Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been told he has made mistakes for "two seasons running" and that he is not a world-class manager.
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Arteta told he is not a "world-class" managerMade "unacceptable mistake two seasons running"Critics becoming more vocal towards Gunners bossFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Former Gunners captain William Gallas has hit out at Arteta for failing to bring in a new striker over the past two seasons, especially off the back of the injuries to forwards Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz this term. And the Frenchman believes the Arsenal manager doesn't have a winning mentality, has made "unacceptable" errors in the transfer market, and that he is merely a good coach, not a top one.
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He told Prime Casino: "Signing a striker seems to be a blind spot for Arteta. That’s why Arsenal have finished second for two seasons running, and it will be an unwelcome hattrick this season. Every season, you always want to bring in one or two players. You need to add strength to what you have, and you need to keep players sharp, that’s what competition does to a squad. Arsenal should have signed a big striker in the summer of 2023, but they didn’t. They should have signed one in the summer of 2024, but they didn’t. Top managers don’t make that same mistake two seasons running. That is completely unacceptable.
"Arteta doesn’t have a winning mentality: It’s unacceptable for Arsenal to be making the same mistakes year-after-year with the same manager. I don’t want to hear the excuses. I don’t want to hear about injuries. There are no excuses that are good enough when you’ve got a winning mentality. I don’t think he has it because Arsenal should have won at least one, maybe two titles and they couldn’t get it over the line. Arteta played the game. He knows that injuries can happen at any time, he knows that he can lose key players, that's why you need to have a big squad. If you want to win, you don't win the league with only 11 players."
Gallas added: "Right now Arteta is a good manager, not a world-class manager, because a world-class manager makes the difference. A world-class manager wins titles. When you see Arne Slot, he’s in his first season, and nobody expected him to win the Premier League. He arrived with a big personality. Look what he’s done in one year. People are going to say he has a good squad. But last season, Arsenal had a good squad, but Arteta has shown too much faith to his players – his squad should be better this year, and the performances are worse than last season. I don't really read the newspaper, I don't really follow things, but nobody asks Arteta the right question."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Arteta has undoubtedly improved Arsenal, helping them become Premier League title contenders and challenging in the Champions League in recent seasons. But it seems unlikely that they will lift any silverware this campaign and part of that may be down to Arteta and his decisions.
GettyWHAT NEXT?
Arsenal next face PSV Eindhoven in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League clash on Tuesday, with the Gunners 7-1 up in the tie.