William Gallas has given a scathing assessment of Arsenal’s performance under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners made the Spaniard their boss at the end of 2019, and he has kept the job for two full seasons now.
Arsenal made great progress in the last campaign, and they nearly secured a top-four spot.
However, Tottenham eventually beat them to a place inside it, and they finished fifth.
Considering that they were not in any European competition in the last campaign, that is considerable progress.
However, Gallas says they have to play in the UCL, and because Arteta was unable to achieve that, he has failed.
The former defender said, as quoted by Metro Sport:
‘For me, last season he failed because he didn’t qualify for the Champions League. That is the minimum for Arsenal, with the story of Arsenal, they have to play the Champions League.
‘It didn’t happen, they didn’t qualify, so this season again they will be focussed on the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup. I know he won the FA Cup in 2020 and the Community Shield, but it’s not enough for a big club like Arsenal, so for me he has failed.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
We truly should be in the Champions League every season, but Arteta inherited a team that was incapable of achieving that.
We needed a major rebuild after Arsene Wenger left, and he is now helping to reconstruct the team.
The former midfielder needs more time to make this club great again, and we should give him that.
Says the player who sat in the centre circle crying.
Anyway, on a lighter note, did you see that screamer from Elneny?
@Declan
He does make a valid point though. We were playing one match a week for a good chunk of the season and still bottled it. People call Leicester City’s EPL win a fluke. But to me, it was a footballing “master stroke”. They ran through just about every one except us, playing one match a week. They capitalised on their situation. We should have also. We should have at least come in 3rd…
Use whatever excuses you like, young team, injuries etc, etc.But bad man management and lack of tactics blew us our table standing.
So, Galas is right. Arteta failed…IJS
Top comment NYG
NY_Gunner
Fair statement you make, but too many will make excuses.
The false premise that his team was “incapable” is misleading.
They were capable enough up 4 points with 3 matches left in the season and Arteta didn’t have the tactics or ideas to finish.
Injuries will be the excuse for many, but with Partey and Tierney missing for weeks and Auba gone and Laca gone stale WE WERE 4TH WITH 3 GAMES TO GO.
The players lacked the mentality, will, and guts quite simply to push through the last 3 games.
Arteta had no plan B and no ideas to drag the squad across the finish line in 4th.
I’m curious if now accountability sets in, or yet another year full of lame and played out excuses.
1. Hundreds of millions spent backing him up
2. He has hand picked how many players now? Must be 14 or more.
3. Complete control over the squad and players.
We simply can’t further hamstring the club to keep him afloat. He has to produce or move on. The “process” should include changing managers if they aren’t getting it done.
We become fifth in the league with a top six squad, which reflects the reality.
Yes, we have spent lots of money but we are not alone spending big money. It’s quite a difference spending big when having a quality squad, compared to spending big having an average squad. Our spending is decreasing the gap, but the gap isn’t removed in a few windows.
How much better we will be next season depends on our quality/success, but also what our opponents have been doing in the window. Secondly will all of the clubs deliver according to their potential quality?
NYG, LC had the likes of Mahrez, Kante, Vardy in their squad, who did we have? Laca? Pepe? Injured Partey? Spurs have proven goal threats – Kane and Son. Appreciate Mikel for finally landing a real player, a workaholic in GJ. And he is active in the market for a “real” back up to Saka and a “real” defensive mid field player and not some joke as the case used to be. If Dusan ditched us what could Mikel have done? Hire some flop for the sake of signing someone? Mikel is not so daft (as the combo of Bean+Faulty). Did Mikel injure Tierney, Tomiyasu and Partey? We needed a squad overhaul and that is happening. Klopp did not win the title in 2 seasons with Pool. End of story, IMO.
@Loose Cannon
You’re jokin right? Those 3 guys you mentioned, were all unknown players from lower league teams until Ranieri made them all household names by wining the EPL in 1 year of coming to LC. He did so with good man management and sound tactics.
And I see you’re all over the place with excuses for Arteta. I’m not even going to entertain them.
Leicester City built their success on excellent scouting and recruitments policy. Because of their success other clubs have recruited some of their key people. Their success is definitely not a result of one man’s work, but excellent teamwork.
Becoming a champion once many can achieve, but recreating success is something completely different.
@NYG
Well said.
It can always be argued as a glass half full or half empty.
Really all I am saying is take off the rose tinted glasses and be open-minded to criticism. That is how we all improve.
Gallas does not seem to understand the mechanism of Rebuilding a team is. So he can with all comfort say that Arteta failed in two years as an Arsenal Coach
If he were ever a real defence player, with an Arsenal DNA, he should have appreciated the fact, that Arsenal had become garbage and ready to be relegated; and was filled with Deadwood’s that
needed to be cleared before starting and completing a rebuild in
In two years? That is why Gallas cannot appreciate Arteta’s job so far and within this short time.. We the Fans appreciate his project.
According to Gallas Arteta caused Party and Tierney to have the injuries that cause us damage. What about the unjustified RED Cards from biased
Referrers against AFC?
Let Gallas reflect well and be appreciative of what Arteta and his coaching team are doing.
@AA
Excuses, excuses…
Well we all see football in different dimensions..for he his one of the best coach in England..what his suppose to say is…if by these season he can’t make a top four then I believe he should leave..who in the world would think laca and auba won’t get atleast 12 goals in the Epl which they both manage to get maybe 10 or 12 goals altogether..every department showed a real class and the two players we trusted the most couldn’t get us a average goal of 20 all together..am proud of the boys and they can only get better nothing much.i hope they sign just two world class..also why are arsenal fighting for martinez..they are also a,lot of LB that can actually cover for tierney..gunners for life..
