Former player and TV pundit Gary Neville at Old Trafford
It's been a good week or so for Arsenal, with the Gunners securing their spot in the 2026 Carabao Cup final with a 4-2 aggregate win over Chelsea. Mikel Arteta's men also won in the Premier League, while title rivals Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points.
There's still a long way to go in the 2025/26 season, but the team from north London have every chance of securing a major trophy for the first time since 2020, when Arteta led Arsenal to an FA Cup triumph during his first season in charge. Whatever happens, it's clear that, with the Spaniard calling the shots, the Gunners have been on an upward trajectory for some time now.
With that progress in mind, it's interesting that some of Gary Neville's thoughts on Arteta's ceiling at Arsenal, stated in 2022, have resurfaced this week.
Neville Claimed Arteta Could Do No Better Than Fourth at Arsenal
mikel arteta
In April of the 2021/22 Premier League season, having finished as low as eighth in the previous campaign, Arsenal were clearly heading in the right direction. The Gunners were fifth at the time, and that's where they would finish – narrowly missing out on a Champions League spot.
Speaking on Sky Sports The Overlap, Neville praised Arteta, calling him a 'brilliant coach' but expressed major doubts over his long-term prospects in north London. The pundit claimed that Arsenal could only dream of finishing fourth under the Spaniard and wouldn't be able to do any better than that.
He even went as far as to say Arteta would be best leaving Arsenal if he wanted to achieve more in his career. In full, he said: "I really like Mikel Arteta, I think he's a brilliant coach. I think the team is fantastic in terms of the young players they've got. But it's interesting when you're in a cycle of a club and you depress the ambition and have a significant period of failure because you then get really happy about finishing fourth.
"I found myself saying that about Manchester United, but it's because of a depressed ambition.
John Terry with the Premier League trophy
Neville Felt Man Utd Were Better Placed For Success Than Arsenal
Following Arsenal's recent progression into the League Cup final, while they sit top of the Premier League, having also finished first in the league phase of the Champions League, the clip has since resurfaced on social media, causing a big stir.
While Arsenal's detractors will point out that Arteta has not been able to add to his trophy haul since Neville's quotes, it certainly cannot be argued that his ceiling with the Gunners has been no better than fourth-place. In fact, after finishing fifth in 2022, the team have come second in every Premier League season yet.
It's also interesting to note that Neville insists that Manchester United 'will recover' and have more of a chance of competing in the league than Arsenal, but the Red Devils have not finished above the Gunners in the competition since 2020/21.
Arteta has had many doubters over the years, although former Everton teammate Tim Cahill famously backed him in 2020 when another former Man Utd star, Roy Keane, was similarly dismissive of his potential. In the end, though, it will be up to the Spaniard to finally silence his critics by leading Arsenal to glory – perhaps 2026 will be his year.