It's Time for Mikel Arteta to Leave Arsenal

JAKARTA - Manager Mikel Arteta is time to leave Arsenal. He is considered still difficult to meet Arsenal's expectations to end the English Premier League title drought.

The 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Premier League seemed to be a signal that Arsenal would experience a decline. This is the second time Arsenal has lost a full point in the domestic competition. Previously they were also held by Brentford 1-1.

When Arsenal failed to win, on the other hand, Manchester City, who was the main competitor, showed consistency by always getting three points. In addition, Aston Villa must still be taken into account even though they are eight points behind. If they beat Leeds United at Villa Park, Saturday, February 21, 2026, they will definitely cut the gap to five points.

The match between Arsenal and Wolves at Molineux Stadium, Thursday, February 19, 2026 WIB, on paper, should have been won. Moreover, they were already 2-0 ahead through Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie. However, Wolves managed to catch up with the goal. The peak of the young man who is still 19 years old, Tom Odozie, was able to equalize the score 2-2 when the match entered injury time and was only a matter of minutes.

Arsenal seemed to repeat their failure when hosting Manchester United. On paper, they were clearly underdogs because Man Utd had just changed managers and were trying to rise. Even Arsenal were ahead due to Lisandro Martinez's own goal. But what happened was the opposite. Man Utd was able to rise and win 3-2.

The failure to win at Molineux and only being able to get one point is clearly disappointing for Arsenal. How not, The Gunners were unable to beat the team that is at the bottom of the standings and almost certainly will be relegated to the Championship next season.

In addition, Arsenal failed to leave Man City and only had a five-point lead. What makes Arsenal wary, Man City has the opportunity to reduce the point gap because they still have one match. Not only that, Arsenal also still has a match schedule against Man City at the Etihad.

The incident of rioting after the match, which was started by striker Gabriel Jesus who pushed defender Yerson Mosquera, reflected Arsenal's frustration over the failure to win. Not only the players, but even Arteta also seemed frustrated because his team did not perform as expected.

The disappointment and frustration are getting thicker because the shadow of failure like three consecutive seasons is again disturbing his non-technical team. Arsenal is indeed upset. During the last three seasons, they have always led the standings but Arsenal then experienced a decline when entering the second half of the competition.

As a result, the North London club only kept the trophy to be handed over to Man City or Liverpool at the end of the competition. They also have to wait again since the last time they became champions in 2004.

Arsenal is still leading the standings. However, the league trophy is threatened to fail again if it loses consistency when entering the end of the competition. If it finally fails to deliver Arsenal to the league trophy for six years at the Emirates, Arteta may consider leaving.

Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit says six years of winning only the FA Cup is enough for Arteta to stay at the club. Although his contract only ends in 2027, Petit fully supports Arteta if he leaves Arsenal sooner.

"To be honest, I don't know what is best for Arsenal and him. If he wins [the Premier League trophy], he can still leave. If he fails, he can also leave," Petit said as quoted by the Evening Standard.

"I don't know if the champion is also bringing the team to win more trophies. I just hope Arteta thinks about what he wants to do in the future. I certainly hope he stays at Arsenal for a long time rather than moving to another club. But I hope one day Arteta will handle Barcelona," he said.

Petit himself once defended Arsenal for three years. The former France national team midfielder won the Premier League once and the FA Cup once since 1997 to 2000. He then moved to Barca despite only playing one season before returning to England but Petit chose to cross to another London club, Chelsea.

Petis supports when Arteta is ready to leave Arsenal. He also believes Arteta has the opportunity to handle Barca. Moreover, Arteta is an alumni of the Spanish LaLiga elite club.

He also played 42 times for Barca B before being signed by Paris Saint-Germain in 2002. Arteta also worked as an assistant to Pep Guardiola, a former Barca player and coach, at Man City.

"Arteta has a strong bond [with Barca]. But in my opinion it depends entirely on him. Maybe he wants to stay forever, yes like a player with only one club," said Petit.

"Does he not want to manage a club in a different league? Honestly, if he leaves Arsenal, I would rather he manage a club outside of England than stay in the Premier League. I hope his next destination is Barcelona if he leaves Arsenal," he said.

Even though in a position that requires high vigilance after failing to win against Wolves, Arteta still hopes Arsenal can close the competition by winning a trophy. Even Arsenal can dream of winning a quadruple or four trophies because they have qualified for the English League Cup or Carabao Cup.

They also earned a ticket to the 16th round of the Champions League and survived in the FA Cup. But the target is definitely the Premier League to end a 22-year fast and the Champions League which has never been won.