Thierry Henry is adamant Mikel Arteta “should be doing better” with Arsenal and challenging more robustly for trophies.
The Arsenal legend believes fans have a right to be questioning their manager after three seasons of second-place finishes in the Premier League, and five without a serious trophy.
Arteta has brought Arsenal back into contention for major trophies after taking over back in December 2010, but has only lifted one competitive trophy, the FA Cup in his first season, and two Community Shields.
His growing reputation as nearly but not enough has led to pundits putting pressure on the Spaniard, with Paul Merson suggesting he could be sacked by Christmas if they are not in the race for the Premier League.
Thierry Henry has had his say on Arsenal's tough campaign
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Now Henry has had his say, with a pointed remark involving Manchester United, who are still reaching finals and winning trophies in their league slump.
“I’m not saying that I’m disappointed with Arsenal, but it’s normal that people are raising questions now about what the team is doing,” Henry told the Stick to Football podcast.
“I understand that at the very beginning [for Mikel Arteta] you arrive and it’s not your team, you need at the very least three or four transfer windows to change everything that you want to.
“It takes time and you have to give a manager time to be able to implement what he wants to do.
“Now, for the last three years, Arsenal have been in a situation where they should have at least brought one cup in or a final.
“Manchester United have played in five finals in the last five years, the United that everyone laughs at, whereas for Arsenal in the last three years of building, they’ve not reached a final.
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The Arsenal manager has only won 1 trophy in his time in North London
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“So, I do understand when people ask the question 'surely you should compete for a trophy?'”
However, Arsenal's stats have shown Arteta has improved the Gunners. Before his arrival, the team finished outside the top four for three consecutive seasons.
Since he joined, they have come close to winning the Premier League twice and made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League this season.
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Pundits are piling on the pressure to the Arsenal manager
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Even with some devastating injuries, the team still managed to retain their record as the side with the best defensive record for a second season.
Jamie Carragher also believes Arteta is under pressure to deliver some silverware.
“This season felt like it should have been their season,” the Liverpool legend recently told Sky Sports.
“There’s no doubt next season that the pressure will be on Mikel Arteta massively in terms of winning something and winning something big.
“The Arsenal board, if they don’t [win a major trophy], will have a massive issue because they won’t want to change their manager, but there will be that many people saying: five or six years without a trophy.
“They will be looking at how many managers can make that next step.”
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