Peter Schmeichel reckons the Gunners' failures this season are all on the boss who is over complicating things
07:11, 12 May 2025
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta has been branded a "control freak" by Peter Schmiechel who insists he is making Arsenal worse.
Arteta is approaching the end of his sizth season in charge of the Gunners, with just an F Cup to show for it.
Their English Premier League title challenge ran out of steam again this term as Liverpool eased to the crown in Arne Slot's first season at the helm.
They were also dumped out of the Champions League by PSG in the semi-finals.
And Schmeichel, speaking after the 2-2 draw between Arsenal and the Reds at Anfield, has laid the blame squarely on Arteta, who he thinks is over complicating the game for his players by trying to control every movement on the pitch.
“It’s all on Arteta, all" he told Viaplay. "What I’m saying is, he was employed as head coach. He inherited the team and that team is the only team that he has won a trophy with.
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“Then it’s his own team and then in the process, he’s now changed the job description so he’s now the manager. Everything is on him. It’s not recruitment, it’s not the board.
“Whenever they [fans] get the opportunity today, watch him in the technical area. Arteta is a control freak, he wants his players to play the ball that he wants. He’s directing everything
Peter Schmeichel(Image: SNS Group)
“You look across to Arne Slot who’s so calm. He’s instructed his players in training, instructed the players in the team talk.
"Arteta is still playing the game for the players and that would confuse the hell out of me as a football player that you had a coach that wants to direct me for everything I do. It would confuse me and make me a worse player.”
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