Troy Deeney continues to challenge Arsenal to win a major honour under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners are without a trophy since the 2020 FA Cup triumph in Arteta’s first season at the club and have now spent big once again in the transfer market this summer.
Andrea Berta splashed in excess of £250m on eight new signings in an attempt to finally land the Premier League title after three consecutive runners-up finishes.
Deeney believes that Arsenal have underachieved in recent seasons and has now revealed why he gives the Spaniard so much ‘grief’ over his reign at the club.
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Troy Deeney believes Mikel Arteta has had everything he wants at Arsenal
Speaking on the latest episode of ‘The Ripple Effect’ podcast, Deeney has admitted he gives Arteta ‘grief’ because he believes he has had everything he wanted since taking over as Arsenal manager.
The former Watford striker has publicly criticised the Gunners on numerous occasions and thinks that the power Arteta possesses at the club means that he should be yielding better results.
Deeney stated: “Of course it is. And that’s why I give Arteta l grief at times, l I think when he’s backed so well, when Edu was in there and they were so aligned.
“He was able to go, Ozil, not for me, Aubameyang, yes, you are top goalscorer, yes, you are captain, he’s got to go because the rest will fall in line.
“And if you’ve got that alignment from top to bottom, not it’s easier because it’s a massive call, but at least said it’s your call.”
Arteta is not the only one in the firing line from the pundit, Deeney thinks Viktor Gyokeres will fail at Arsenal.
Criticism is part and parcel of football, however, Arteta and his side now have the opportunity to silence Deeney once and for all by grabbing the title this campaign.
Mikel Arteta has earned the authority he now has at Arsenal
When Arteta was appointed in 2019, Arsenal were a mess. Freddie Ljungberg had guided the club as interim manager after it unravelled under Unai Emery.
Players were on inflated wages and not performing, Arteta had to change that and make big calls on the likes of Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
When you look at Arsenal now, you see a squad hungry for success and all pulling in the same direction – that doesn’t happen overnight.
Of course, the next step is for this team to win a major trophy, however, it is not as if they have been miles away. Premier League runners-up three successive times and Champions League semi-finalists is not to be sniffed at.
Arteta is so close to achieving greatness at Arsenal, he now needs to release the shackles a little and allow his team to go and snatch that destiny.
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