Reflecting on Arsenal’s defeat to Paris Saint-Germain over two legs in the Champions League semi-final, Chris Sutton told the latest ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ podcast that Mikel Arteta ‘has to hold his hands up’ over the poor decision not to bring in attacking reinforcements last summer.
The former professional player turned pundit said the blame for Arsenal losing out in the Premier League and Champions League rests solely with the Spanish manager, who has had five years to build a squad that can compete on all fronts.
He argued that the late pursuit of Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins in January is evidence that Arteta knew ‘he’d got it wrong’ in constructing a trophy-winning attack for this season.
Despite having early chances, Arsenal were well beaten in Paris on Wednesday night, with superb finishes by Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi sinking the Gunner’s last hopes for silverware.
‘Arsenal were competitive in both legs’, Sutton told the podcast.
Chris Sutton told the latest ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ podcast that Mikel Arteta ‘has to hold his hands up’ over the poor decision not to bring in attacking reinforcements last summer. Listen now
Chris Sutton: ‘Will there be regrets? I think it’s glaringly obvious to look at Arsenal not bringing in a striker last summer.’ Listen now
‘But I thought PSG were the better team and the Gunners deserved to go out. Will there be regrets? Well, Arteta has been there for five years now, and I think it’s glaringly obvious to look at Arsenal not bringing in a striker last summer.
‘At this level, it’s fine margins. They made that last-minute play for Ollie Watkins in the January window, which I think was an admission they had got things wrong.
‘Five seasons now with Arteta: I think there are definitely things he could have done that would have given Arsenal a better chance of winning silverware.’
Sutton qualified his criticism of Arsenal’s manager by saying that overall, the club is ‘moving in the right direction’ and is not ‘a million miles away’ from competing for the highest honours.
‘Arsenal’s display in the first 25 minutes at the Parc des Princes was phenomenal’, Sutton described.
‘They’re not a million miles away. I don’t the issues are on the pitch. I think they’ve made mistakes off the field in terms of recruitment.
‘What happened this season happened; they’ve finished trophyless. What happens next is the important thing. Arteta must be thinking along the same lines as me – they weren’t proactive enough as they should have been in the market.’
Ian Ladyman was less kind to Arsenal, expressing ‘surprise’ at their lack of progress this season. Listen now
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Why Mikel Arteta’s claims are hollow after Arsenal were still way short of good enough: IAN LADYMAN
Co-host Ian Ladyman was less kind to Arsenal, expressing ‘surprise’ at their lack of progress this season.
The Mail’s Football Editor said injuries were no excuse for Arsenal’s lack of consistency and inability to pile pressure on eventual league winners Liverpool.
Ladyman argued: ‘They have been disrupted this season. Equally though, they’re not the only team that has contended with injuries.
‘They are moving forward – but what concerns me is that they didn’t move forward this season. That surprised me.
‘You say they’re close, but are they really? They’re a long way behind Liverpool – they got to the last four of the Champions League, but they were well beaten.
‘When you’re a big club, there are ebbs and flows in your season. When you have good spells, you must seize them. I remember when Arsenal annihilated City at home and then followed it up by losing at home to Newcastle.
‘When you win big, when you win well, it has got to trigger something – it can’t just stand out as an isolated performance.’
To hear the full debate on Arsenal’s progress under Arteta and Ian and Chris’s picks for defender of the season, listen to ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ now, wherever you get your podcasts.
