Nigeria and Chelsea midfield legend John Obi Mikel recently gave a scathing verdict on Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal tenure with the former Super Eagles captain deeming the Spaniard’s achievement at the Emirates “not enough,” Footynaija.com reports.
Arteta inherited a struggling Arsenal team back in December 2019 and brought early success by winning the FA Cup and Community Shield in his first few months at the club.
However, under his tutelage, the Gunners have now gone five consecutive seasons without a trophy. In that time, they managed to mount serious title challenges especially in the 22/23 and 23/24 seasons but finished second to Man City on both occasions.
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This season, Arsenal are poised to finish second again, this time well behind champions Liverpool having failed to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title. Meanwhile, their dream of a first Champions League triumph was squashed by Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final.
Arteta’s men also suffered heartbreaks in domestic cup competitions with a fourth round FA Cup shootout loss to bitter rivals Manchester United. They were also knocked out of the EFL Cup semi-final by eventual winners Newcastle United.
Giving a review of Arteta’s time while on punditry duties for beIN Sports, Mikel couldn’t hide his frustration at the Spaniard’s inability to deliver silverware despite spending a huge amount of money on recruitment during his six-year reign.
What did John Obi Mikel say?
“It’s about winning trophies, yes he got there, but he didn’t get them over the line. It’s the same thing, he always comes second,” the Premier League and Champions League winner said.
“It is always next season about Arsenal, and now we are talking about next season. Now he wants to spend again in the summer. He’s spent €700-800 million over six years, that’s a lot of money.
“Arteta has been there for the past six-seven years. These are his players, this is his team, so he has not excuses. For somebody who has been there for that long and spent so much money and just winning just one FA Cup, that’s not enough.”
What Next?
From all indications, Arteta will still be in charge of Arsenal next season and recent comments from the former Manchester City assistant coach indicate that the Gunners will be busy in terms of recruitment this summer.
With next season set to be Arteta’s sixth full season at the helm, there will be huge expectations from both the club’s hierarchy and their fanbase. Whether Arteta and his team will crumble or thrive under the pressure remains to be seen.
