Mikel Arteta ‘might not be at Arsenal’ if they fail to win the Premier League this season, according to Alan Shearer.
The Gunners are under enormous pressure to convert their dominance into finally getting over the line but stuttered on Wednesday night, allowing chasing Man City a boost.
A stoppage time equaliser from Wolves, coming back from 2-0 down, was a calamitous result for the leaders against the bottom side.
The demons of the last few seasons, in which Arteta’s men have repeatedly come second, could begin to emerge again and Shearer now thinks there will be a major test of their mettle.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, the former Newcastle striker said: ‘They’ll probably still win it, just. I think if you need a game after what has happened then it is not a bad one to have in your local rivals.
‘I know they have a new manager and it is away, but what a response it would be to go and win at Tottenham at the weekend.
Mikel Arteta might not be at Arsenal next season if they fail to win the title, says Alan Shearer
Shearer thinks the title run in will be a massive test of Arsenal’s championship mettle
‘I never expected Arsenal to do it the easy way, I always knew there was going to be bumps and everything else, nervy times. People are going to be chucking questions and bombs and you have to get over that. I did expect this to happen. Let’s see what they are made of.’
He went on: ‘If he doesn’t win the league he might not be at Arsenal. After the chances they have had to win it and they have been second. With what they have spent on the players they have got at the positions they are in, they have to win it.
‘Mentally maybe it [the Champions League] would be an easier barrier to get over to win that rather than then Premier League because of what has happened to them in the Premier League.’
Micah Richards added: ‘You have got a manager who wants to protect [Arteta] and a manager who wants to win [Guardiola]. That is going to be what it will be until the end of the season. Who is going to outdo each other in their tactics?
‘When Arteta first started at Arsenal, the football he played was sensational, the passing, the speed from back to front. There is nothing wrong with being a Mourinho up against Pep.
‘This notion you have to play this amazing football, Pep is the best at doing that, so you have to adapt. Arteta has had to adapt his football to get results, the problem is if he doesn’t win the league at the end of it he will be judged for the football he plays. He has to get over the line for his own sake.’
Arsenal are five points clear of Man City having played one more game and still have to visit the Etihad before the end of the season.
Wednesday night’s capitulation has asked serious questions of their championship credentials and Arteta admitted his side were far from good enough.
Wolves snatched a late equaliser against Arsenal to give Man City a huge boost in the race
‘I think any question, any criticism, any opinion, you have to take it on the chin today,’ he said. ‘That’s it. Any bullet, take it, because we didn’t perform at the level that is required.’
When it was suggested that his team, who squandered the chance to go seven points clear, were struggling under the pressure exerted by Manchester City, he said: ‘Anything that anybody says can be right, because we didn’t do what we had to do.’
Asked if his side were strong enough to recover from this setback, he said: ‘We’ve always done it, but you are as strong as to show it the next time you do it. To talk and say it here, it’s simple, and we have to do it on the pitch.’
‘It was one after the other, to be fair. It was a moment after another moment after another moment. So even though we scored the second goal, we never got a grip and dominance of the game.
He continued: ‘It’s difficult to accept it in the second half how we didn’t perform at any level in any aspect of the game, at the standards that are required to win a game in the Premier League and we paid the price.
‘Too many things that went wrong was one after the other. It’s best not to judge it. We are all too emotional about it and it’s not the moment to do it.
‘It’s a moment when you don’t perform, and you are at this level, and expectations are where they are. You have to take the hit, because as well, we deserve it.
Arteta, speaking animatedly to set-piece coach Nicholas Jover, leads his side against Tottenham in the north London derby this weekend
‘If I ask the players what we have to do now – what the game requires – they know it.
‘But we weren’t able to do it throughout the game, and it was in various sequences and a lot of times as well. That’s why we have to do better. But we didn’t do it, and that’s the reality.’
Arsenal, as Shearer says, can answer the doubters resoundingly with a victory over Tottenham in the north London derby this Sunday afternoon.
The hosts, under new manager Igor Tudor, are likely to be extremely motivated to upset their local rivals’ title tilt.
City, meanwhile, take on Newcastle in Saturday’s late kick-off.
