Mikel Arteta is still the right man for Arsenal - but patience will only last so long | OneFootball

Few, if any, actual Arsenal supporters think Arteta has taken the club as far as he can despite latest disappointment

Arteta’s Arsenal have gone another season without a trophy after their Champions League heartbreak against PSG last week

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Oddly, it remains probably the worst iteration of Arteta’s Arsenal that has delivered the Spaniard his only trophy, in the delayed FA Cup final of 2020.

The bare facts do not make great reading though, naturally, there is nuance missing from the discussion of what is now a five-year wait, and of whether or not Arteta has it in him to be the ruthless, winning manager Arsenal need to get over the line.

Arsenal lost 2-1 to PSG in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, going out 3-1 on aggregate

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Chasing Manchester City in the Premier League across the two seasons before this one was an unenviable task - maybe even an outright unfair one, depending on how their protracted court case ends.

A thin, inexperienced squad faltered badly at the end of the 2022-23 season, having mounted an unexpected challenge, but the idea that Arteta’s team “choked” or “bottled” anything last term is a myth. They won 16 of their final 18 league matches, drawing one of the others away to City and could not have done much more.

Something similar can be said of last week’s Champions League exit. They did indeed miss an excellent chance to reach a final in an open renewal, but it is not as if the competition represented a penalty kick. Arsenal were underdogs against Real Madrid in the quarter-final and again against PSG in the last-four. On the latter occasion, they were beaten by a better team.

Failing to capitalise on City’s drop-off in the League - or at least put Liverpool under serious pressure - and going out tamely to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-finals should be greater regrets than anything that happened in France last week.

Still, few, if any, actual Arsenal supporters think Arteta has now taken the club as far as he can. The scenes at full-time in the away end in Paris proved the fanbase remains firmly behind the manager. This is not a Gareth Southgate-England situation yet.

Even rival fans mischievously suggesting Arteta ought to be sacked probably do not entirely believe themselves. Given the choice, most would surely be happy to see Arteta’s project ripped up prematurely and left in the hands of a new manager, with all the uncertainty that entails.

The picture could, though, look rather different 12 months from now, if Arteta gets the backing he deserves and needs this summer, and still the trophy wait goes on.

Arteta must get the backing he deserves and needs in the transfer market this summer

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The 43-year-old has a firm say in Arsenal’s recruitment but has ultimately been left short by the squad he started this season with, and even more so by that which emerged from the January transfer window as injuries ripped his frontline apart.

A new striker and midfielder appear certain to come in, and perhaps a new left-winger, too. All three of Arsenal’s cup exits this season have owed plenty to their lack of firepower, even at full-strength.

For Arteta’s part, he too can do more to help himself. Refereeing decisions and, in particular, injuries have put limits on his team this season, no doubt. But at times he has leaned too heavily on those excuses, and been too quick to make out as if the world is aligned against his side.

Needless claims like last week’s about Liverpool’s points tally and being a better team than PSG do not help external perceptions either.

On the pitch, Arteta has repeatedly shown himself capable of orchestrating tactical masterplans for the biggest games, but when his best team is available he must get back to letting them be a little more free. Against lesser opposition they have been too rigid, too predictable and dropped countless points trying to sit on slender leads rather than kill off games.

In the build-up in Paris, Declan Rice suggested one trophy win would open the floodgates. Arsenal fans have been thinking that for a couple of seasons now - and patience will only last so long.