Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has warned Arsenal and Mikel Arteta that they will be forgotten in history if they continue to fail to win major trophies.
Since Mikel Arteta joined the Gunners in 2019, the club have won the FA Cup and two Community Shields. Despite the impressive work done by the Spaniard to turn Arsenal around and install a winning mentality at the club, you can only really say they have won one major honor in five years under Arteta.
The Gunners finished second in a heated title race last season, eventually falling to winners Manchester City.
Gary Neville believes history will not be kind to Arteta
Neville, a multiple time Premier League winner with Manchester United, said despite Arsenal’s brilliance, they need to win trophies before they can be admired:
“If this superb Arsenal team doesn’t win the Premier League or the Champions League then they can forget about going down in history. That’s harsh but the reality of elite sport,” he wrote in newsletter for The Overlap.
“No one will fondly recall the magnificence of William Saliba and Gabriel at the back, the brilliance of Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, David Raya’s extraordinary saves or the incision of Bukayo Saka up front. There will be no Netflix documentaries. They will never be feted or admired. They will be dismissed as nearly men.”
Arsenal face the league holders Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday. Gary Neville says the Gunners need a win to make a statement.
“History is unforgiving of those who fall just short. And that’s why, for all the excellent work they’ve done in the past two years, there is still a step to take. We’re too early in the season to describe Sunday’s clash with Manchester City at the Etihad as a title decider. Yet Arsenal need a statement win because they need to damage Manchester City and to demonstrate to themselves that they are the team of the moment.”
Arsenal need to be fearless on Sunday
Martin Keown has also urged the Gunners to go into Sunday’s game to win. The former Premier League and FA Cup winner with Arsenal has backed his former team to stop Manchester City:
“Arsenal will also need to show a willingness to dig their heels in defensively when they aren’t pushing up to press.” Keown wrote in his Daily Mail column.
“They have to get every man behind the ball and build the Thames Barrier in front of their own box to stop that City attack from flooding through. That defensive determination should not be criticised, it should be celebrated. If you want to beat the very best, you need to show steel above everything else.”
