Arsenal require Mikel Arteta to elevate his performance to prevent another setback.
After being predicted to contend for a Quadruple, Arsenal finds itself on the verge of a significant collapse; however, Mikel Arteta’s squad is also merely five wins away from achieving success in the two tournaments they are eager to claim: the Premier League and Champions League. So, what will it be … Triumph or disgrace?
Now more than ever, Arsenal’s destiny rests in the hands — and the intellect — of their manager.
As Arteta went to sleep on Saturday following the Gunners’ surprising 2-1 loss to EFL Championship team Southampton in the FA Cup quarterfinals, it is certain that this very question was troubling him. Upon waking on Sunday with Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarterfinal first-leg against Sporting CP approaching, the same thoughts of achievement or failure would have been racing through the 44-year-old’s mind.
With Arsenal’s season now hanging in the balance, it is inevitable that Arteta, his players, and the Gunners’ supporters will be plagued, day and night, by the unbearable possibility of pursuing a quadruple yet ending up empty-handed. Again.
While Arsenal appears to be faltering, title competitors Manchester City seem to be advancing toward a domestic treble — once more — with Pep Guardiola and his squad enjoying what looks like a pressure-free path to the finish line after securing the Carabao Cup (against the Gunners) and reaching the FA Cup semifinals against Southampton, having been eliminated by Real Madrid in the UCL.
For Arteta, with both domestic cups now off the table, it has turned into a nightmarish situation. The dread of failure has become inescapable, particularly after three consecutive second-place finishes in the Premier League.
While Arteta is consumed by uncertainty and concern, Guardiola’s remarkable success record only intensifies the issue. He is adept at navigating the situation both men currently face, and Arteta is acutely aware of this — having been his assistant for three years.
Arsenal remains in the lead at the top of the Premier League; City trails by nine points in second place, although they have a game in hand and home advantage against the Gunners when they clash on April 19, meaning they will likely need to win all eight of their remaining league matches to secure the title.
City has not lost in the Premier League since their defeat to Manchester United on January 17, while Arsenal’s last league loss occurred just eight days later, at home to United. Their recent downturn of two defeats in two matches came in the cups — against City in the Carabao Cup final and at Southampton in the FA Cup — so it does not provide a true perspective. It is simply because Arsenal’s decline has coincided with City accelerating that their outlook suddenly seems grim.
Now is the moment for Arteta to rise and demonstrate that he is a capable manager. Everything he communicates or does in the upcoming weeks could determine the difference between success and failure, as his actions and statements will be as crucial as goalkeeper David Raya’s saves, the tackles from Gabriel and William Saliba, or the goals and creativity from Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, and Viktor GyΓΆkeres.
When Arteta addressed his players before the Southampton match about utilizing the disappointment from the Carabao Cup final against City as “fuel” to motivate them in the season’s final weeks, it was akin to a Raya error or GyΓΆkeres missing an open goal, as he merely reminded his players of the Wembley defeat and the team responsible for it.
It resembled a manager attempting to persuade himself that his players could succeed, and it was the type of remark that would be unlikely to come from legends like Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, or Sir Alex Ferguson at this point in the season.
play1:07Mikel Arteta: I take the blame for Arsenal’s defeat vs. Southampton
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta acknowledges that he is responsible for Arsenal’s FA Cup exit to Southampton.
Arteta is still a young manager striving to establish his place among those Premier League icons.
Only Mourinho, at 42, was younger than Arteta is now when he secured his first Premier League title (with Chelsea in 2004-05), and he had already won a Champions League with FC Porto by that time; Kenny Dalglish was 44, the same age as Arteta, when he led Blackburn Rovers to the title in 1995, but the former Liverpool manager had already claimed three titles as a manager in his 30s at Anfield.
Arteta lacks the experience of a young Mourinho or Dalglish, and the next youngest on the list — Guardiola, Roberto Mancini, and Antonio Conte — were all 47 when they won their first Premier League titles but had already claimed league titles outside England. Thus, securing that first title poses a challenge for Arteta as much as it does for his players, who will now look to their manager for direction, inspiration, and composure as the pressure mounts.
If Arteta can maintain his composure, there are numerous positives for Arsenal to leverage. They are still leading the Premier League and have scored more goals (61) and conceded fewer (22) than any other team; they have achieved more league victories (21) than any other side and suffered fewer losses (3), while five additional wins would mean City could only deny them the title on goal difference even if Guardiola’s team wins all their remaining matches.
In the Champions League, Arsenal has avoided the Silver Path to the final — which includes Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and Liverpool — and secured perhaps the most favorable quarterfinal matchup against Sporting CP, with Barcelona or Atletico Madrid awaiting in the semifinals.
Five more wins in the Champions League will guarantee Arsenal’s first-ever victory in the competition, so Arteta’s perspective should be viewed as half full rather than half empty.
He simply needs to select the right team and articulate the right messages amid a chorus of voices anticipating his failure once more. Sounds straightforward, right?
