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News
- 48 minutes ago
Why Arsenal must SACK Mikel Arteta if they don't win the Premier League
Analysis
Arsenal have quietly assembled the best squad in the Premier League.
While all the hype has gone to Liverpool for spending almost €500 million, thanks to sporting director Andrea Berta, Arsenal have bolstered their squad spectacularly.
Arsenal's strength in depth is now so potent that you could very reasonably argue that they simply have to win the Premier League and that failure to do so should lead to Mikel Arteta being replaced as first team manager.
Current ETV
Viktor Gyökeres
F (C)
Arsenal
Viktor Gyökeres
F (C)
Arsenal
ETV Range
€72M - €87.9M
That may seem like a dramatic statement but consider that Arteta was appointed in December 2019, meaning he's been in charge of Arsenal for nearly half a decade, and apart from the FA Cup and Community Shield in early 2020, he's not won a single trophy.
Since Emi Martinez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (the key players for those trophy wins) departed the club as part of Mikel Arteta's squad revolution, the Basque coach has spent approximately €1 billion on new players.
Arteta's struggles with Arsenal
But to what end? Three consecutive second-place finishes to Pep Guardiola's juggernaut Man City side and then Arne Slot's Liverpool... close but no cigar.
Arteta had the Gunners locked into title races where his team always fell apart at some crucial stage (late against City, early against Liverpool) and injuries were usually to blame, a claim which was valid against City as Arsenal did not have the squad depth they did.
Once a starter went down, the quality of Arsenal's back-ups was not high enough and the team's level dropped enough that things fell apart.
Enter Andrea Berta.
Berta replaced Edu as Arsenal's sporting director in March of this year, meaning that summer 2025 was his first transfer window in charge. And, well, suffice to say he absolutely knocked it out of the park.
Every area that Arsenal needed to address was addressed.
Andrea Berta: a football transfers genius
Thomas Partey was allowed to leave unceremoniously but was replaced by Martin Zubimendi, the ball-playing defensive midfielder who had turned down Liverpool a year previously and Barcelona two years before that.
Not only did Arsenal secure Zubimendi, an impressive feat in itself, they also signed Christian Norgaard from Brentford to be his back-up. As of writing Norgaard hasn't played yet this season but Arsenal fans will know that, should Zubimendi get hurt or suspended, they will have a more than capable back-up.
Current ETV
Martín Zubimendi
DM, M (C)
Arsenal
Martín Zubimendi
DM, M (C)
Arsenal
ETV Range
€59.7M - €72.9M
This is a theme.
Noni Madueke came in at great expense, and many Arsenal fans were baffled by the move because he has no role in the starting XI. But after Bukayo Saka's hamstrings went again and he could be out for a month or more, Madueke stepped in to provide quality cover against Liverpool. He is a brilliant winger.
Last season Arsenal lost a bit of momentum because of an injury to Gabriel, seasons ago a William Saliba knock derailed their title challenge completely. So Berta went out and got Cristhian Mosquera, a tall and imposing Colombian defender who excels in duels. Saliba got injured early into their match with Liverpool, Mosquera came on, and the Gunners didn't skip a beat.
Current ETV
Cristhian Mosquera
D (C)
Arsenal
Cristhian Mosquera
D (C)
Arsenal
ETV Range
€34.1M - €41.6M
Kepa arrived to back-up David Raya. Now, Kepa is hardly a world-beater, but he's an experienced veteran of many trophy wins with Chelsea, so it's good to have those kind of guys around in the locker room (as long as they aren't whining about gametime, like Zinchenko, another malcontent who was pushed out this summer).
Piero Hincapie arrived, a quality option for both centre-back and especially left-back. While Riccardo Calafiori is a superb defender and has an uncanny eye for goal, he's not necessarily great on the ball. And Myles Lewis-Skelly is superb on the ball but a defensive liability with his love of diving in.
