Paul Merson does not believe Mikel Arteta will be sacked after Arsenal’s trophyless season, despite interesting comments from Wayne Rooney.
Rooney said this week that he is likely to look for a replacement for Arteta if Premier League leaders Arsenal fail to win the title.
“I think the team is in good enough shape now and has had the experience to get close to that, but I think we’re ready,” he said.
“If we don’t win now, we’ll probably have to change the coach.”
2025/26 Arsenal in the Premier League: Key statistics
Only one goal conceded in open play. Best discipline in the Premier League: 9 yellow cards, no red cards. Average possession rate: 58.3%. Only Liverpool and Chelsea have had more touches inside the attacking penalty area (301).
There is an argument that if the Gunners fail to win a major trophy this season, Arsenal may need to replace Arteta with a proven winner.
While he is clearly an elite rebuilding manager, there will also be some awkward conversations about his ability to win top prizes and produce tangible evidence of the club’s tremendous growth under his stewardship.
Rooney’s comments were picked up by Arsenal hero Melson, who stressed the importance of context when asked if the former Manchester United striker was right.
“It all depends on how it happens, right?” Merson told Sky Sports News.
“So they go and get a 90-something, and then they get reprimanded, and they get a 90, and you think, ‘So what can you really do?’
“You know, in the Champions League, you might go to the final, the semi-final. The goalkeeper comes out, someone goes around, the referee calls him off. There are ways to lose. There are ways to lose the title, there are ways to lose the game. There are ways to lose. There are ways to lose the title, there are ways to lose the match. They have ways to lose.
“People forget that five years ago Arsenal just got into the repechage. They started the season well but had no chance of winning the league and had to sweat to get into the top four to qualify for the Champions League. And they had to sweat for it.”
“They are big players in the Premier League and it’s all thanks to Mikel Arteta.
“What he did there was he put the team together, worked with whoever came in as sporting director and very quietly built the team. There are two players in every position.”
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Set piece FC? Who cares?
For some reason, Arsenal’s strength in set-pieces is what gives them the stick to beat them.
People think they rely on teams too much, but if anything, Merson said this is a way to break down teams that are bussed in open play.
“I don’t know,” he said. “They’re scoring a lot of set-pieces, but even Liverpool, in every game they’ve played this season, I could be wrong about the Liverpool game. They’ve dominated possession. It’s not like they’re playing with 33/35% possession week in and week out and scoring from set pieces. They’re dominating the game.”
“They probably can’t break down a team as much as they did against Arsenal where they were all sitting 10 behind the ball, so even if they can’t break a team down, they’ll always have that set-piece in their arsenal.
“They are dominating the game. I have yet to see anyone turn Arsenal around this season, but they are dominant. The reason is that each team is 10 points off the ball and that is why they have not yet scored many goals in open play.”
Arsenal are defensive demons and that makes them favorites for the PL title
The fact that Arsenal are strong defensively has somehow become something negative (or even boring). And for some reason, it has also become a bad thing now that Arteta is being compared to three-time Premier League winner Jose Mourinho.
If Arsenal keep clean sheets and limit scoring opportunities, they will win the league in a canter. That’s all that really matters, not what Liverpool fans think about X.
“As soon as it hits zero, the game is over,” Merson continued.
“When Atletico Madrid lost by one goal in the Champions League last week, I could literally see him saying, ‘Game over.’
“It was exactly the same when I was playing, I think it was in the 1990/91 season, when Arsenal got one more. As soon as we scored and celebrated, we were falling back and I could see the faces of the other team. They knew they were losing and they knew we couldn’t win anymore. That’s it. It was either the worst or the worst. That’s what it was like.”
“Arsenal are relentless. They’re a machine, a well-oiled machine, and they’ve got unbelievable individual players in that team as well, which makes it a terrible cocktail for everyone else.”
Read more: Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish lead multiple player statistical indicators in 2025/26 Premier League
