Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was quick to congratulate Tottenham for their Europa League triumph but claimed judging success or failure purely on winning a trophy brings problems.
The Gunners will end this season empty-handed after finishing second in the Premier League and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Their North London rivals have had a rotten season domestically but did claim a major European trophy last night when beating Manchester United in Bilbao.
Mikel Arteta was asked if Arsenal or Tottenham have had a better season in today’s press conference 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/eqwatiLyMR
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 22, 2025
Arteta refused to compare the club’s respective seasons but feels the binary nature of how success and failure are now judged is not helpful.
He said: “A worry? Well, externally yes. I mean, you’re going to only evaluate that, then use those two words [success and failure] and that’s it.
“I don’t know what is it, because last night is a really good example of that. Or the [Champions League] final between Inter and PSG, because they’re going to be judged only if they win it.
“If not, they’re going again like the last 12 years that they have tried it. They are very different beyond that.”
Arsenal set for summer of prudent spending
Arsenal finish their season at Southampton on Sunday before another summer of fine-tuning their squad.
Arteta confirmed he wanted out-of-contract midfielder Thomas Partey to stay while they are expected to be in the market for a striker.
He added: “Well, what we have, what is clear as well with the amount of injuries that we had in the front line, that we need a goal threat and we need the firepower out there.
“Understanding that the context can change tomorrow, you know, and we cannot rely just on the numbers that we had before. And we have to add goals, we have to add creativity, we have to add numbers and that will be in different positions.”
Arsenal were this morning linked with Real Madrid forward Rodrygo, who is reportedly unhappy at the Santiago Bernabeu.
