Jamie Carragher has warned Mikel Arteta, stating that Arsenal risk emulating Mauricio Pochettino at Tottenham, who, despite coming close, failed to win a major trophy during his five years at Spurs.
Writing in his column in The TelegraphThe former Liverpool defender added that the Gunners seemed to be running out of steam this season and gave his verdict on what Arsenal need to do this summer to take the next step.
It has been a difficult week for the north London club, who suffered a major setback in the title race on Sunday after being beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium. On Wednesday, Arsenal was eliminated from the Champions League, after being defeated 3-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich.
The Gunners appear to have built on the progress they made in the 2022-23 campaign, with the acquisition of Declan Rice perhaps being one of the signings of the season. But after being usurped at the top of the Premier League table by Manchester City this week, questions are being raised about what Arsenal must do to reclaim the silverware under Arteta.
‘Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are in danger of becoming Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs; “A team worthy of admiration for being almost great,” wrote Carragher.
Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal are in danger of emulating Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham
Carragher issued a warning to Mikel Arteta and pointed out what they must do to strengthen themselves
Pochettino failed to win titles during his five years as Tottenham coach
He added: “It is damning and faint praise to say that Arteta, like Pochettino during his time at Spurs, deserves more respect and credit for turning Arsenal into challengers than criticism for falling short.”
“Recognition for doing such a good job will be no consolation if history judges Arteta’s reign without a Premier League or Champions League on his CV.”
Carragher believes the Gunners are still in the title race, despite being two points behind City in second place. This weekend they travel to Molineux to take on Wolves and the Sky Sports pundit believes their season will be over if they suffer their third consecutive defeat of the week to Gary O’Neil’s side.
Arteta took charge of the club in 2019, notably winning the FA Cup in his first season in charge.
Since then, he has done an excellent job, catapulting the Gunners to the top of the English Premier League and came agonizingly close to winning his side’s first league title in almost 20 years.
Meanwhile, Pochettino was appointed Tottenham boss in 2014 and subsequently guided them to a runners-up finish during the 2016-17 season. In 2019 they reached the final of the Champions League, where they were defeated 2-0 by Liverpool. The Argentine left the club that same year, having not won any important title.
Arsenal’s title chase took a hit this weekend after dropping points to Aston Villa.
The former Liverpool defender admitted that Arsenal will continue to compete at the top level for a while
Carragher stated that the reality of the situation is that Arsenal’s past teams that have not won a major honor will be forgotten in front of the illustrious teams that won the Premier League in 2002 and the ‘Invincibles’ in 2004.
Considering the age of Arteta’s squad, he reckoned the Gunners will be competing at the top of the Premier League for some time, but delivered his verdict on how Arsenal can strengthen and hailed Rice’s signing as a statement of intent.
“Arsenal now need a player of Rice’s caliber in attack. “They are the top scorers in the first division, but they have gone five league games without a goal and in midweek they couldn’t find a way through at the Allianz Arena,” Carragher said.
“A superstar striker could have scored the goals in both games against Bayern, or added five or six extra points, which would mean that it would be Arsenal, and not Manchester City, who would be in the ascendancy heading into the final stretch In the eleven games played in all competitions, Arsenal have been losing 1-0 this season and have lost eight.
Carragher also questioned whether Arsenal have enough funds available to make such a purchase this summer, pointing out how the club strategically signed David Raya on loan, adding a clause in his deal that would allow the club to make their move permanent this summer.
“My suspicion is that they have been concerned about earnings and sustainability rules in recent transfer windows and made a calculated bet to complete the Rice deal, seeing it as a potential game-changer,” he added.
Despite that, Arteta claimed it could be a while until his team finally wins the Champions League after their defeat against Bayern Munich in midweek.
‘The players are devastated in the locker room. I can’t find the right words to lift them up, I wish I could. We have to go through that.
Carragher hailed Declan Rice signing as transformative but Arsenal needed a striker
Arteta has relied on Gabriel Jesus this season, and the Brazilian has scored eight goals so far.
Kai Havertz has impressed in Arsenal’s attacking positions this season
“We tried against a team that had a lot of experience, the margins in the tie were very small. We made a mistake defending the area and conceded a goal.
“The club has not been in the Champions League for seven years and in the first year it returned [people expect us to] play the semi-final and the final.
“We all loved him very much, but you can see that in many other clubs it takes six or seven years to reach this stage.” “We were very united, that’s the reality.”
Even after a difficult week, Arteta urged positivity, stating that there was still a lot to play for this season.
‘What we still have to play is beautiful. I said before that it’s time to stand next to these players. It’s easy to stand behind them and praise the players and talk nice things when we win 10 in a row and a draw. Now is the time to stand behind them and be with them.”