Why It’s “Arteta out” if the Gunners don’t win the league this season

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Since his inception as first-team manager in 2019, the former Arsenal captain has become a hot topic in English football. His time at the club has been marked by highs and lows, with Arsenal having numerous near misses. With an immensely talented squad and 6 years of experience arteta and his men are expected to deliver this season, and with them being 6 points clear of second place manchester city, the possibility of Arsenal lifting the Premier League trophy is looking ever more likely. 

Yet the closer Arsenal get to success, the pressure also rises for Mikel Arteta and his team. Just as Champions League betting odds shift dramatically when a contender repeatedly falls short at the semi-final stage, perception hardens when a team consistently comes close without delivering. For many supporters, this season is no longer about development or long-term vision. It is about proof. If Arsenal fail again, the debate around Arteta’s future may intensify beyond repair.

Multiple failures in the past

For the past 3 seasons, Arsenal has finished 2nd; this repeated failure has led to them gaining the title “bottlejobs”. The ultimate goal of a manager is to win silverware, and for Arsenal, that silverware is the Premier League trophy. While Arteta has shown noticeable progress over his time at Arsenal, results are what really matter. People agree that no matter how good your playing style or tactics, they mean little without results. For Arteta, who has been given lots of resources and 6 years to deliver, his current success is no less than what is expected of him; he hasn’t exceeded expectations. Similarly, to be given this much is unheard of for a team that holds as much weight historically and culturally as Arsenal, this is because patience for managers at the top by both fans and the board is thin.

Big squad and high spending 

In six years, Mikel Arteta has spent nearly 1 billion pounds on new players. Despite this ridiculous expenditure, the team has yet to win the league. This is a problem because, given the depth of his squad and the amount he has spent, they should be capable of winning the Premier League; however, year after year, Arteta and his men have proved that this is not the case. He’s put together a team that perfectly mixes star talent with youth players and veterans. Every position on the pitch has a good quality backup capable of stepping in if necessary. This is shown through constant rotations, which allows him to rest stars like Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice due to an abundance of replacements. 

This system and artetas philosophy have proved partiucularly useful for youth development with what seems like a new youth academy graduate breaking into the first team every few months like miles lewis skelly who plays regularly or Ethan Nwaneri, who made his arsenal first team debut at 15 years old and has just been sent on loan to Lyon to guarantee him more game time due to arsenals ridiculous depth in all areas of the pitch. Or perhaps the most recent example of this is Max Dowman, who became the youngest Champions League player of all time at just 115 years old. All this, coupled with Arsenal’s huge buying power and ability to get stars like Victor Gyokeres, who joined in the summer, should mean they’d run away with the title; however, they’ve come up short every time.

 Even if we put aside artetas big spending and just look at the sheer depth and size of this Arsenal squad, their ability to rest so many crucial players should guarantee them success, as every other team is struggling with fixture congestion and overworking their players, like Manchester City for example, who have been Arsenal’s “boogyman” when trying to win the league. They have suffered numerous blows to their back line, with injuries to key defenders like Josko Gvardiol, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, and Nathan Ake, and, in turn, have to rely on academy talent and less proven squad rotation players. Instead, his side have finished second in the lague 3 times, indicating that whilst he is consistent, the man doesn’t have what it takes to lead a team to the title. Therefore, keeping him following another season without the league title would risk normalising underachievement. 

Tactical limitations.

Mikel Arteta’s tactical limitations have become a topic of contention in recent seasons. This is because his defensive structure, pressing, and positional play contribute highly to Arsenal’s success. It is within these strengths that their most glaring tactical flaws. This is because his system works well when everything functions perfectly, but it leaves little room for improvisation and adaptability. The team has often struggled to adapt to the game when facing well organised or top opponents. A mix of over-reliance on wide build-up and Arteta’s obsession with keeping controlled possession has made Arsenal extremely predictable when attacking in open play. His philosophy, when in possession, makes their attack stale, and their lack of creation in the midfield due to bad spells from players like Martin Odegard means they don’t generate many goals in open play. Arteta has tried to fix this issue by signing exceptional creators like Eberichi Eze and great 1-on-1 dribblers like Noni Madueke, but these players aren’t always available. 

However, some may argue that Mikel Arteta’s reluctance to play attacking football doesn’t really matter because of their outstanding set-piece tactics. Arsenal have revolutionised the league with the way they set up for corners and free kicks. This has been so successful that every time they gett a corner it seems almost like a definite goal. This has forced teams to change how they defend set pieces completely with lob threats like Gabriel, Gyokeres, and Merino. They have been able to generate lots of goals and are one of the main reasons they are first right now. 

But on the defensive side of the ball is where Mikel Arteta’s tactics become controversial. Some argue he’s taken his park the bus philosophy too far, sometimes putting ten men behind the ball to defend attacks. This has been dubbed “Haramball” by football fans. One of the main issues people have with this is that it’s borderline unwatchable. This has led to fans turning on the manager for imploring such tactics, as although Jose Mourinho pioneered the “park the bus”, and famously implored it during his time at Chelsea, he has silverware to show for it; Arteta doesn’t.

Overall, if Arsenal fail to win the league this season, factoring in the amount of time and money Arteta has had, his glaring tactical flaws, and a style of football that borders on unwatchable, it’s impossible to argue against his sacking.   

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