Gary Neville has claimed that Mikel Arteta should quit Arsenal if he succeeds in leading them to fourth, because they will have hit their ceiling.
The Spanish coach has already earned the right to be considered amongst the most exciting young coaches in world football with his young side threatening to qualify for the Champions League ahead of the likes of Tottenham and Manchester United.
We currently hold a three-point advantage on our closest rivals in the table, whilst having a game in hand also, and Gary Neville is full of praise for the coach, but claims that if he can lead us to fourth, he should quit in search of a bigger club because he will have taken us as far as we can go.
“I really like Mikel Arteta, I think he’s a brilliant coach. I think the team is fantastic in terms of the young players they’ve got,” Neville said on the Overlap. “But it’s interesting when you’re in a cycle of a club and you depress the ambition and have a significant period of failure because you then get really happy about finishing fourth.
“I found myself saying that about Manchester United. But it’s because of a depressed ambition. I think Mikel Arteta is a good operator. My concern is if Arsenal finish fourth this season – which to be fair, I think is 50/50, I still think there’s a long way to in that race – but if they finish fourth, that’s in some ways as good as it gets.
He continued by saying: “Mikel Arteta is a brilliant coach, I love that we’re seeing a team that he’s getting the maximum out of, I can see exactly how he wants to play, we all can. But he gets to fourth [and] if he was really hard about it, he’d probably say ‘right, that’s the best I can do there, I’m going now and getting my next job’.”
Neville has a warped idea on Arteta’s goals I feel. The reality is that he will know that he can still get more out of our side, especially if the owners continue to back his project in the way that he wishes, with the team continuing to improve month on month under his guise.
I also think it would feel like an alternative universe where Arteta would quit before taking his side into Europe after all the hard work in guiding us there, and fully believe that the Spaniard would be more interested in continuing to improve and build his own side in north London over leaving to take on a role with somebody else’s players and have to start again to build things the way he wants them.
I personally don’t believe that Arteta will believe that fourth is the be-all and end-all of his targets with this Arsenal side, and I think that Neville’s comments could be more about the fact that he would love to see Arteta leave and join Man United, who could potentially back him stronger in the transfer market, but I don’t believe that our boss would consider it personally.
Do you think Arteta could believe that fourth is the ceiling for this team?
Patrick
He should get a striker at least over the summer – I don’t think we can say he’s run his race until he has that blatantly missing piece
Neville? What ludicrous logic
He’s just Jelly that everyone can see a positive direction Arteta is taking the club, where as his UTD don’t.
How you can say a group of players at 24 (avg) have hit their ceiling? what rubbish
You build a young team so that there is a good future. It’s tough doing it. You don’t then walk away before taking the rewards!
It’s now in our hands to make these haters sound like some heavy drunkards by competing for tittles as from next season.
No! no!! no!!!
He can do much more even better than that. He has all it takes to win Premier League.
Remember it took Sir Alex Ferguson about 8 yrs before he started winning cups for Man U.
He should quit if he doesn’t!
@Dan Kit
RealTalk…
here here
Uncle Neville was high when he was spilling that trash.
He is worried we will soon start to outperform Manure season after season with Arteta in charge.
If Arteta indeed leads the team back to UCL, we can only hope for better seasons ahead
This is the biggest peice of crop i hear since Gerrard tried to justify harsh tackle against Saka by saying he got pinns in his body.
For a team that won the league on three occasions finishes top four and above again on several occasions , in recent past, has suddenly got a ceiling of 4th is incomprehensibly
Did Touchel and several young successful Germans born coach , just suddenly decide one day that the club they represent not good enough, and move on.
One of the main reasons a young Morhihio stocks soars, was because of the club he uses to win a certain trophy.
The pundits are getting from bad to worst
Aren’t Arsenal supposed to be a top club that have been through a few leaner years? Why would Arteta not want to prove his worth at this great club and return them to being a truly competitive top4 team on a regular basis and win that elusive European trophy?
Somebody needs to tell Neville that 6th place is as good as it gets for Manchester United
So that we can be like the Man Utd of late. Don’t think we would like to become like your beloved United club.
Go and address United and their board instead of spouting shxt of no relevance regarding a team you rivaled for so long.
They have improved reasonably
Neville should stick to commentating on politics and the Tory party, it’s now what he does best. His record shows he knows nothing about being a successful manager, so shouldn’t opine on that.