indeed one of Arsenal's mistakes is certainly due to Arsenal not always consistently winning in every match and of course what is clear is that Arteta's strategy still has shortcomings that make other clubs see it and finally Arsenal failed to achieve their dreams. yes of course there are many things that made Arsenal last season fail to become champions and of course if you look at the points obtained by Manchester City and Arsenal last season of course there is not much difference in points because there is only a difference of 2 points and indeed due to inconsistent winning which is one of the causes of Arsenal failing to become champions last season for example Arsenal experienced defeat by Aston Villa and if for example at that time Arsenal could win against Aston Villa of course Arsenal would be champions but yes it is very unfortunate that Arsenal at that time had to swallow another bitter pill because they failed again to become EPL champions.
yes of course if Arsenal does not focus too much on UCL it will certainly make Arsenal stronger in the EPL but of course in my opinion even if Arsenal focuses on the EPL it will certainly be difficult for Arsenal to become champions because of course there is no guarantee for a club using that system will become champions but of course now we just see what Arteta will do and of course he will fight with all his might to make Arsenal become EPL champions.
but of course Manchester City is currently very strong and will certainly not allow Arsenal and other teams to become champions. and of course Manchester City wants to be champions again. but of course Arsenal's hopes are wide open to become champions and Arsenal has started this season well.
The sad thing about being second place for two years in a row is that if you were fifth, nobody would be shocked, because Arsenal being fifth isn't really that shocking and there are good teams and it is not a terrible result, there were many years even Wenger didn't do well, and I bet that it would be quite similar for Arteta as well.
However, because they were second it means that we are talking about something drastically different, it just means that we are talking about something that is barely out of their reach, they are capable of getting it only if they won a few more games, when it is that close then people start to think something else. I think people are expecting more from Arsenal, unfairly a bit and Arsenal is doing their very best.