Arteta under pressure: Could Arsenal really sack their manager if the season collapses?

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 13 Apr 2026 12:29 BST
• 5 min read

Analysis

Arsenal are feeling the heat after three defeats in four games have put Mikel Arteta’s dreams of a quadruple on ice as the Gunners face the sudden prospect of finishing the season without a trophy.

Only a month ago, everything looked rosy at the Emirates Stadium, with hushed whispers of the possibility of a clean sweep of trophies even starting to gain volume. Fast forward three weeks, and suddenly the term ‘bottle’ is taboo once again around the North London club.

Beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, dumped out of FA Cup by Championship side Southampton and surprisingly beaten at home by Bournemouth in the Premier League, Arsenal are suddenly facing a season that could be historic for all the wrong reasons.

Only a narrow victory over Sporting CP in the Champions League – achieved by a late stoppage-time strike from Kai Havertz – offers Arteta’s side anything in the win column over the course of the last month.

For the Spaniard on a personal level, this wobble has come at a particularly delicate time, during contract negotiations with the club.

Such is the fickle nature of football, though, could Arteta find himself sacked if Arsenal’s collapse continues and they miss out on silverware?

Arsenal well placed for a double – but the pressure is on

It’s only right to point out that, despite recent results, things still look rosy for the Gunners. They are six points clear of Man City at the top of the Premier League, and while Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand against Burnley, they will likely have to win all of their remaining seven games to stand a chance of pipping Arteta’s side.

Arsenal also have a favourable draw in the Champions League, with a potential semi-final against Barcelona or Atletico Madrid looming.

Lifting either of these trophies would represent a historic payoff for the club. But the margins at elite-level football are slim, and failure will have pundits once again calling for Arteta’s head.

At the end of last term, Arsenal legend Paul Merson told Sky Sports: “If you get to four seasons [without the Premier League], you can’t keep going.

“It's not as easy as people think to win something and Arsenal keep falling short. Sometimes people fall short and it just becomes normal. That's a worry.”

He was not alone. Jens Lehmann told TalkSport: “Arteta has to win next year. This year, they could have won [the Premier League], Man City dropped a little bit, Liverpool replaced them.

“Next year he has to win.”

Externally, at least, the pressure will be huge, particularly after Arsenal got into such a strong position.

Arsenal’s Arteta sack stance revealed

Arsenal’s board are ready to ignore the noise and base Arteta’s efforts on the body of work he has put together since taking over a club that was in freefall when he took command in 2019.

That means he will be offered his new contract, though obviously his negotiating position will be significantly weakened without a major trophy.

Arsenal expert Steve Kay told FootballTransfers: “Arsenal will never sack Arteta. The only way he’ll leave is if he walks at the end of the season, which, going by the information and conversations I’ve had with people I trust, isn’t happening.

“The club, as we sit, has Arteta’s stamp all over it. Every season since he’s come to the club, there’s been progress.

“All the players are Arteta’s players. This season, many of them have signed long-term contracts because of Arteta.

“I’m told that there are no plans to sack him, and his job is safe for the foreseeable as long as he wants it.

“There is also a fear that sacking him could send Arsenal backwards.

“When you think about it, the next manager would have to win the league and the Champions League to beat what Arteta has done up to now - that’s of course if he doesn’t win both at the end of the season, which is still very, very possible.”

‘Arteta could walk – that’s not out of the question

Kay believes that there is no appetite for change within the club, and even if fans push for a managerial change, the only way that Arteta would leave is via resignation – something that he does not rule out.

In the worst-case scenario for Arsenal – that they win nothing – he predicts:

“Many on social media will be calling for him to be sacked. There will be an outcry for him to go, but Josh Kroenke has no intention of changing him right now.

“Like I said earlier, he could walk - that’s not out of the question.

“But even if he did decide to leave, he’d never leave Arsenal without a suitable replacement. And if that person isn’t available, he’d stay until someone suitable is found.

“As for possible names, you’re looking at a Luis Enrique or a Xavi, or maybe a Cesc Fabregas if he were to leave Como. Forget anyone else.”

The message is clear: even if Arsenal falter on all four fronts, Arteta will retain the board’s full confidence.