Former Arsenal captain William Gallas has unleashed a scathing critique of Mikel Arteta, accusing the current Gunners boss of not being a top-tier manager and holding him responsible for the club's Premier League title race slump. Speaking to Prime Casino, Gallas didn't mince his words: "It's unacceptable for Arsenal to be making the same mistakes year-after-year with the same manager."
He continued, expressing his frustration over the lack of trophies: "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." Gallas questioned Arteta's leadership, adding: "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."
With Arsenal reportedly eyeing Alexander Isak and Benjamin Sesko in the transfer market, Gallas slammed the team's recruitment strategy, particularly the failure to secure a top striker: "Signing a striker seems to be a blind spot for Arteta.
"That's why Arsenal have finished second for two seasons running, and it will be an unwelcome hat-trick this season.
"Every season, you always want to bring in one or two players. You need to add strength to what you have, and you need to keep players sharp, that's what competition does to a squad. Arsenal should have signed a big striker in the summer of 2023, but they didn't.
"They should have signed one in the summer of 2024, but they didn't. Top managers don't make that same mistake two seasons running. That is completely unacceptable."
Gallas believes Arteta's record compares unfavourably to that of new Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who is set to win the Premier League in his first season at Anfield.
"Right now Arteta is a good manager, not a world-class manager, because a world-class manager makes the difference," he continued. "A world-class manager wins titles. When you see Arne Slot, he's in his first season, and nobody expected him to win the Premier League. He arrived with a big personality. Look what he's done in one year.
"People are going to say he has a good squad. But last season, Arsenal had a good squad, but Arteta has shown too much faith to his players – his squad should be better this year, and the performances are worse than last season. I don't really read the newspaper, I don't really follow things, but nobody asks Arteta the right question."
This article first appeared on The Mirror.