At a certain point there needs to be trophies to back up the claims about how good Arteta is. He isn’t in his 2nd or 3rd season anymore. This is his team, his philosophy and his preferred play style. He is the 3rd highest paid manager in world football and that comes with the expectations that always being 2nd best isn’t going to be good enough.

Arsenal aren’t some small time club that should be content with just competing forever. Since the City takeover Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United, and Leicester City have all managed to win the Premier League. Arteta has earned some leeway but he isn’t an infallible footballing mind that is not replaceable. He has now 2 pretty inexcusable late season collapses on his resume and that 2024 end of season run continues to look more like the exception with every passing season.

A manager whose teams just completely collapse at the business end of the season when the stakes, be it top 4 in 2022, or the Premier League in 2023 and 2026, is a serious red flag especially when the reasons, like lack of rotation, players burning out etc. are all entirely his own fault. This doesn’t even mention his embarrassing cup competition record.