Arsenal was 9th when Arteta hired, hardly “ready to be regulated.”
We fell to 16th mere points above relegation zone under Arteta’s watch, not Wenger or Emery, Remember?
Emery reached Europa finals and finished 5th “filled with deadwood” as you put it.
Arteta achieved half that (5th) after spending 250 million on his hand picked players.
Let’s stop blaming refs and VAR for failing tactics and underperforming.
Short time you say? 2 and 1/2 years is a year more than what Emery got, and 6 months more than Wenger after the 4th or else ultimatum.
Arteta has to get CL by either finishing 4th or winning Europa, or else he failed. Out of curiosity, were you as understanding with Emery as you are now with Arteta?
We didn’t sack Emery because he was successful and his success didn’t last.
He left Arsenal in a negative trend which he wasn’t able to do anything about, nor was he able to sort out the mess in our dressing room, or lift the super negative atmosphere surrounding our club.
Some of us are able to notice that state of the club nowadays is quite different than May 2018 and November 2019.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/11873289/unai-emery-was-out-of-sync-with-arsenal-and-didnt-give-fans-enough-to-believe-in
Leicester had a top scorer and goals from marzeh. The leauge now is something very different, we have the Madrid and Bacra of arsenal’s hayday in our leauge now in City and Liverpool. Whoever wins the leauge is a finalist or semi finalist of the CL.
We made poor transfer decisions over years and paid for it now with a rebuild needed.
Youngest team in the prem, yes we should of finished 3rd last season and if we had a few more goals in the team we would of. That was the issue. Let’s back the team and move forward. We need our new signings to work.
Every team “fails” according to the fans.
Man City failed because despite winning their 4th PL title in five years they got knocked out in the CL semi. Guadiola must go.
Liverpool failed because despite winning the FA Cup and Carabao they came a distant -1- point- behind City in the PL and lost the CL final. Klopp must go. Chelsea failed because despite winning the Super Cup the world club cup and making the FA and Carabao cup finals they finished a terrible 3rd in the PL. Tuchel must go.
Spurs failed because they failed to win a trophy. Conte must go. Arsenal and Utd failed to make the CL. Arteta must go. Westham won nothiing and failed to make the EL. Moyes must go. Leicester failed in the EL and the Confeence league. Rogers must go. Every other team failed to win any thing so all managers in the PL must be sacked tmorrow.
Nice one
He’s right that we threw it away. He’s lying that it was an expectation. I personally got no end of grief for saying we were nailed on for 5th.
I personally don’t agree with #Gallas and it’s very unfair on Arteta to be honest. He lead a young, inexperienced team, out played the Great Manchester City, humiliated Chelsea and Manchester United.
If not for #GranitXhakaredcard and untimely injuries to Thomas Partey, Tomiyasu and Tierney, the #defunct striking force of Aubameyang and Lacazette Arsenal could have Won the league.
#Gallas should really do his homework.
Manchester United with all the stars in their ranks really really really failed last season and not Arsenal.
Top 6 best front 3 last season
1. Liverpool: Salah, Mane, Diaz
2. Tottenham: Kulusevski, Kane, Son
3. Manchester City: Jesus, Foden, Sterling
4. Chelsea: Lukaku, Havertz, Mount
5. Manchester United: Sancho, Cavani, Ronaldo
6. Arsenal: Saka, Martinelli, Smith Rowe.
These young guns carried the club on their shoulders into the Europa league, once called upon these lads grabbed the opportunity and never looked back like #Lot’swife(who turned into salt).
So Mr. Gallas, numbers don’t lie Arteta did what he could with what he had, so please talk to Arsenal management to buy players who can match the fire power of the current top 4 teams.
Otherwise, put yourself in Arteta’s shoes, then you’ll realize that it’s not easy to manage a club like Arsenal, where management always want to buy under performing players from big clubs. Reason; they come cheap and cheap is expensive.
We need Raphinha right?
Tielemans right?
Martinez right?
Just wait ……….topic for another day.
Gallas does make a valid point.. We had the opportunity to make Top 4 but Arteta failed to galvanise his players to see it through.. Those 3 consecutive defeats against Palace, Brighton and Southampton. Then the ultimate defeat against Newcastle when we had Top 4 in our hands, we went out there and looked as clueless as a 3 year old with a £20 bank note.. We looked like we didn’t know what to do whatsoever. Thinking about that Newcastle game still gets be p!ssed off towards Arteta and his players..
But I am a bigger picture kind of person, so weighing up the Negatives vs Positives I definitely do think that the Positives outweigh the Negative hence why I am still willing to give Arteta another chance this starting season. To me as long as the positives outweigh negatives then you have a foundation to build upon and try to make it better by trying to turn those Negative aspects into positives.. But on the other hand if he fails to find a way turning most of these Negatives into positives then he will be fired, should be fired..
This starting season I expect Top 4. Fighting for that 3rd place. Taking points off the Top 2 (City and Liverpool), Can’t just keep having moral victories waxing about how we really played well against City or Liverpool. Need to start taking points off them.. And I also expect a better style of football..
Those are my next expectations for next season..
William Gallas the same player that threatened Chelsea to deliberately score own goals if he was not allowed to leave. William Gallas at Arsenal: Captain of chaos who sat down in Birmingham. When a top six squad become fifth in the league it’s not a fail, but reflections of reality.