Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are set to miss out on the Premier League title for a third consecutive season and Roy Keane has already voiced doubts about them for next year
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are now 15 points behind Liverpool in the title race
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Unfortunately for Arsenal, it doesn't look like the third time is going to be the charm when it comes to the title race.
And if you think that Roy Keane's latest monologue is on the money then there may not be a happy ending at all for Mikel Arteta in his bid to bring the Premier League crown back to Arsenal for the first time in over 20 years.
After coming up just short against the imperious Manchester City in successive seasons, Arsenal are now 15 points behind this year's champions-elect, Liverpool, after failing to beat Manchester United on Sunday. And while the Spaniard will not concede the title, talk has already turned to next year where Arsenal are expected to be bolstered by a new striker and other reinforcements.
Keane has already served up a fairly damning assessment of the Gunners' title hopes for next year after arguing that their rivals will be stronger. With Liverpool set to be coronated in the coming weeks, we asked the Mirror Football team if they fancy Arteta and Co to win it all next year - even if Keane doesn't.
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Daniel Orme
There’s absolutely no question about it, Arsenal’s missing ingredient for a long time has been a forward. A clinical striker would likely have seen them over the line at Old Trafford - as well as in a clutch of the other nine Premier League draws that they have had this season.
Transform just half of those into wins and the Gunners are firmly in the race heading into the final few games of the campaign. There’s a 17-goal difference between Liverpool and Arsenal this term. It seems like a simple formula but how do you solve that issue? By bringing more goals in.
Regarding Roy Keane’s claim that Arsenal’s mentality is hampering them from winning the league, there are plenty of stars who have already claimed silverware in that dressing room. Look at the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jorginho, Kai Havertz and even Declan Rice. They’ve all won major honours and will be more than keen to do so while at the Emirates.
Of course, signing a striker won’t automatically see the Premier League trophy added to their trophy cabinet but it will take Arsenal a damn sight nearer.
Arsenal players looked dejected after dropping more points against Manchester United
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Tom Victor
The characterisation of Arsenal as a team whose mentality has cost them in the title race might have some merit if they were ever truly in one to begin with.
Since reclaiming second spot in late December, Mikel Arteta’s team haven’t once been within a win of leaders Liverpool, and the gap has largely stood at six points or more. Manchester City making up that kind of ground under Pep Guardiola has tricked some people into thinking it’s normal, but it really isn’t.
It seems fairly clear that the issue is one of personnel more than anything else. Arsenal have been fortunate with injuries over the last two seasons, leaving them able to genuinely compete at the top, but find me a fanbase claiming their club would be competitive without their first-choice front three and I’ll find you a liar
Keane is right that Manchester City will likely be stronger next season, but there’s every chance Liverpool struggle to maintain the same high standards. A 2023-24 level Arsenal ought to be more than capable of winning the league next term - whether they can hit those levels depends on whether Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz can quickly get back to their best post-injury, but I wouldn’t be writing them off this early.
Mike Walters
At the risk of sounding like a scratched record (for all you vinyl dinosaurs out there): It's a strange world where Erik ten Hag wins two trophies in as many seasons at Manchester United and is cast aside as a failure, but Mikel Arteta wins one cup in five years at Arsenal and he's a genius.
Sooner or later, Arteta will have to face the music - and it may not be a soothing Beethoven sonata but a grunge racket that fries your brain.
The lack of a proper No.9 centre forward has been an obvious flaw, and the Gunners would certainly be closer to Liverpool with a 20-goals-a-season striker in their artillery.
The over-emphasis on set pieces has also been at the expense of carving opponents apart in open play, and the goals have dried up since opponents cottoned on to their version of chaos in the six-yard box. That may explain why we haven't seen so much of Arsenal's set piece coach Nicolas Jover on the touchline lately.
Roy Keane has already questioned why next year will be any different for Arsenal (
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But here's the rub: Arsenal's real Achilles heel is in midfield. Declan Rice can't do all the hard yards on his own, so it's time for an upgrade on Thomas Partey (three goals all season when the strikers have been going down like nine-pins) and Jorginho (one goal all season).
Nobody likes a smart-alec, but yours truly saw that 1-1 draw at Old Trafford coming because there's not enough goal power in that midfield engine room.
Arsenal need at least three top-quality players to be title contenders next season. Let's say Alexander Isak, Eberechi Eze and Nicolo Barella for starters. Now you're talking.
Chris McKenna
Roy Keane says a lot now that's outlandish and almost plays up to the character of being the shock pundit but he's right on the money with Arsenal.
