Perspective: 5 reasons Mikel Arteta sack would be a huge mistake for Arsenal | OneFootball

Nine points clear at the top of the table with six games left and Arsenal fans are booing their team off the pitch at the Emirates Stadium – of course there’s more context to it than that, but it’s a useful reminder that the Gunners mustn’t overreact.

There will inevitably be talk of Mikel Arteta’s future as Arsenal manager now. Since everyone has more or less already decided that the club are going to bottle it and finish trophyless again, it stands to reason that the next question is over the manager and if his project has ran out of steam.

Except, the season isn’t over yet, so let’s pause, take a breath, and take a moment to look a little closer at Arsenal’s situation.

Gooners are sure they have been through this exact scenario before, but every season is different, and even if finishing second three years in a row can start to feel rather similar, there was only one ‘bottling’ in that three-year run, and even then it was arguably only a serious William Saliba injury that saw Manchester City’s treble winners overtake them.

Is the Arteta sack talk justified? Here’s five reasons we think Arsenal need to stick with him…

Title still in Arsenal’s hands

So, to start by stating the obvious, Arsenal’s season isn’t over yet. Far from it. We’ll get to the Champions League in a moment, but firstly let’s remember that the title is still in their hands.

Manchester City face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge later today – in just a few hours’ time they may well have dropped more points to keep Arsenal’s lead intact.

It’s also far from a given that Man City beat Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium next weekend. Pep Guardiola’s side desperately need the three points in that one, but have only won one in their last seven games against the north Londoners, having drawn their last two meetings against them at the Etihad.

After that, it’s unpredictable – we’ve seen both of these sides drop points in games you’d have expected them to win this season, so anyone backing City to go on one of their lengthy winning runs of old probably hasn’t seen them play much this term.

Bournemouth a tougher fixture than it looks

It’s easy to forget just how tough Arsenal’s schedule has been this season, in what is generally considered to be one of the most competitive Premier Leagues we’ve had.

So, when Bournemouth went into yesterday’s game having had 22 days of rest since their last game, while Arsenal were playing their third in a week, is anyone that surprised that Arteta’s men looked comparatively slower and less sharp?

Of course there can’t be too many excuses in a title race, you’ve simply got to win games like this, but slip-ups also happen even to the best teams, and this was an underrated mid-table side who have played good football all season long, and who will likely pick up more points against the big teams before the campaign is done.

Meanwhile, their manager Andoni Iraola is becoming widely recognised as one of the top coaches in the game, and there’s every chance he’ll be in the frame for jobs like Manchester United and Liverpool if they decide to change manager this summer. Perhaps he’ll even be leading Man City’s next title challenge if Pep decides to call it a day.

Injuries

This has been a theme for Arsenal all season, and while everyone might be sick of hearing about it, it doesn’t make it not an issue.

Yesterday against Bournemouth, Arsenal lined up without: Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, and Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie were only fit enough to start on the bench.

Arteta has had some critics for over-using certain players and not rotating enough, and that may well have led to the dip in form of someone like Martin Zubimendi, but most players at top clubs will be well aware that they’re expected to perform at the very highest level every few days. This simply hasn’t been the case for Odegaard and Calafiori in particular, and there are a few other members of this squad who are clearly injury-prone in a way that makes it impossible to just pin the blame onto the manager.

Champions League semi-final appearance likely

Arsenal won 1-0 away to Sporting Lisbon just a matter of days ago, becoming the first team to win at the Portuguese giants’ stadium since August. They were the better team for the most part, and it has to go down as an excellent result.

Barring a disaster in the second leg, Arsenal are now surely though to the Champions League semi–finals for a second season in a row. For those getting misty-eyed about the Arsene Wenger era and all the pretty football those teams played, it’s worth remembering that this is a club that has NEVER made consecutive Champions League semi-final appearances, and that will have made precisely HALF of their appearances at this stage of the competition under Arteta.

No guaranteed upgrade

Hiring a manager is difficult, so if you’re going to sack one of the best in Europe you’d better be sure you’re getting an upgrade.

Who is there? Guardiola isn’t joining and almost certainly never will. Jurgen Klopp has basically retired, and won’t manage another Premier League club anyway. Thomas Tuchel only recently signed a new contract with England so is surely there for the next few years unless the World Cup goes far worse than expected. Carlo Ancelotti is probably going to retire after his stint with Brazil.

So in the absence of a proven winner out there, you’re gambling on someone like Enzo Maresca or Ruben Amorim, or if you’re lucky you might get yourself an Arne Slot, though you’ll probably then have to think about replacing him again after just a couple of years.

Sacking Arteta sounds like the plain and obvious solution until you actually give it the slightest bit of thought. He’s going nowhere unless he decides he’s had enough, and then he has his pick of every top job out there, you just wait and see.