Arsenal legend Jens Lehmann has warned Mikel Arteta is running out of time to prove he is a manager capable of winning trophies for the Gunners.
The Spaniard has masterminded significant progress at a club who were in disarray when he took over from Unai Emery five years ago.
Two Premier League title near misses underlined the improvements he has made, while reaching the Champions League semi final for the first time in 16 years after crushing Real Madrid felt like another significant milestone.
Defeat on Tuesday night against Paris Saint-Germain, however, represented a major setback and Arteta’s side now face a mountain to climb if they are to knock out the impressive Ligue 1 champions.
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Indeed, Arsenal are now staring down the barrel of another year without a major trophy and Lehmann fears Arteta is running out of time before serious questions will be asked about his future in the job.
‘I think he started with a bad start, but you have to give a lot of credit to him,’ Lehmann told talkSPORT.
‘He pulled himself out, he changed the team and now he has made them very stable, and stable at the top, which is fantastic for the current owner, because he generates the money.’
‘And on top if it, if they don’t win, he doesn’t need to pay him extra bonuses!’
He continued: ‘But obviously, he has to win next year.
‘This year, they could have won [the Premier League], Man City dropped a little bit, Liverpool replaced them.
‘Next year he has to win, but he probably needs to change his personality a little bit to win things.
‘Because sometimes, it’s [about] control and being cautious.
‘But if you want to win some things, in my opinion you could be a little more risky.
‘But that’s next year – next week is super important, I cross my fingers that they will score two goals and will not concede one.’
Can Arsenal come back against PSG?
Despite the odds stacked against them next week in Paris, meanwhile, Arteta remains confident his team can cause an upset.
‘It’s just half-time, I said exactly the same message after beating Real Madrid 3-0 at home,’ Arteta said in the aftermath of Tuesday’s defeat. ‘We go to Paris to win, and I fully believe that we can do it.
‘We’re disappointed with the result because I think we merited much more than what we got.
‘After having a difficult start, especially when they scored so early in a really good combination, they had the quality to open you up and finish the way they did. But after that, I think the team started to get better and better.
‘The margins are so small – we have two massive chances, probably the best two chances of the game with Gabi and Leo, one v one with the keeper.
‘He managed to save them and then obviously the goal was disallowed. That’s the margins and unfortunately we couldn’t score.’