Tia Thorne
Mikel Arteta keeps us dreaming
Under Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta's leadership we're a club that expects to compete for trophies again, says Gooner Fanzine print writer Tia Thorne
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There’s a moment every season where you realise you’re enjoying it. Not analysing it. Not guarding yourself. Just enjoying being there.
Our Carabao Cup run has been that moment.
As a match-going fan, you feel things di?erently. You see the nervous glances, hear the groans before misplaced passes, sense when belief shifts inside the stadium. And for years, especially in semi-finals, that feeling has been familiar. Tight. Cautious. Heavy. Like everyone knew how the story usually ended.
Until now.
Mikel Arteta has lived with that semi-final weight just as much as most. Every near miss, every narrow exit, every “nearly” added another layer. It hung over him and over us. A team close enough to compete, but never quite ruthless enough to finish the job.
And yet, he never flinched.
What’s changed isn’t just results, it’s mentality. You feel it from the first whistle now. Arsenal don’t play semi-finals like they’re hoping anymore. They play them like they belong there. Like this stage is expected, not feared.
This run has been fun. Properly fun. The kind that reminds you why midweek games under the lights matter, why away ends are worth the miles, why home nights feel di?erent when there’s something real on the line. There’s been tension, yes but also trust. Trust in the structure. Trust in the plan. Trust in the man on the touchline.
Arteta has built that.
He’s taken the scars of those semi-final exits and turned them into lessons rather than warnings.
Where once there was hesitation, there’s now clarity. Where there was fragility, there’s control.
And when pressure arrives because it always does — this team doesn’t shrink. It stands.
That’s leadership.
Now we’re in a final. Where Arsenal should be. Not as guests. Not as a surprise. But as a club that expects to compete for trophies again.
For those of us who’ve watched the rebuild from the stands, who’ve stuck through false dawns and painful exits, this feels like a reward not just for the players, but for the belief Arteta has demanded from all of us, a day out at Wembley.
Whatever happens at Wembley, this matters. Because finals change narratives. They change how teams see themselves.
And thanks to Mikel Arteta, Arsenal are finally seeing themselves clearly again.
Lets make this season a special one ga?a, all together.
Read Tia Thorne's latest article in the forthcoming new print issue of the Gooner Fanzine focusing on the Carabao Cup final, out on Sunday for Arsenal vs Chelsea. Pre-order it here
A selection of Tia's previous work for the Gooner Fanzine
The Evolution of Arsenal Under Arteta by Tia Thorne
This article first appeared in edition 313 of the Gooner Fanzine - buy it here
Sick and tired of PGMOL's lack of 'conclusive evidence' when it comes to Arsenal
Reflections on Arsenal's victory over AC Milan in Singapore
Getcha new Gooner! Out for Arsenal vs Chelsea https://t.co/5fZ731WyUO
— Layth (@laythy29) February 24, 2026
