The last time Arsenal came 2nd three seasons running, they won the league
How an analysis of the last time Arsenal came runners up three times running helps us understand the Arteta approach today
As you will know, Arsenal have just come runners-up three times running. But this is not the first time Arsenal havve come runners up three times in succession, so I thought it might be interesting to look at the other time this happened.
The previous occasion – in fact the only previous occasion – was the three seasons running from 1998/9 on to 2000/2001.
First, let’s think about goals. In the original run of three runners-up spots, Arsenal scored 59, 83, and 63 goals. This time it was 88, 89 and 74. So clearly, although the positions were the same (obviously second each time) the number of goals now being scored has greatly increased.
What’s more, the goals scored in the run, in the turn of the century seasons, was 195 across the three seasons, while over the last three seasons, the total has been 248 goals.- a 27% higher rate of goal scoring.
In terms of defence, in the turn of the century run of second place achievements Arsenal conceded 98 league goals across those three seasons. In the recent run it was 106, an eight per cent higher rate. So more goals were conceded, but hardly a dramatic upturn.
In terms of points, Arsenal collected 221 in their turn-of-the-century run of second-place finishes, while in the past thre seasons it has been 244 – and that despite the decline last season due to the huge run of injuries.
Of course, we associate the runs under Arsene Wenger with Thierry Henry scoring goals, but in the first of the three second-place finishes, the top scorer was Nic Anelka with 19. After that, it was Henry with 26 and 22.
This time we had the season in which three players each got 15 followed by Saka with 20, and then Havertz with 15.
Now the key intriguing question, therefore, is what happened next?
After our run of three runners-up finishes with Henry an co, Arsenal won the League in 2001/2 – and what we can do here is compare that achievement with the record of Arsenal in recent seasons.
What this table shows is the third of the three seasons of gaining second place
| Season | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Plce |
| 2000/1 | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 63 | 38 | 70 | 2nd |
| 2024–25 | 38 | 20 | 14 | 4 | 69 | 34 | 74 | 2nd |
|---|
What we can see is that the only difference in the games tally was that while in 2000/1 Arsenal drew 10 and lost eight, last season Arsenal drew 14 and lost four. Meaning that the points total last season was four points better than in 2000/1. Goals were up as well, by six, and goals conceded were down by four.
So in every metric Arsenal either equalled or beat the achievements of the 2000/2001 side, which came second three years running and then went on to win the league.
And yet this season, after gaining the runners-up slot for the third season running, some “supporters” (I use the word lightly), were demanding that the club should sack the manager and get a new one in. Rather in the style and approach of Tottenham (except they didn’t come runners up).
The obvious conclusion to reach is that Mikel Arteta has been building up the Arsenal team, and achieving the “near miss” results in exactly the same way that Arsene Wenger did before him with his evolving team ane three runners’ up places in a row. Quite why some supporters cannot learn from history and see this is a good way forward, I really don’t know but that is how it is.
Obviously, three runner-up places in a row is not a guarantee of winning the league in 2025/6, but it most certainly is a good sign rather than a bad one.