as a friendly game, but the pre-match interviews from both Mikel Arteta and Enzo Maresca made it clear that both managers wanted the silverware at stake and were prepared to put their best foot forward.
The Arsenal team did not hide their intentions and after the first goal they did not slow down.
Bruno Guimares and Christos Tzolis both made their competitive debuts for Arsenal and simply showed that they understood the task at hand and with their performance on the day have won the Arsenal fanbase over already.
One of the most fascinating things I observed in the game was Arsenal’s squad depth, especially in midfield. The starting trio was Odegaard, Guimaraes and Myles Lewis-Skelly. As substitutions were made at different points in the game, the midfield kept changing shape without losing control.
Odegaard-Rice-Lewis-Skelly
Odegaard-Rice-Zubimendi
Eze-Rice-Zubimendi
I could not help but look at how fluid the midfield was and did mention it to my fellow Gooner, Marian. We both concluded that the team had some solid fluidity and even observed players like Merino who did not play.
I was surprised when I checked my X account later in the day and saw a post by Rilwan ( @Real1_balogun) a fellow Gooner where he shared that at Arteta’s disposal that there are more than twenty midfield combinations and all of them are solid.
He went on to write and I quote: “That Arsenal midfield is the powerhouse this season. If injuries don’t distort the balance, that’s powerful personnel there.” I could not agree more with him.
Interestingly though he left Ethan Nwaneri out from the mix most likely because he believes he may go on loan again but Ethan into the mix just shows the incredible depth in this area. I have gone in these details to show how Mikel has at his disposal to vary formations and personnel to achieved its objectives.
In the game at Cardiff, Manchester City had no answer to the fluidity of the Arsenal midfield. Arsenal looks prime to unleash mayhem on opponents in the 2026/2027 season.
In his post-match press conference Mikel Arteta was asked on if Arsenal midfield is the best in the world: I found his response fascinating and I quote;
“It’s the best midfield for Arsenal, that’s for sure. That’s what we have to make it, everybody complements with their qualities to the player next to them and that we have this variability, that diversity with the qualities that we need in relation to the opponent. Today again, we’ve seen it, we’ve changed it, and we bring other qualities in different moments of the game, and that’s a really strong thing to have.”
I am of the view with the midfield engine room Arsenal will be very intriguing and fascinating to watch this season.
While I concede it is only the Community Shield, I can’t help but be reminded of an interview Pep Guardiola gave to Mellisa Reddy of Sky Sports on 18 May 2024.
Guardiola told Reddy: “For the future? Arsenal are giving the message… and we take it.” He then made the memorable point that there were few things in life he considered certain: waking up in the morning and going to sleep at night. His other certainty was that, given Arsenal’s young squad, their manager, the Arsenal ownership and the way they had played over the two previous seasons, Arsenal would remain at the top for “a long, long time.”
He concluded: “If you don’t start to be ready to compete with them again, they will take our position.” To paraphrase the then City Manager, Arsenal had constructed something sustainable. Their players were young, their football was established, and their manager was relentless. They were not disappearing.
I dare say, how prophetic of Guardiola. Well on May 19, 2026 that “prophecy” came to pass – Arsenal ended a twenty-two year wait for the Premier League title.
With the Spaniard retiring, Enzo Maresca was appointed to take over at Manchester City. The comprehensive defeat in the curtain opener of the 2026/27 season by Arsenal is a further testament of the arrival of Arsenal’s era of domination.
When I first shared this view with a few of my friends some jeered and laughed it off. I have followed football enough to see patterns in team sports, the leadership of such team and how they evolved.
Liverpool did dominate the English league in the 1980’s and Sir Alex Ferguson vowed to knock them off their perch which he did with some great Manchester United teams with fierce battles with the Arsene Wenger tutored Arsenal side, then came Roman Abrhamovic with his billions and reigned with Chelsea for a while before the Oil Money came to support Manchester City.
I wish to surmise that Arsenal time is now – combination of factors have aligned which has brought me to this conclusion – a great young manager who is a fierce competitor, young talented squad, the ownership (The Kroenke’s putting their money wihere there mouth is) and excellent fanbase that his ready to hit that great height.
I find an interesting connection between Melissa Reddy’s interview back then with Guardiola and Arteta’s idea of “learning to find joy in suffering together.” Guardiola’s comments help explain why Arteta was prepared to endure those difficult rebuilding years at Arsenal: Guardiola clearly recognized that Arteta was constructing something designed to last, not simply chasing an immediate result.
That is why this Community Shield performance feels bigger than one result or one afternoon. It feels like the continuation of a story that began in pain, matured through patience, and is now being written in authority.
Arsenal have suffered in public, learned in private, and returned with a team that looks prepared to carry the weight of expectation. The lesson from Wembley is no longer about watching someone else lift the trophy; it is about understanding why that pain was necessary.
Arteta asked his players to stare at what they had lost so they could recognize what they were building. Now, suffering has found its meaning — and Arsenal are no longer chasing the moment; they are becoming the moment.
Bimboh Adekoya is a widely travelled person and is on X as @Bimboh5
