Former Arsenal defender William Gallas believes manager Mikel Arteta has failed so far at the club and believes he can have no excuses this season if he doesn’t reach the Champions League.
The Gunners narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification last season, but did so in an extremely disappointing way, tossing away a great position with three games to play and allowing arch rivals Tottenham to pinch fourth place.
Arteta had to settle for fifth and the , which is significant progress on the eighth-place finish he managed the season before, but Gallas says it is still not enough.
The Frenchman played for Arsenal from 2006-10 and featured in the Champions League in all four seasons with the club, and despite the big changes that have occurred at the Emirates since he was there, Gallas feels they still have to be dining at Europe’s top table.
Now having been in charge since December 2019 and with plenty of his own signings – including Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City this summer – Gallas says Arteta much produce, having failed so far.
‘For me, last season he failed because he didn’t qualify for the . That is the minimum for , with the story of Arsenal, they have to play the Champions League,’ Gallas told Metro.co.uk for
‘It didn’t happen, they didn’t qualify, so this season again they will be focussed on the Premier League, the , the Carabao Cup. I know he won the FA Cup in 2020 and the Community Shield, but it’s not enough for a big club like Arsenal, so for me he has failed.
‘He’s still the manager of Arsenal, but if I think if he doesn’t have a good start to the season, I think maybe he will be in trouble.
‘Now he’s bought Gabriel Jesus and other players, he won’t have any excuse if he doesn’t start well or qualify for the Champions League, he can’t have any excuses.’
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