Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was quick to correct a recent suggestion that his side are simply the defending Premier League champions this season. Asked about the topic, Arteta interjected, "Attacking another Premier League. That's where we're going," underlining his determination to push forward rather than merely protect what was won last term.
However, a look back through the club's history shows just how difficult that ambition could prove to be. Arsenal have won the English top-flight title ten times since claiming their third consecutive First Division crown in 1934-35. Remarkably, on nine of those previous occasions, the Gunners failed to retain the title the following season - a run stretching back 92 years that Arteta and his squad are now hoping to break.
The pattern of falling short as reigning champions dates back to 1938-39, when Arsenal invested a British record fee of £14,000 in Bryn Jones, who scored on his debut. Despite that, the team managed only 55 goals compared to 77 the previous season and slipped to fifth, with Ted Drake the only player to reach double figures in the league.
A decade later, in 1948-49, Arsenal again finished fifth as champions, undone by a dismal run between November and the New Year in which they won just once in eight games. Portsmouth capitalised by winning their first-ever title.
The nadir came in 1953-54, when Arsenal conceded 73 league goals - their worst defensive record in 36 years - and finished 12th after losing six of their opening eight matches, though they did lift the Charity Shield that season.
Following their double-winning campaign, Arsenal endured a difficult 1971-72 season after coach Don Howe's departure disrupted preparations. The club broke the Football League transfer record to sign Alan Ball from Everton for £200,000, but a slow start proved costly and they finished fifth, six points off the pace, while also exiting the European Cup to Ajax in the quarter-finals.
Arsenal's title defence in 1989-90 also faltered despite topping the table in November, as seven winless away games between December and March saw them finish fourth, 17 points behind Liverpool. Two years later, in 1991-92, a club-record signing of Ian Wright for £2.5million helped fire Arsenal to the division's best attacking record, but defensive frailties meant even a 16-match unbeaten run to close the season wasn't enough to challenge for the title.
Arsene Wenger came closest to breaking the curse in 1998-99, with Arsenal unbeaten and winning 15 of 19 matches between December and May. They led the table late on, but a defeat at Leeds in the penultimate game allowed Manchester United to snatch the title by a single point on their way to a historic Treble.
Further near misses followed. In 2002-03, Arsenal sat eight points clear in March before stumbling with three draws in four games, including squandering a 2-0 lead against Bolton. Then came 2004-05, when even the famed Invincibles could not go back-to-back, as Chelsea's defensive solidity under Jose Mourinho proved decisive despite Arsenal's unbeaten run stretching to 49 matches before a controversial loss at Old Trafford.
That season marked the beginning of a 22-year wait for another Premier League title - a drought Arteta's side finally ended last season. Now, with the history of Arsenal's previous title defences offering little encouragement, the manager and his players face the challenge of achieving something the club has managed only once in nearly a century: successfully defending the English top-flight crown.
Based on reporting from Standard Football.