Current ETV
Piero Hincapié
D (CL)
Arsenal
Piero Hincapié
D (CL)
Arsenal
ETV Range
€52.9M - €64.6M
Hincapie is a superb defender who is Lisandro Martinez levels of comfortable on the ball. He will be Arsenal's starting left-back before long, offering them defensive solidity and attacking prowess, also freeing up Calafiori to play centrally. Saliba and Gabriel backed-up by Mosquera and Calafiori? Obscene.
All of this alone would be impressive, but then we get to the stardust.
Arsenal getting the Big Guns
It's well-known that Arsenal needed a striker, a true no. 9. Kai Havertz filled in there last season and did an admirable job, especially in big games, but over the course of a long season he simply will not score enough goals, especially against weaker teams who set up in low blocks and just try to stifle Arsenal.
Viktor Gyokeres, however? That's all he does!
After a protracted transfer saga (that saw Arteta push for the Havertz-like Benjamin Sesko), Andrea Berta finally brought Viktor Gyokeres to the Emirates. They paid a lot, for sure, but what they got was a man who had scored 97 goals in the last two seasons and had a penchant for beating up on weaker sides.
STATS
Viktor Gyökeres
F (C)
Arsenal
Viktor Gyökeres
F (C)
Arsenal
Sure, Gyokeres isn't the best against big teams. We saw it with Sporting and we saw Man Utd and Liverpool shut him down already this season. But Arsenal don't need him for big games. Their gameplan in those matches is already fine.
What they need is for him to mow down weaker sides, to attack those games with the kind of relentless hunger that Arsenal have often failed to replicate, leading to dropped points and botched title races.
The arrival of Gyokeres not only gives the Gunners the firepower they have long craved, but it also means Mikel Merino can return to midfield to be a rotation option for Declan Rice (he could also play an attacking no. 10 if need be). The depth is absurd.
But Andrea Berta was not finished. Oh no. Late in the window he went and got himself an absolute diamond in Eberechi Eze. The lifelong Arsenal fan is an absolute wizard of a footballer, a creative talent to rival or even surpass Martin Odegaard.
STATS
Eberechi Eze
AM (C), F (L)
Arsenal
Eberechi Eze
AM (C), F (L)
Arsenal
So Eze could be depth behind Odegaard should the Dane get injured, but mostly will start next to him. With Eze and Hincapie off the left and Odegaard through the middle, Arsenal's left-flank now becomes a hive of interplay and associative football, in turn creating more space for Saka to run his classic ISO plays on the right.
Arsenal's first XI was already one of the best in the league, now it is even moreso. They could go player for player with Liverpool, no question about it. And what's more is when it comes to depth they are superior to the Reds and everyone else.
Andrea Berta has assembled a squad that has everything you need to win the Premier League title. Elite quality all over the starting XI and depth like you wouldn't believe to be able to absorb injuries during this long Premier League season.
Current ETV
Eberechi Eze
AM (C), F (L)
Arsenal
Eberechi Eze
AM (C), F (L)
Arsenal
ETV Range
€55.6M - €67.9M
Arsenal's second-choice XI with everyone fit: Kepa in goal; a back four of Ben White, Mosquera, Calafiori and Lewis-Skelly; Christian Norgaard and Mikel Merino at the base of midfield with Ethan Nwaneri at the 10 spot, Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli out wide and Kai Havertz up-front. And they still have Gabriel Jesus to come back from injury as well as teenage prodigy Max Dowman.
Arteta: it's all up to you
This is why Mikel Arteta must win the Premier League. Not could, not even should. Must. He has the best squad with a lot of the best players. He's come close in previous years where his squad could be an excuse, that's not the case now, it's all on him.
Which is why if it doesn't work this season, he's got to go. At the end of this season Arteta will have had coming up to 6 years in charge of the club, and if after that amount of time with this amount of talent he still can't get it done? Go get someone who can.
Berta has built a squad for Arteta, sure, but it's so good that it could just as easily function with another coach.
Hell, Xavi's out of work and won a title with Barcelona in his first full season as coach there. What could he do with this monstrous Arsenal squad? You have to wonder!
Mikel Arteta won't want anyone to find out, but it's all on him.
Time to put up or shut up.
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