Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has told Mikel Arteta that he is potentially facing his “last chance” to build a team capable of winning the biggest prizes at Arsenal.
The Gunners challenged for the Premier League title during the past couple of seasons but have fallen short of pre-season expectations this term. With Liverpool having clinched the top flight crown, the North London outfit had the opportunity to create history in the Champions League instead – but crashed out at the semi-final stage.
An inquest into Arsenal’s woes has ensued following this underwhelming campaign, while manager Arteta insists that he believes his team is among the best in Europe. In the lead up to the second leg of his side’s last four clash in the Champions League against PSG, he made a bizarre admission about Liverpool’s title win.
Now, Anfield hero Carragher has given his perspective on the current situation at the Emirates as he admitted that the Spanish coach may start to face questions over his job if he does not compete for major honors next season. Writing for The Telegraph, he opined: “To say his next transfer window might be the last chance sounds extreme.
“Arteta has so much credit in the bank, it is fair and right there is more resistance to managerial change at Arsenal than desire for it.
“But no one understands better than him that all the goodwill for creating an Arsenal team capable of winning is gone.
“Arteta must deliver next season, otherwise his legacy will be years of groundwork for the benefit of a successor who will be asked to add the finishing touches.”
(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Giving a stark opinion on the interviews Arteta has given in recent times, Carragher continued: “One of the worrying signs of a manager under pressure is when interviews become more about validating work already done.”
Speaking ahead of the trip to Merseyside at the weekend, the Gunners boss acknowledged that his team has regressed this season. He told Sky Sports: “In the Champions League, we have because we did better than last season but not where we want because we wanted to win it.”
(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
“In the Premier League, we’ve made a step backwards. With the points we’ve created, it’s clear we haven’t done as well as last season.”
He also insisted: “We [the current Arsenal squad] are there,” he said. “With the amount of points we generated over the last few seasons, we could have two Premier Leagues.
“We’re not close, we are there. We are providing the numbers that win you titles. We have to be a little bit luckier, do better and hope nobody does better than you.
“You need a lot of factors to go your way, like that decision in the clinical moment… We’ve tried to amplify the margins. The bigger the margins are, then it will be very difficult for the opposition.”
