There was no fairy-tale title win for Arsenal today and Thierry Henry has made a prediction about next season’s title push.
The Gunners eventually beat Everton to get the win but with Manchester City seeing off West Ham, there was no dream finish inside The Emirates.
For Mikel Arteta, it will be another crushing blow but one Arsenal fans will hope motivates him even further going into next season.
Of course, City are going to be there again and with Liverpool having a new manager in Arne Slot, the title race could be tighter than ever.
And speaking about next season, Thierry Henry has insisted that Arsenal just cannot afford mistakes against other teams.
Thierry Henry tells Arsenal what they need to do to win the title next season
Speaking on Premier League Productions about what Arsenal need to do next year, Henry insisted it wasn’t solely about just beating City.
“They beat City this year, they didn’t concede a goal against City, but we lost twice against Villa. West Ham at home, but Villa, we lost 1-0 there, we lost 2-0 at home. It’s not only beating City that will give you the title,” Henry said.
“We’re not going to collapse hopefully, because when a team tries to follow City for more than two years they collapsed. What [Mikel Arteta] did is second to none in terms of bringing the team back and having the fans believing, now consistency is key.”
Five losses was too many for Arsenal
In the end, Man City might have drawn two more games than Arsenal did but it was the Gunners losing two more than City that did for them.
As Henry says, those two defeats against the likes of Aston Villa and West Ham proved crucial.
Over the course of a season nowadays up against Guardiola’s team, you simply cannot afford to lose that many games.
Arsenal will know they’ve pushed City all the way this season but they’ll also be aware they’ve let things slip a touch when it’s mattered the most.
Next season, then, Henry is right. Arsenal simply have to beat the others around them and still beat City.