The work Mikel Arteta has done to transform Arsenal’s mentality is hammered home by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s comparison to Liverpool.
Two of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s former sides meet at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, with both Premier League title contenders. That’s a stark contrast to his time in north London.
The Gunners’ highest finish during his six years with the club between 2011 and 2017 was second place in the 2015/16 season. Arsenal moved above north London rivals Tottenham on the final day but still finishing 10 points adrift of champions Leicester City.
Despite Oxlade-Chamberlain winning three FA Cups and three Community Shields under Arsene Wenger, the Frenchman’s final years in charge were blighted by inconsistency and a failure to turn up on the big stage.
That’s a shortcoming that the former England midfielder, 31, noticed straight away after his move to Merseyside. “At Arsenal, we always went into those big games thinking, ‘This is going to be really tough’,” he told the The Athletic last year.
“That was the biggest difference at Liverpool, where, even in the first season when we were a bit of an unknown entity, there was this unbelievable complete and utter focus where there was nothing else happening but us winning the game.
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“I don’t know why, but at Liverpool, the big games, we just knew we were going to win. We won FA Cups [at Arsenal], but we probably never achieved what we should have done.
“We had unbelievable quality. Football-wise we had everything we needed to do the business. We were just missing… belief? Toughness? Ruthlessness? I don’t know. Maybe it was a bit of that.”
Now Arsenal share that same conviction Liverpool had under Jurgen Klopp, with Arteta instilling confidence not felt around London Colney since the first half of Wenger’s reign. But only if they must go on to achieve similar success to what Oxlade-Chamberlain had with Liverpool – winning the Champions League, Premier League, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup – will it be mission successful.
