Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta should not be making the same mistakes 'year-after-year' says one former club captain.
The Gunners - who have been continuously chasing runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool for most of the season - are now 15 points behind Arne Slot's side as we approach the final stages of the campaign.
Many have suggested Arsenal's decision to not sign a striker in the January transfer window has come back to bite them, especially given the injuries sustained to Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz as of late.
Should Arsenal blame Mikel Arteta for their season falling apart?
It's been an odd few weeks for Arsenal, especially given their remarkable 7-1 win over PSV in the Champions League last week, with a quarter-final in the competition awaiting.
But does manager Arteta have to bear the weight of criticism if another trophyless season transpires at the Emirates Stadium? One former Arsenal captain believes so...
"It’s unacceptable for Arsenal to be making the same mistakes year-after-year with the same manager," said former captain William Gallas when speaking to Prime Casino recently. "I don’t want to hear the excuses. I don’t want to hear about injuries. There are no excuses that are good enough when you’ve got a winning mentality.
"I don’t think he has it because Arsenal should have won at least one, maybe two titles and they couldn’t get it over the line. Arteta played the game. He knows that injuries can happen at any time, he knows that he can lose key players, that's why you need to have a big squad. If you want to win, you don't win the league with only 11 players."
"You win the league with 24 players. But those 24 players have to be competitive. So to be competitive, you need to have big players," continued Gallas. "And the manager needs to have a strong personality to deal with those big players.
"You need to be a big man to deal with big players, especially when you start putting them on the bench. That player is going to be upset, he's going to start to talk, to speak badly. He will come to training furious. You’ll have to deal with that. That is the difference between a world-class manager, a good manager, and an average manager."
In FourFourTwo's view, Gallas is right to point out the mistakes Arteta has made this season, but it is worth remembering how far Arsenal have come under his stewardship over the past 3-4 years.
