Mikel Arteta’s future at Arsenal will come under increasing scrutiny the longer it goes on without winning a trophy.
It is a third season in a row of being so close but yet so far for the Gunners, with the likelihood that they will finish as runners-up behind Liverpool in the Premier League.
They went one stage further in the Champions League this year, being knocked out at the semi-final stage by Paris Saint-Germain.
Arteta won the FA Cup in his first season with the club in 2019/20, but since then has failed to win any other piece of silverware.
Arsenal have clearly been on the right track under Arteta, given their back-to-back runners-up finishes in 2022/23 and 2023/24 and likely 2024/25 now too.
But many are still to be convinced the Spaniard can take them to that hallowed next level. Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville delivered a backhanded compliment to Arteta ahead of the Liverpool game at the weekend when he said: “I think it’s a great achievement to not win a trophy in five years and still be the manager of a top club, that isn’t under pressure – from us, from anybody in the football community, or even the Arsenal fanbase.
“I think that’s an incredible achievement, because we thought those days were gone where you could basically have this kind of patience afforded to you.
“Ordinarily there would be a manager under pressure because that’s significant in the sense that there is progression.”
football.london understands that Arteta retains the backing of the club and they believe he is the right man to continue hence giving him a three-year contract last summer.
So there are no thoughts of replacing him at the helm. But Arsenal’s closeness to success draws comparisons with their arch rivals Tottenham during Mauricio Pochettino’s reign from 2014 to 2019.
In the last three seasons Arsenal have amassed 241 points. That is only four fewer than Manchester City and nine more than Liverpool. City and Liverpool, meanwhile have won the three Premier League titles in that time.
From 2015/16 to 2017/18, Spurs finished third, second and third in the Premier League table, amassing 233 points. That was just 11 fewer than Man City and 17 more than Manchester United, 20 more than Chelsea and 22 more than Liverpool.
Chelsea won one of the titles, Man City won another and Leicester City famously won the other.
Tottenham were so close to glory, but so far, and Arsenal need to get over that hurdle or be tarred with a similar brush. Pochettino was sacked in 2019 after guiding Spurs to the Champions League final.
The warning signs are there for Arteta and Arsenal and they do not have to look too far to find them.
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal face a crucial summer transfer window if they want to push Liverpool and Manchester City for the title next season and you can stay up to date with every breaking news story, opinion and more…
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