Jamie Carragher has warned that Mikel Arteta must win a trophy next season otherwise his stint as Arsenal manager could come to an end.
Arteta has been in charge at the Emirates Stadium since 2019 but only has the 2020 FA Cup to show for his efforts so far.
In both 2023 and 2024, Arsenal came out on the wrong side of a Premier League battle with Manchester City, ultimately finishing second.
This year, Arteta guided the club to the Champions League semi-finals but once again fell short in the title race as Liverpool took top spot.
Writing in The Telegraph, Sky Sports pundit Carragher says that Arteta risks leaving a legacy of laying the groundwork for a successor to later come in and secure and elusive title.
The former Liverpool defender has also highlighted a concerning trend from the Spanish manager.
Mikel Arteta has won just one trophy during his five-year stint in charge at Arsenal
Jamie Carragher warns that Arteta may be the right manager for Arsenal at the wrong time
Arsenal were recently knocked out of the Champions League after losing away to PSG
‘One of the worrying signs of a manager under pressure is when interviews become more about validating work already done, fending off mounting criticism of the here and now amid increased questioning about what comes next,’ says Carragher.
‘Some of Arteta’s most recent public comments have veered into that territory, making him sound more like a fan on social media perpetuating a series of complaints about injuries and refereeing decisions.
‘His remarks about Arsenal deserving to beat Paris St-Germain over two legs in the Champions League semi-final left him open to ridicule.’
Pointing to his own former club, Carragher also disagreed with Arteta’s recent comments on this year’s Premier League winners.
‘Arteta comparing Liverpool’s title-winning performance to Arsenal’s runners-up spot in 2023 and 2024 on the eve of facing the new champions was not clever, either,’ says Carragher.
‘If Liverpool win their next three games, they will finish on 91 points.
‘That’s more than any Arsenal side in history, which is why Arteta’s observation in midweek about Arne Slot winning with fewer points after 35 games than Arsenal won after 38 in the past two years will be mocked.
‘For the record, Arsenal had 80 points at the exact same stage a year ago, and 81 the year before, which would have put them in second place right now, too.’
An FA Cup triumph during Arteta’s first season in charge represents his lone trophy to date
Arsenal have three Premier League games remaining starting with Sunday’s trip to Anfield
Arsenal’s Champions League campaign ended this week with a 2-1 defeat to PSG in Paris, 3-1 the final score on aggregate.
Arsenal and Arteta have three Premier League games left this season, starting with this Sunday’s visit to Anfield.
They then host Newcastle, currently fifth in the table and hunting a Champions League place, before travelling to Southampton to close out the campaign.
Arsenal are currently second in the table, though the gap between them and Manchester City in third has been trimmed to just three points.
