Mikel Arteta must address his personality if he wishes to finally bring the good times back to Arsenal.
That’s the view of Gunners legend Jens Lehmann, who believes his former employers are on the right track for continued success.
The north London outfit are in danger of once again ending the season without silverware with their Champions League dreams hanging by a thread.
Arsenal fell to a 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Tuesday night’s semi-final first leg at the Emirates.
The last time that Arsenal reached the European Cup final, Lehmann was between the sticks, where he was sent off early on in a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Barcelona in 2006.
Speaking on talkSPORT Drive on Wednesday, the iconic German goalkeeper was asked whether questions need to be asked of Arteta if he fails to deliver Champions League glory this term.
Since being appointed in December 2019, Arteta’s only major trophy has come in the FA Cup in 2020.
Two Community Shield triumphs have followed, but there has been no final appearance in any cup competition in five years.
And having overseen £700million in transfers during his tenure so far, Drive co-host Andy Goldstein posed the question as to how long Arteta can last if he keeps failing to win.
To which Lehmann said: “I think he started with a bad start, but you have to give a lot of credit to him.
“He pulled himself out, he changed the team and now he has made them very stable, and stable at the top, which is fantastic for the current owner, because he generates the money.”
Lehmann then quipped: “And on top if it, if they don’t win, he doesn’t need to pay him extra bonuses!”
He continued: “But obviously, he has to win next year.
“This year, they could have won [the Premier League], Man City dropped a little bit, Liverpool replaced them.
“Next year he has to win, but he probably needs to change his personality a little bit to win things.
“Because sometimes, it’s [about] control and being cautious.
“But if you want to win some things, in my opinion you could be a little more risky.
“But that’s next year – next week is super important, I cross my fingers that they will score two goals and will not concede one.”
Despite being on course for a third successive second place finish in the top-flight, it’s been a frustrating Premier League campaign for Arsenal.
As well as boasting the second most amount of draws in the division with 13, no team in the top seven have dropped more points from winning positions.
Arsenal have dropped a whopping 18 points, more than they have managed in the previous two seasons combined [17].
