Arsenal were "good enough" to win the Premier League title in the 2024-25 Premier League season, but the injury gods conspiring against them made it "impossible", expert Charles Watts has claimed.

After running Manchester City incredibly close in each of the previous two campaigns, Mikel Arteta's men were tipped by some to finally get over the line in 2024-25, having only ended up two points behind Pep Guardiola's men in 2023-24.

However, as Arteta himself admitted, Arsenal went backwards in the 2024-25 Premier League season, being forced to accept the silver medal for the third year running and finishing 10 points behind deserved champions Liverpool.

Arsenal collected 15 fewer points and scored 22 fewer goals in the Premier League this time around, and even though they reached the Champions League semi-finals, it went down as another trophyless campaign for Arteta.

Asked by Sports Mole to sum up Arsenal's season in one word, Watts replied: "Frustrating. A grind. It just never got going. There was no momentum. Four was the most wins in a row in all competitions. That summed it up; there was no real swing where it felt like everything was in place for the club to really have a good run.

"Every time you felt like you'd come through certain injuries, bang, other injuries would hit. It was just constantly stop, start, stop, start, the suspensions and all those things. It just never clicked into gear. So it's been a hugely frustrating season, and it's been a tough one to follow as well, because we all have such high expectations.

"It's hard when you've got those expectations. If you don't win it, you're disappointed. And that's really, really tough. I was looking at the celebrations of Chelsea finishing fourth. A team that spent a £1bn in, God knows, about six months. A bit of an over-exaggeration, but you know what I mean. And they're celebrating fourth.

'Arsenal finish second and the knives are out'

"I'm not having a dig at them, but Arsenal finished second and the knives are out. There's no celebrations. Everyone's disappointed. But that's the thing. If your only target at the start of the season is to win the league, you're kind of setting yourself up for a fall, because it's so hard.

"I do think Arsenal were good enough to win it this year, but they just never had the opportunity because injuries, suspensions, everything made it pretty much impossible. And that's before we even mentioned their lack of [transfer] activity, which is purely their own fault."

Partly down to Arsenal's own making and partly down to a spate of injuries, Arteta only had three players available for every single Premier League game this season - David Raya, Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard.

Every other Gunner missed at least one league game through injury, suspension or ineligibility, while key cogs in Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White all spent significant time on the sidelines.

Havertz, Saka and Gabriel had to go under the knife for hamstring problems, while William Saliba sustained an issue in the same area during the closing stages of the season, which will keep him out for a few weeks.

With a multitude of Gunners players picking up hamstring injuries in 2024-25, Watts believes that there are "red flags" that need to be addressed for next season, both by Arsenal's medical team and the transfer gurus.

"There has to be a lot of work done on working out why the injuries happened and what can you do to stop," he added. "It is very hard to stop injuries, but when you look at how some of these players got injured, how many minutes they played and the type of injuries they've got, there are some red flags there.

'Arsenal will show real intent in summer transfer window'

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"What can they do to ensure they don't have to put so many minutes into these legs that these players are going to end up tearing their hamstrings? There needs to be a lot of work done on that. I'm sure there already has been.

"That's crucial, because if Arsenal have another season injury wise like they had this season, they're not going to win anything. It's as simple as that. You cannot, at the top level in the Premier League, win when half your squad is missing for so much - your key attacking players, especially.

"But they've got to learn to protect themselves and do more in the transfer market. They can't go into another season without strengthening significantly in attack because they've just not got enough. And that's when everyone's fit. They gambled last season in both windows, that gamble didn't pay off.

"That has to be a lesson they've learned. And I think it will be. I think they're going to attack this window with intent. I'd be stunned if they don't. All the noise is coming out of them is that they are going to show real intent."

Arsenal are yet to announce their official Player of the Season for the 2024-25 campaign, but there will almost certainly be a new victor after captain Odegaard claimed the prize in each of the previous two years.

Defensive candidates lead the way this time around, as goalkeeper Raya defended half of his Premier League Golden Glove award with 13 clean sheets, sharing the trophy with Nottingham Forest's Matz Sels.

Who "just edges" Arsenal Player of the Season vote?

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Jurrien Timber also excelled in a hectic 2024-25 season after his ACL-disrupted debut campaign, while Gabriel was a constant threat from set-pieces before his season-ending hamstring injury.

Declan Rice also made a case to be nominated after a sensational end to the campaign, but for Watts, Saliba's Brazilian centre-back partner marginally takes the prize.

"Gabriel," he replied when asked for his Arsenal Player of the Season. "I know he's missed the last eight games, in the league, but he still edges it for me. Rice had a real late push for it, but the first half of his season was not the level that he performed in the second half. Gabriel has just been so consistent from the start until the injury, in both boxes. He was fantastic.

"Absolutely shouts for Jurrien Timber, David Raya, Myles Lewis-Skelly needs to be mentioned. But Gabriel, he's such a leader in this team. I saw a stat after the Southampton game, I think 40% of the goals Arsenal conceded from set pieces this season have come since Gabriel got injured.

"He's often under the radar in the shadow of William Saliba. But this season he's absolutely emerged from that shadow and become the dominant one of the two. William Saliba will say that himself as well and will hands down admit that Gabriel's had the best season. Sheer consistency, Gabriel gets it."

If Gabriel also wins Arsenal's official Player of the Season prize, he would become the first Brazilian to take home the trophy, and just the second South American after Chilean attacker Alexis Sanchez (2014-15 and 2016-17).

Written by
Ben Knapton