They've needed to buy a striker for the past two years and they've failed to, thinking they'd cracked it by buying Gabriel Jesus but there's a reason Manchester City sold him. Injury prone and not prolific. So if they do buy a striker they have a chance next season but they also need a shift in their mentality and shake off this belief that everything is against them.
Declan Rice typified it on Sunday when he equalised. Proper winners would have raced to get the ball out of the net and run back to start the game again with their rivals reeling. Yet he was more bothered about shushing the United fans and telling the Stretford End to calm down. Then they were more worried about a wall being 1.2 yards further back than wondering how they couldn't beat one of the worst Manchester United sides in living memory. That's not what winners do.
Mark Jones
There does need to be a separation between the Arsenal we're seeing now and the one we'll see lining up for the start of next season, but while their injuries have been hugely unfortunate let's not pretend they have somehow been robbed of the title here.
When Bukayo Saka limped off at Crystal Palace on December 21 he'd scored just five league goals this season, and Arsenal's 5-1 win that day put them three points behind Liverpool who had two games in hand. The following day the Reds won 6-3 at Tottenham to pull six clear of the Gunners, and Mo Salah scored his 14th and 15th league goals of the season. The truth is they've just been a cut above.
But there's a good chance that that superiority won't last. We know about the contract issues, and even if he does stay it is highly unlikely Salah has another season like this one.
Arsenal just have to be there to take advantage like they didn't do when City dropped off this season. Mikel Arteta could do with dialling down his own intensity, trusting in his squad a bit more and, crucially, working on the creative side of the Gunners' game. Do that, get a couple of new additions, and they'll absolutely be in the title race next season.
Mikel Merino has been playing as an emergency striker for Arsenal in recent weeks
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Neil McLeman
Mikel Arteta has earned the right to have more time to win the Premier League for Arsenal. But Roy Keane was spot on about one thing: going from challengers to champions is his biggest task since transforming the club since 2019. And this summer’s transfer activity - including keeping hold of their own big players - will be key.
After finishing eighth in his first two seasons in charge, Arsenal are set for a hat-trick of runners-up finishes and another elimination in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Yet last season they accumulated 89 Premier League points (at 2.34 points per game) while this season the average has dropped to 1.96 while the gap to the leaders has increased.
Injuries, especially up front, explains some of this decline. But so does the lack of tactical flexibility where the Gunners have been unable to break down teams who sit deep and soak up pressure. Unfortunately for Arsenal, not everyone defends like PSV Eindhoven.
The goalkeeper and defence are solid - William Saliba must be kept this summer - and Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard are two of the best midfielders in Europe. But the injuries to Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz have shown at least two more attacking players are needed to take the next step.
Andy Dunn
Arsenal will probably finish second in the Premier League and will soon have a mouth-watering Champions League quarter-final tie to savour.
So, the idea that Mikel Arteta has taken the club as far as he can is almost preposterous.
Sure, he has to take responsibility for the Gunners not winning quite as many matches as they should have done this season, his in-game management at Old Trafford, for example, suggesting he still has plenty to learn, even after 200 Premier League matches as a manager.
But of his last 105 Premier League matches, Arteta has lost only 13. That is not a bad record. But first, they have found Manchester City to be a more accomplished, more ruthless side and now they have Liverpool ahead of them.
It goes without saying that Arsenal have left themselves short of blue-chip striking power but that issue will surely be tackled in the summer and they clearly have a lot of emerging talent to complement the nub of established, high-quality players.
Unless they go all the way in the Champions League, this will be a season that will leave Arteta with some regrets but his team will be a serious force next season.
Oli Gamp
The way I see it, Arsenal were given a free shot at the Premier League this season after Manchester City's fall-off and missed it.
Mikel Arteta has done an admirable job at the Emirates to twice run Pep Guardiola's exceptional team close, and you had to feel for them after finishing with 89 points and still losing out last season.
There was a feeling that Arsenal would only have a chance of overtaking City when Guardiola's men had a drop-off in form - but now Liverpool have risen up as the new dominant force. The Gunners can have no real excuses given that they spent over £100m on five summer signings and failed to bring in the striker they desperately needed.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have soared to the top of the standings without making any notable signings under a new manager. Arteta has had five-and-a-half seasons in the job to build up to this point and his team still look mentally frail and not up to the challenge. Liverpool will strengthen further next season. City will come back stronger too. We could also see Chelsea and maybe even United compete if they can regroup under Ruben Amorim. Arsenal have quite simply missed the boat and it could be years before they're back in title-winning shape.
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