Jamie Carragher has expressed concerns over Mikel Arteta’s current position at Arsenal, citing some worrying signs in the Gunners’ manager as he struggles to win trophies at the Emirates. Since taking over as manager at the end of 2019, Arteta has been given ample support from the club, but the lack of major silverware has become an increasing issue.
Arsenal’s Trophy Drought
Arsenal’s 2020 FA Cup victory under Arteta initially appeared to validate the decision to appoint him. It gave hope to fans that the club was on the right track. However, in the years since, the major trophies have eluded them. It has now been five years since that triumph, and many fans believe the team is overdue for another significant achievement. While the Gunners have consistently worked towards securing the Premier League title, they are again set to end the season without a major trophy. This has raised questions about Arteta’s future, especially as the team continues to fall short in their pursuit of silverware.
Carragher points out that Arteta’s recent comments in interviews have raised red flags. According to Carragher, one of the worrying signs of a manager under pressure is when his public statements begin to focus more on justifying past performances rather than addressing current concerns or future goals. Carragher writes in The Telegraph:
“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.
“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.”
Arteta’s Public Defensiveness
Carragher further highlights Arteta’s remarks about Arsenal’s performance in the Champions League semi-final against Paris St-Germain, where the manager suggested the team deserved to win over two legs. This comment has been met with ridicule from critics, adding to the growing pressure on the manager. Carragher suggests that Arteta may be struggling under the weight of expectations and that the club’s failure to deliver a major trophy this season could prove costly.
If Arteta leaves now, he risks leaving behind an underwhelming managerial record, and this could be a challenging prospect for a manager who began his tenure with such promise. Whether Arsenal’s board decides to stick with Arteta or make a change, the coming months will likely determine the future direction of the club.
_________________________________________________________________________________
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us here…
This write up is arrant nonsense. Arteta has done well in Arsenal. How do you win trophies without a prolific striker and squad depth? How do you win trophies with this season”s plethora of long time injuries to key players? If Liverpool has had long time injuries to Mo Salah, Van Gil or Konate and other key players like Arsenal had, would they have won the league? The blame should go to the ownership and the recruitment team that failed to beef up the team in the previous transfer windows.
(Lols)
And who prevented him from signing a striker, who moved players like Rowe, Nelson, Viera, Nketia on without replacements? Who brought in a left back when a striker was urgently needed, why only Sterling or Sterling in the first place when Jesus, Saka and Martinelli were all injured before January transfer market?
Be mindful of your words “arrant nonsense” when you evidently have nothing concrete to back your arguments.
The gaffer is running out of vital breathing space.
A still believes the gaffer is going nowhere but he has to start delivering those big ears jugs.
Guess Jamie has forgotten about the 22/23 season when his beloved Liverpool were hit by injuries, very similar to Arsenal has been this season. They finished 5th with 67 points, reached the last 16 of the EFL Cup, the last 16 of the CL, being knocked out by Real Madrid, and the 4th R of the FA Cup. But injuries don’t make a difference do they Jamie?
Arteta is the author of his own pressure. An upgrade was needed for the likes of Matineli and Jesus upfront. Who did we get? Sterling. The major reason we got knocked out of the champions league is due to the fact that were not clinical enough Infront of goal.
Carragher has a point. Over the years I’ve looked at managers facing defeat and some can deal with it better than others. Some just look resigned to it and I put Arteta on the shell shocked shelf after the match on Wednesday. He so desperately wants to be a winner and is getting closer to achieving that goal even though it has been a difficult year.
Some of the post match comments were ill judged as they were always going to come across badly as of course, over both ties, PSG were better but not by much. It was a shame his emotions overcame what had been a very good campaign in Europe
Unfortunately SueP, your right regards Arteta’s after match press conferences. He never seems to learn, it’s frustrating enough when you see your team lose, but then to have to listen to your teams manager spout on what is quite ridiculous comments, is to put it mildly embarrassing.
The football blaming incident after the first leg defeat, and when asked about Liverpool winning the league his we scored more points than them in the last two seasons quote. Are just two of many such stupid statements.
People like Carragher always seem to have a point when a team/manager loses a match or doesn’t win a title. All you need to do is selectively focus on something and make a narrative out of it.
Arteta generally says it as he sees it when he is forthcoming. Unfortunately, when he does this it is interpreted as defensiveness when we lose.
PSG scored some great goals, two of which were slightly fortuitous and won two games where the margins were fine. Elements of Arteta’s approach include the use of data. These indicate that Arsenal had far more shots in the second leg and over the course of the two games we had a higher xG. Were PSG better? Well, they won so that drives the narratives which follow.
If you listen to Arteta’s comments you will also hear him indicate what Arsenal need to do to be better. However, the article is predictably silent on this.
Excellent post David, and to the point.
I do agree David to a point, but sometimes stats can give a misleading impression. The reality over both legs was they beat us home and away. Their gk was on fantastic form. They beat us fair and square inside of 25 minutes at the Emirates. We were doing the same to them on Wednesday but PSG scored whilst we couldn’t until it was too late. That’s not to say that we were embarrassing or not trying. I thought PSG had that little bit extra overall and on another night the keeper could have had a howler and the game could have been different
I understand and agree with your frustration that mostly the negative has been pouring out or avoiding giving a more balanced view. It’s been non stop
Ridiculous.
Embarrassing
All these stats that are used, make me laugh. I don’t care who had the most shots, most corner’s goals expected, most passes, most tackles, most possession.
The most important stat, did we score more than the opposition. End of!🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️.
@Derek
Always, that’s my view on stats and data analytics in matches.
For me, that is meant for your homework reviews and private consolation, and coping therapy, to fight the pains and the agony. It should not be flaunted like you are getting a share of the winning.
RicSAAlao,
I totally agree with you. While stats do have there use’s, there’s no doubt about it they can and are hidden behind in many cases.
Stat’s can be made to look good, but there not that important in my opinion. Which is different to some others obviously.
Just another thought, It always makes me laugh when managers make such a big deal about possession stats, and after their team has dominated a game, but lost they come out with the comment, we deserved to win. Well no they didn’t.
If one team had 99 shots on goal, they hit the post and cross bar on several occasions, they missed open goals, the opposition goalkeeper had a worldly of a game. And the other team then scored with their only attack and attempt on their goal, then they deserve to win.
They scored with their one attempt that the other team couldn’t do with their 99 attempts.
So as I said stats are just a cover-up basically.
Yeah Forest have proved that this season often winning games with so little possession