Arsenal: Mikel Arteta reveals his main 2024/25 mistake with ‘decision’ on one star he’d ‘overturn’
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has commented on his main mistake from the 2024/25 campaign as he wishes he could “overturn” one “decision”.
The 2024/25 season has been disappointing for the Gunners and Arteta is under immense scrutiny heading into his side’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
Arsenal have been ravaged by injuries this season as they have come up short in the race for the Premier League title for the third consecutive season.
The north London outfit have been particularly impacted in attacking areas and have been without Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz for months.
Injuries to Jesus and Havertz have forced Arteta to use midfielder Mikel Merino as a stand-in striker in recent weeks and they are crying out for a new striker.
28-year-old Jesus has been criticised for being wasteful this season, but he enjoyed a purple patch before he suffered a cruciate ligament tear during Arsenal’s FA Cup third round match against Man Utd in January.
Jesus showed signs of looking uncomfortable but was kept on the pitch as his situation worsened and Arteta admits he regrets not taking the Brazil international off at the earliest opportunity.
“Possibly yes,” Arteta admitted on the Men In Blazers podcast when asked whether he had a mistake this season he wishes he could correct.
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“It’s very difficult to understand that, but if I could pause the game and say ‘Gabriel Jesus, we brought you back to life, you are doing incredibly well, you’re now going to get injured’, I would say ‘stop, we are going to swap him, bring another player in and continue to play the game’.
“Unfortunately we cannot do this. It is not like VAR where we can overturn the decisions like this. The decision is made there is no way back.”
Regarding Wednesday night’s second leg against PSG, Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has explained why he thinks the return of Thomas Partey is a boost after he missed the first leg due to suspension.
“Arsenal missed Thomas Partey’s presence in the centre of midfield,” Parlour said.
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“They struggled to cope early on with the way PSG pressed and won back possession quickly.
“The closing down throughout the game should have been better. I think they gave PSG too much respect and as mentioned, Partey was a big miss as it meant Declan Rice’s game changed and also [Mikel] Merino’s game too.
“Merino has been doing a good job as the No.9 which worked well in both Madrid games.”
Parlou added: “If you look at Arsenal’s team, you are missing the spine of the team in Gabriel [Magalhaes], Partey and [Kai] Havertz, but they will have Partey back, who can get Arsenal having more control of the game,’ he added.
“Arsenal had a lack of real attacking options off the bench and this is where they will look to add to their squad over the summer with more quality in that area.”
