Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta must lead his side to a major piece of silverware to put the "cherry on top" of his reign in North London, according to Gunners expert Charles Watts.
The Spaniard became just the 10th Arsenal boss to oversee 250 matches in charge of the men's team in last weekend's 3-0 Premier League victory over Nottingham Forest, and before overseeing a fabulous 5-1 Champions League thrashing of Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.
Arteta's 59% win ratio is already the best of any Arsenal men's manager in history, but he has only clinched two Community Shields and one FA Cup during his time in charge, coming so close yet so far to dethroning Manchester City in the Premier League.
Speaking to Sports Mole, Watts hailed Arteta for rebuilding the connection between the fans and the supporters, but he emphasised the point that the former Arsenal midfielder must finally win a major honour in his fifth full season.
"This is a time for Arsenal to win," Watts said. "I know what's gone on in the previous five years has been great. And it's been an amazing transformation. I was there in a press conference when he was appointed at the Emirates on December 20th, 2019. And Arsenal was such a state at that point. They were all over the place. The club was a mess. The disconnect between fans and the team was just huge.
"The stadium was half empty at games. And you kind of looked at it and thought, 'where do Arsenal go from this point?' And the way he's rebuilt things, he's re-energized the club. The winning mentality brought to the club and how it's all about winning now is just remarkable. And the atmosphere at the place is the best you've seen since the move to the Emirates. There's a real bond there. All of that is brilliant, obviously, but now's the time to finish the job off and get yourself close. They've been so close. They'd have been deserving title winners for each of the last two seasons.
'Arsenal would have deserved Premier League title in last two seasons'
"If Arsenal had won the title in each of the last two seasons, they would have deserved it because they were excellent. What they did last season in particular was incredible, record-breaking stuff. But they still didn't win because you've still got this Manchester City side. Liverpool know all about it, Liverpool won 99 points one season. They didn't win the league. That's what it takes now. So it's very, very hard. It's easy to sit here and say you've got to win.
"But you do, really, because it would be such a shame if this team ends up sort of splitting up in a couple of years' time without having got any trophies or silverware to show for it because they've been good enough for it. It's been a remarkable five years. Arsenal fans have loved it, or the majority of Arsenal fans have loved the last five years. And there've been so many brilliant memories along the way.
"Arteta was asked in a press conference last week in the build-up what's been the highlight of the five years so far, the 250. And he said just bringing the club back together is absolutely the highlight. That's understandable because it's been a huge job. It almost looked like an impossible job when he started and he's done it. Silverware would be that cherry on the top now. And that's what he wants. It's what the club wants and it's what the club needs. So the time is now to bring that silverware, to just rubber stamp the brilliant work that's gone on before it."
The 2023-24 campaign saw Arsenal set new Premier League era club records for their highest wins total (28) and goals scored (91) - tallies that not even the 2003-04 Invincibles managed - but they still wound up two points adrift of Man City as Pep Guardiola's side completed an unprecedented four-peat.
Ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp - considered one of the best Premier League bosses of all time - only led the Reds to one crown in the 2019-20 season, and Watts insists that both the German and Arteta's feats must be put into the City context, albeit while the outcome of their 115 charges hearing is still to come.
"There's always that question mark over Klopp, isn't it? He only won one Premier League title, but in any other era, he would have won four Premier League titles. Such was the job he did. It was just the fact he was up against City and Guardiola," Watts added.
"Whether history treats that any differently after the ruling of the 115 charges is heard, we'll wait and see. But it's just been so hard to get past this Manchester City side. And that has to be taken into account when you judge the lack of trophies that some other clubs have won during that period."
After back-to-back second-placed finishes in the Premier League, Arsenal rewarded Arteta with a new contract until 2027 in the middle of September amid murmurings that the 42-year-old was being lined up as a potential future Barcelona manager.
Arteta "absolute shambles" compared to Arne Slot's 'changing room of winners'
© Imago
Arteta's former club Manchester City are enduring an on-field crisis, having lost three top-flight games on the spin, but the Gunners are still behind the champions in the Premier League table on account of their four-game winless run before the international break.
However, Arsenal could leapfrog the faltering holders by bettering their result this weekend against Liverpool, who are nine points better off than the Gunners as new boss Arne Slot smashes records left, right and centre.
While Watts accepts that 'fingers will be pointed' in Arteta's direction if Liverpool win the title, he does not think that it is fair to compare the Spaniard's situation with Slot's, as Arteta inherited an Arsenal "shambles" while his Dutch foe entered a dressing room brimming with "winners".
"I think he'll become under a bit of pressure, especially if Slot wins it in his first season," Watts added. "I think there's differences when you look at that; Slot's walked into a changing room full of absolute winners who have been there, done it before and arguably the best attacking talent in the league in the changing room.
"You walk in, you take that on and then you've got a defence of Virgil van Dijk, [Ibrahima] Konate and Alisson behind them. It's very different to what Arteta walked into at Arsenal, which was an absolute shambles when he walked in the changing room. So there is difference.
"But it still will add pressure, If Slot walks in, wins the title in his first season, takes advantage of Man City falling away and Arsenal don't do that, there will definitely be fingers pointed in Arteta's direction. There already are fingers pointed in Arteta's direction.
"As good as he's been for 250 games, there are still sections of the Arsenal fanbase, certainly online, who question whether he's the guy who can get him over the line. And those questions would only increase if they don't win it this season and Liverpool do ahead of them. But there is a long way to go. We'll have to wait and see if that does happen. But there would undoubtedly be some extra pressure on him should Arsenal not take advantage of City slipping up."
Arsenal head to the London Stadium to take on local rivals West Ham United on Saturday, before kicking off December with a blockbuster visit of Manchester United to the Emirates next Wednesday.
