Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has caused a stir with his recent comments as, ahead of his side’s second-leg encounter with Paris Saint-Germain, he made a damning claim about Liverpool being confirmed as the 2024/25 Premier League champions.
Arsenal are running the risk of becoming England’s nearlymen after finishing second in back-to-back Premier League campaigns – losing out both times to Pep Guardiola-led Manchester City. Their wait to be crowned champions of England continues.
Under the stewardship of Arsene Wenger, the north Londoners went unbeaten – the only team to do so in England’s top flight, we must add – in 2003/04, but lifting the Premier League title has evaded them since, despite often being genuine contenders.
Arteta Makes Damning Claim Over Liverpool's Premier League Win
'Winning trophies, as well, is about being in the right moment, in the right place'
Utilising Arsenal’s star-studded squad and the brilliance of Arteta should, theoretically, be a match made in heaven – but they’ve often fallen at the final hurdle when it comes to winning the elusive Premier League title, as evidenced in seasons prior.
In 2022/23, Arteta’s men racked up 84 points from 26 wins and six draws but ultimately lost out on the title by five points. The season after, it was much of the same – but, this time, it came down to the wire, but Manchester City’s 3-1 win over West Ham United sealed their unprecedented fourth title in a row.
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In the midst of his side’s preparations for their Champions League second leg, Arteta claimed that timing can be crucial when it comes down to winning major trophies – something he hasn’t done since being in the Emirates Stadium dugout. He said:
“Winning trophies, as well, is about being in the right moment, in the right place. Liverpool have won the title with less points than we had in the last two seasons. With the points from the last two seasons, we'd have two Premier Leagues."
On the back of a resounding 5-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in late April, Liverpool's Arne Slot became the first Dutchman to win the Premier League as boss. He did so with four games remaining and 82 points on the board, which – as Arteta pointed out – is fewer than what Arsenal have earned in the past two seasons.
'How much more out of touch can this guy be?'
mikel arteta
Arteta’s comments, however, have elicited a reaction from fans online and one replied by highlighting Arsenal’s points tally during their Invincibles season over two decades ago: “Arsenal’s Invincibles finished with 90 points and Liverpool lost the league on 97, how much more out of touch can this guy be?”
Especially ahead of such a crucial game in their campaign, a second supporter insisted that Arteta’s remark of self-pity may not go down well inside the Arsenal dressing room. “Arteta does himself no favours with this kind of thing,” they wrote.
“Players don’t tend to respond well to excuses and self pity, and the fans definitely don’t. His objective is to motivate his players to win more games, and I don’t think he does that by feeling sorry for himself.”
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“Hilarious the way he keeps coming up with new excuses for failure. This lie is the best yet, Liverpool after 34 games have more points than Arsenal had last season or season previous. So no Mikel, your previous points total wouldn’t have been good enough to win the league this year," another fan concluded.