Every football manager is tasked with leading his/her side to glory. This essentially means that they need to ensure that the team wins trophies. If this doesn't materialise, they face being sacked by the respective owners/board. Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta came close to winning The Champions League but were subsequently eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), 3-1, on aggregate in the semi-final.
The manager has since said that the better team lost the match and thus believed that Arsenal deserved to be in the final. His comments has seen people questioning his behaviour and attitude.
Arsenal's European dream was ended by goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi, who earned Paris Saint-Germain a 2-1 win on the night and a Champions League final date with Inter Milan. Arteta believes his side deserved to make the final based on the two legs and pointed to the performances of PSG goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, as the key factor in their failure to do so.
"I don't think there's been a better team in the competition from what I've seen," Arteta told TNT Sports. "But we are out. We deserved much more but this competition is about the boxes, the strikers most of the time and the goalkeeper and theirs was the best player in both games."
"I'm so proud of the boys, they deserve lots of credit for what they're doing and the amount of injuries. We arrived here in the worst state. You have to get here with everyone fit and available with lots of minutes. They had a week. We came here in a different context. That gives me a lot of positivity for the future."
Later at his press conference, when asked if he felt the best team had lost, he added: "Yes, and I am saying that because they (PSG) just told me that. Today, I see how much my players wanted it because they were in tears."
"We deserved much more. When you analyse both games, the MVP (Most Valuable Player), has been their goalkeeper."
"The Champions League is decided in the boxes, and it's won them the game. The result should have been very different. It gives me so much pride, but at the same time I'm so upset and so annoyed that we didn't manage to do it."
PSG manager, Luis Enrique, was asked to address Arteta's claim that PSG had suggested the Gunners were the better team over two legs.
"The league of farmers, no? We are the league of farmers," Luis Enrique joked, referencing the French Ligue 1 when speaking to TNT Sports. "But it's nice. We are enjoying the result and the compliments of everybody speaking of our team - our mentality, how we play. It's nice."
"I don't agree at all. Mikel Arteta is a great friend, but I don't agree at all. They played in a clever way, but in the two legs we scored more than them and that is the most important thing in football. Arsenal played a great match, and we suffered, but we deserved to get to the final."
Arteta has revived Arsenal's fortunes on both the domestic and European stage with this their first Champions League semi-final appearances in 16 years. However, his five-and-a-half-year tenure has yielded just one trophy - their 2020 FA Cup triumph.
The Gunners have failed to progress from each of their last four major cup semi-finals: the 2020-21 Europa League; 2021-22 League Cup; 2024-25 League Cup and 2024-25 Champions League.
When asked if he was concerned his current crop of stars don't have what takes to win trophies, Arteta replied: "Well, it depends. Two years ago, nobody believed that we could qualify for the Champions League, or even think that we could finish second and compete in the league. And the amount of points that we have scored in other years, makes you a champion."
"The reality is you need something to lift, and to get that trophy, and the disappointment is that we don't have it."
"But we have the best example in the PSG dressing room with Marquinhos. Eleven times, he has tried to win the Champions League. Eleven times and let's see if they win the final. You have to go up and down."
"So we need to look in the mirror at somebody like this with that trajectory and if you want to be in sport and you want to be competing for trophies, you better be able to deal with that."
When Mikel Arteta signed his new Arsenal contract in September, he was asked what his main objective is for the club. "To win," he said. "It has to be that. It has to be that aim."
Arsenal's need to take that next step has followed Arteta around all season, one where the Spaniard revealed he is in part four of a five-step plan for this club - the last of which is to, "create a dynasty" by winning trophies.
"It generates belief," he told Sky Sports later in the season. "Experience of having been successful helps you with the other ones."
Arteta said those words last December, five years after being named Arsenal manager. While there are dreams of a dynasty, the reality is he has now gone five years without a trophy. Only the FA Cup, six months into his tenure, has been acquired - and even that was a trophy which came out of the blue.
The latest blow to Arteta's trophy hunt came at PSG and the Parc des Princes, the same place where Arteta's professional playing career took off. Among his team-mates was Mauricio Pochettino and parallels between the two are now being made.
Pochettino's Tottenham Hotspur side were attractive and ambitious, with multiple title races ending in second and third-placed finishes; plus a Champions League final appearance. That Spurs team became infamous for not winning anything.
Legendary former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, told beIN SPORTS, "I would say tonight that we've seen a different Paris Saint-Germain - not guided by possession and brilliant football, but guided by refusing to concede goals and taking advantage on the counter-attack and on set-pieces is what gave them success tonight. I would say that mentally they were strong as well. When they missed a penalty, they did hang in there."
"On the other hand, with Arsenal, we saw the recurrence of being unable to score goals... Overall, in the two games, I would say they were better than Arsenal, had more chances and were never really in danger, so congratulations to Paris Saint-Germain."
"I said a long time ago that Paris Saint-Germain will not be far away from winning the Champions League and let's not forget: they are maybe the only team who can have the perfect season because they can win the Champions League, win the double in France and the Club World Cup. That would be an extraordinary success for Luis Enrique."
