Mikel Arteta ought to sacrifice cups – and face sack if Arsenal do not win Premier League
Mikel Arteta is trying to end Arsenal’s 22-year title drought by finally winning the Premier League after three successive second-placed finishes
Mikel Arteta is getting plenty of advice as he aims to win the Premier League title(Image: Getty Images)
Will Mikel Arteta ever have a better chance to go on and win the title with Arsenal? The glaring answer is no.
So what should happen to the Spaniard if he manages to make a complete horlicks of the rest of the domestic season? The glaring answer is that he should be sacked. Plain and simple.
Arteta has the best squad in the Premier League. He has a six point lead at the top of the table, coming out of the demanding festive period. He has arguably the best midfielder in Europe in Declan Rice, and one of the meanest defences.
He also has rivals in Liverpool, Aston Villa and Manchester City dropping points at will. While Arsenal’s final four league games of the season are against Fulham, West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace. Which is hardly the most demanding run of games to finish a campaign, is it?
And last but not least, Arteta and his players have the invaluable experience of being able to call upon what they did wrong in the previous two seasons, which saw them promise much but fade into second place. Because intelligent managers and teams learn from the past.
Arsenal could have done worse than going out of the FA Cup at Portsmouth yesterday. Arteta should have been tempted to field a weakened team to help do just this. Because what is more important to him?
Remaining on course for a Treble, which happens once a flood, or focus most of his attentions on winning what would be Arsenal’s first league title since 2004?
To put this wait into perspective, Bukayo Saka was just one-year-old the last time his club were kings of English football. It’s a no brainer.
Perhaps all of the above circumstances only serve to pile even more pressure on Arteta to deliver the goods. Not to mention the small fact he has won just one piece of silverware since taking charge in 2019.
This is nowhere near good enough, considering Arteta manages a club with one of the most successful histories in the English game. Failure cannot be an option for Arteta this time round.
If he wants to be considered a good manager, let alone a great one, he needs to start winning bigger trophies than the FA Cup or the League Cup.
The Gunners also have to contend with a two-legged semi-final against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup, starting away at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, before the home tie on February 3 – piling more pressure on his squad.
So if Arteta doesn’t go on to lead his team to the biggest domestic prize available come May, it should be the last chance he is given at Arsenal.
