Can Arsenal afford to not win the Premier League next season? I do not think they can. The Gunners just have to win the league for Mikel Arteta’s sake. The North Londoners have come so close to winning the league twice in a row, but they have failed to do so. Drawing games and losing games they should have won have held them back.
For the time being, most Gunners have agreed that it is simply them being unlucky, but that can’t be an excuse next season. Next season, if it doesn’t end in PL glory, I’m convinced the question of whether we can win this thing under Arteta will arise.
Lionel Messi recently admitted, “If you go by results, Real Madrid is the best. If you go by the level of the game, I think Manchester City is the best.”
And after hearing such claims, I wondered whether it wasn’t evident that beating City is all about aiming for results rather than trying to outperform them. For a results-oriented team, you need players who think like winners and go all out to win.
The ex-goalie told the Telegraph, “Arteta has done really well bringing Arsenal up but if he is the right man for Arsenal now … I am not sure. Because you need to prove it. We could have won [the league] twice. Last year they were leading and in one month [April] they lost it [three draws and one defeat]. The culmination was when [Bukayo] Saka missed the penalty against West Ham at 2-0 up and it was a draw. It was two points.
“What people who hire coaches sometimes don’t understand is that the personality of the coach is super important as well. Look at the personality of the coach. Is he a winner or is he a nice guy who brings you to a certain level and then it is over?”
If Arsenal fails to win the league next season, as Jens Lehmann’s comments suggest, questions will arise about whether Mikel Arteta is the man to take Arsenal to the top.
Darren N
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