Arsenal have struggled domestically this season, too. While they sit second in the Premier League table, they have already seen Liverpool crowned champions and face a significant fight to hold on to their runners-up spot; they are three points clear of Manchester City and four clear of Newcastle with three games to go. Former Aston Villa striker, Gabriel Agbonlahor, as a result, believes Arteta's claims are simply false, insisting that PSG were by far the better team over two legs.
On talkSPORT, Agbonlahor said: "They tried, in the first 15 minutes they were the better team. They should have scored two or three goals, it just shows you what a top goalkeeper can do in this competition. But after that, I felt Arsenal faded, Odegaard had a better game, Martinelli, but they faded second half. For the manager to say the best team lost is ridiculous and this is the reason that other fanbases don't want Arsenal to win anything."
He added: "I think Arteta's got to be careful with the way he's speaking sometimes. He's talking about the last two seasons, 'we've got this amount of points and that amount of points we got would have been enough to win the league this year, Arsenal are the best team in Europe...' Sometimes just be humble in defeat. The better team won over two legs, by far the better team for me. PSG are the best team in the competition, there's no shame in saying 'we fell short, we'll come again next season'."
After 5½ years in charge, and nearly ÂŁ700 million spent, Arteta has a solitary FA Cup and a single title race to his name. Yet, if you turn on the radio, listen to TV commentary or speak to Arsenal fans, youâd think he was one of the greats.
Sorry, heâs a good manager whoâs done an OK job. Nothing more.
There are only a few ways to win in sport. You can throw money at it; The Yankees started it when they bought Babe Ruth from the Red Sox. Jack Walker did it at Blackburn, Abramovich at Chelsea, and now Manchester City. Or you build a team, Sir Alex Ferguson, Wenger and Jurgen Klopp did it over time. Then, sometimes, youâre simply in the right place at the right time, see Leicester City.
The problem isnât just that Arsenal havenât won, trophies are hard to win. Itâs the way they act. A few years ago, when they started the trend of over-celebrating every minor victory, a narrative formed. One view was they were a young team bonding. The flip side: why celebrate like that after beating Everton at home in February? What exactly had they won?
There was Arsenal captain, Martin Ădegaard, photographing the photographer after a win against Liverpool. The classless way they handled the Man City, "stay humble" game. The constant complaining, the obfuscation, the baseless excuses for why they didnât win, for example injuries and VAR. The Invincibles season still only counts as one trophy.
Last Tuesday (in the first leg against PSG), was the clubâs biggest night since 2009 and how did they try to unify the fans? With a Tifo that looked like it was designed by a primary school child and a cringeworthy, "call to arms" video from Arteta. No wonder the crowd was flat.
Arteta's comments may not be well received at City, particularly when compared to Liverpool who have come second with 92 and 97 points in recent epic battles with City.
The comments also follow the Blues frustration with Arsenal's approach at the Etihad this season with Erling Haaland telling Arteta to 'stay humble', John Stones accusing Arsenal of 'dark arts' and Bernardo Silva then offering a scathing assessment of their inability to win trophies.
Some Gunners fans have had enough and want him gone.
Mr NBT said on X: "Funnily enough I donât think Artetaâs job is that safe. The Kroenkeâs recently sacked Michael Malone who won the NBA title with the Nuggets 2 years ago. Theyâre not known to really sack their coaches in general but that may have been their turning point. Mikel, beware"
Easygoing48 also added: "Same old story every season. Arsenal are bottlers. Their gas tank is empty when they reach the end of the season. When the manager is needed the most Mikel Arteta switches off. If the club wants to challenge for the PL title then they need to get rid of their manager."
Rat Army also commented: "Mikel Arteta lost the plot when he didnât rotate against Bournemouth."
Time has come to Sack Mikel Arteta he is just another Brendon Rodgers."
Meanwhile, over on Reddit, more Gunners fans were getting stuck into the Emirates chief.
Kooky_Total8163 wrote on Reddit: "Arteta struggles under pressure. Saka has struggled and Odegaard is having a hard time as well. If Saka and Odegaard are having a fought time then the team is done."
Both-Pin-2870 added: "Weâve been singing this deadwood anthem since day 1 of arteta hereâŚwhen is accountability asked from the coachâŚEnrique has needed one summer and losing mbappe to sort psg out."
Valuable_Diver_7877 simply added: "Because ARTETA isnt good enough!"
Walter 308 also commented: âThatâs the difference between the great sides and the elite sides. We saw yesterday both Barca and Inter were able to pluck goals out of nowhere when needed, same with PSG today. We arenât at that level."
I don't know what's going on with Arteta. I'm probably being biased but it's apparent to me that perhaps he doesn't accept the reality. He must be living in a fantasy world. I wonder how much faith the board has with him. As stated above, he's been in charge for over five years and he's only won a singular FA Cup. That doesn't equal success. You would have to look at Pep Gaurdiola at Man City and Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool to see what success really means. Arteta and the Arsenal team have to stay humble and not gloat over a single victory that potentially means nothing.