Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, will face one of his biggest tests of the season when he welcomes Tottenham Hotspur to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, September 26, 2021. Ahead of the game which will kick off at 16:30, a former defender of Arsenal, William Gallas described him as a mistake.
The 44-year-old retired French footballer who played at Arsenal between 2006 and 2010, a year before Arteta joined the club as a player, said the 39-year-old Spanish tactician was not qualified to coach Arsenal.
Recall that Mikel Arteta played at Arsenal between 2011 and 2016 before he decided to join Pep Guardiola at Manchester City as an assistant coach. He learned under Guardiola for almost three years before Arsenal appointed him to replace Unai Emery in 2019.
In the 2019-2020 season, Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to win the FA Cup. Ahead of the 2020-2021 season, he helped the London club to win the Community Shield.
Unfortunately for the Spanish tactician, last season ended woefully for him and Arsenal. He was only able to push Arsenal to an eighth spot finish and didn’t qualify the club for any European tournament for the first time in decades.
Ahead of the 2021-2022 season, some fans of the club wanted the club to replace the Spanish coach due to how inconsistent the team’s performance was last season.
However, the club’s board decided to stick with him and he has started this season as inconsistent as he was last season.
When this season started, Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to three successive defeats before he was able to return the club to winning ways in their last three games.
Despite the turn of events to Arsenal’s favor, William Gallas told Genting Casino that Mikel Arteta does not have the experience to handle the Premier League club. The retired France international insisted that Arsenal made a mistake to appoint Arteta as the club’s coach.
“Last season I said he was not the right manager for Arsenal,” Gallas said.
“I said he didn’t have the experience to manage a team. And for me, Arsenal made a mistake choosing Mikel Arteta.
“He was Pep Guardiola’s assistant – but an assistant coach is not the same role as the coach because you have to make all the decisions. You have to take all the responsibility.
“I know the fans were not happy with finishing eighth last season. Everybody wants to see how long Mikel Arteta will stay as manager.
“The next game against Tottenham is a good test for him. After that game, we will know more about his position at the club.
“Will he be under more pressure or will he be a little bit more relaxed in his work?
“This season he doesn’t have any excuse because they are not playing in Europe so he will have time during the week to prepare for every weekend game. They need to have a result.”
William Gallas claimed Mikel Arteta did not spend well during the summer transfer window
Aside from calling Mikel Arteta a mistake, William Gallas said the £150million Arsenal spent on bringing in Ben White, Martin Odegaard, and Aaron Ramsdale were not spent wisely.
The Frenchman argued that Arsenal are filled with too many youngsters with little or no experienced players to compete this season.
He said: “For me, the squad doesn’t look strong enough. Arsenal have got too many young players and not enough experienced players.
“The players who play for Arsenal right now – they don’t have personality. They don’t have enough experience.
“Arsenal don’t really have world-class players. And for the club, for Arsenal, I don’t understand this. I really don’t understand.
“Okay, spend £150m – but I don’t think the money has been well spent.”
