Arteta was appointed the coach of the Gunners, signing a deal until 2023, on December 20th, 2019. The former Everton player took charge for the first time as an Arsenal manager for their Premier League match against Bournemouth which ended in a 1-1 draw, thanks to a second-half equaliser from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
In 2020, Arsenal beat Arteta's former employer Manchester City 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-final, leading Arsenal to their fourth FA Cup final in seven years, and Arteta's first in charge. Arsenal went on to win the final 2-1 over Chelsea for a record 14th victory, making Arteta the first person to win the FA Cup as both captain and coach of Arsenal.
Moreover, he became the first head coach or manager to win a major trophy in his first season in charge of the club since George Graham in 1986-87.
However, since the FA Cup triumph, Arsenal have gone without a trophy, finishing second behind Man City in the previous season, while this season they reached the semi-finals of UEFA Champions League where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain.
They are currently sitting second in the Premier League table with Liverpool already crowned champions.
Arteta a good manager but must win trophy next season
“I think this manager (Arteta) is a very good manager, he has changed Arsenal, people forget how we were like before he came in, we were bad, we were struggling even to finish eighth,” AFTV's Lyle, who is in Kenya for a seven-day visit, told Flashscore.
“But don’t forget we have next season, if he doesn’t win anything next season, then I will change my narrative, then he doesn’t need to stay, it is inevitable that he has to leave, but we must put everything in context when he came in, we were terrible, he has changed the culture, changed everything around the club, fans, who had disconnected with Arsenal, he brought them back, and connected them up.
“That first we would challenge for the league, listen people got short of memory because I speak to fans every day, and every week, I remember nobody was expecting Arsenal to challenge last season, and we finished second, the next season, which was obviously last season, a lot of people, maybe we could possibly do it, but we finished two points off Man City.”
Injuries cost Arsenal league title this season
“I think the most frustrating thing was this season because a lot of people were like, this is the season, this is the season when we gonna do it, but when you have to take into account the horrendous injuries had he has had, which team can win the league, or won the league in recent times, with that number of injuries?” Lyle posed a question.
“I have seen Liverpool won the league but the next season Virgil van Dijk was out with injury and they never won it, for Arsenal I am talking of over nine plus players out injured.
“But if Arteta really had his full squad, then he can’t continue coming up as runners-up, and you have to get that time when you go over the line, and I think that has to be next season.”
He continued: “Arsenal were very close last year, but again it was not possible to do it without a striker, it was a horrible mistake not to buy a striker, they should have bought a striker last summer.”
On why Arsenal lost the title to Man City the previous season, Lyle said: “I think Man City they chased us down, they just went on an unbelievable run from December, right down to the end, they didn’t lose any game, and they just edged us out to the title in the end.
“I just thought last season, Arsenal was the best team, I think Arsenal was better than Man City, last year Arsenal beat Man City, Arsenal were destroying teams, I was really gutted that we didn’t win the league, I felt we should have won the league but fair play to Man City, I think it was a little bit of experience they got that enabled them to get over the line.
“It was a good season that we deserved to take the trophy, we didn’t have any injuries, it was only Gabriel (Jesus), our defence line was intact until the end, but this season everyone was missing.”
