Jamie Carragher has suggested that Arsenal could be forced to fire Mikel Arteta if it continues to go without any trophies next season, having also criticized the Spaniard for his recent comments about Liverpool.
The Gunners will end another season without a trophy after their last hope for silverware was extinguished by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Their misery was compounded on Sunday as they were forced to give a guard of honor to the Reds, who comfortably beat them to the Premier League title this season.
Arsenal was tipped by a lot of pundits to end its 21-year wait for a league title last summer, and with Manchester City falling away, Arteta’s side should have come a lot closer than it did. In the end, they look set for a third successive second-place finish, and at best could finish nine points behind Liverpool.
Having won the FA Cup in his first year in charge of the club back in 2020, Arteta has failed to add any other major trophies since then, and Carragher feels the pressure may be building on him.
“This season felt like it should have been their season,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
“There’s no doubt next season that the pressure will be on Mikel Arteta massively in terms of winning something and winning something big.
“The Arsenal board, if they don’t [win a major trophy], will have a massive issue because they won’t want to change their manager, but there will be that many people saying: five or six years without a trophy.
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“They will be looking at how many managers can make that next step.”
Carragher though did offer a warning to Arsenal not to be too hasty with a decision on Arteta’s future, pointing to another of Liverpool’s rivals as cautionary tale.
“The problem with changing Mikel Arteta because, as I said, he’s done a brilliant job at Arsenal,” he added.
“Arsenal could easily become what Chelsea are right now. They could go from a team coming second year in, year out to a team that doesn’t actually get into the Champions League.
“[Changing managers] is the big conundrum that Arsenal as a football club will have in 12 months, if Arsenal go close again but don’t actually get across the line.”
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Carragher also hit back at the Arsenal boss after some of his recent comments. Arteta appeared to play down Liverpool’s title win by claiming his side’s points tallies in the previous two campaigns would have been enough to win it this season, despite the Reds still having the chance to reach 89 points after Sunday’s draw at Anfield – the highest tally Arsenal has managed under Arteta.
“Mikel Arteta in the last couple of weeks is saying things and he’s getting emotional. And at times he’s sounding like a little bit of a fan, not so much the manager.
“I think he’s convinced inside that they’ve been victims this season in some way; they’ve had six sending offs, the injuries that they’ve had.
“I think deep down he thinks they could have won the league without this and that – the red cards are not their fault, it was the referees and the injuries.”
