Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand has been speaking about the pitfalls of Arsenal making the Champions League next season.
Every football club wants to make the Champions League, but according to Ferdinand, qualifying for Europe’s top competition could be something of a poisoned chalice for Mikel Arteta.
Indeed, Ferdinand says that Arsenal fans are bound to get overhyped by their club being back at the top table and if they struggle to get through the groups, fans will once again be calling for Mikel Arteta’s head.
What’s been said?
Ferdinand spoke about the dangers Champions League football pose to Arteta.
“Don’t lie, all of your fans and Arsenal fans, we know that the hype will be real around expectations. You will be hyping it up expectations will be through the roof and if you go out in the group stages it will be ‘Mikel Arteta out’ I will be hearing that, you heard it here first,” Ferdinand said.
Wenger’s downfall
Ferdinand is absolutely right, failure in the Champions League could bring extra pressure to Arteta at Arsenal.
Let’s not forget, this is exactly what happened to Arsene Wenger.
The Frenchman consistently got Arsenal into the top four, but after seven consecutive Round of 16 eliminations and embarrassing 5-1 losses to Bayern Munich, Arsenal supporters lost patience with the Frenchman.
Arsenal are a club that are used to competing for top honours, but the reality is that the Champions League is an incredibly difficult competition, and Arsenal could be shown up by teams like Bayern, PSG, Barcelona or Real Madrid, and if that happens, Arteta may be under fire just as Wenger was.
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