{"id":909887,"date":"2026-06-02T12:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T17:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/02\/mikel-arteta-ex-super-eagles-star-reveals-what-arsenal-coach-must-do-to-win-ucl-next-season\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T12:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T17:17:09","slug":"mikel-arteta-ex-super-eagles-star-reveals-what-arsenal-coach-must-do-to-win-ucl-next-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/02\/mikel-arteta-ex-super-eagles-star-reveals-what-arsenal-coach-must-do-to-win-ucl-next-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta: Ex-Super Eagles star reveals what Arsenal coach must do to win UCL next season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta during Champions League semi-final, first leg match vs Atletico Madrid. Copyright: ImagoxAlterPhotos\/ABACAx<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to their first UEFA Champions League final in two decades last Saturday, but they fell short to Paris Saint-Germain, losing out on penalties, Soccernet.ng <\/a>reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, former Super Eagles and Leeds United defender Sam Sodje was proud of the football the Gunners played, although many would opine differently.<\/p>\n

Kai Havertz broke the deadlock for the Gunners in the sixth minute, putting the ball beyond Matvey Safanov. After the goal, Arsenal sat deep, while Paris Saint-Germain kept probing from side to side.<\/p>\n

PSG’s breakthrough came in the 62nd minute when Christian Mosquera fouled Kvicha Kvaratskhelia in the box, resulting in a penalty. Ousmane Dembele stepped up to send David Raya the wrong way.<\/p>\n

Both sides then cancelled each other out, maintaining the 1-1 score as the game went to penalties. Nuno Mendes missed for the French side, while Eberechi Eze and Gabriel replicated the same feat for Arsenal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Gabriel Magalhaes of Arsenal reacts after collecting his losers’ medal. Copyright: ImagoxCraigxMercerx\/xPeakxActionxPhotosx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Get Our Sports News First \u2013\u00a0Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Soccer Sam Sodje lauds Arteta, tells Arsenal to back Spanish manager<\/h2>\n

The five-cap Super Eagles defender revealed Arteta’s instruction to his team to sit back in the Champions League final was the only way they could have avoided a worse scoreline against PSG.<\/p>\n

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\u201cArsenal did well, but ultimately, the best team won,\u201d Sodje told Footy-Africa<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey came with a game plan, but it just wasn\u2019t their day. Anyone who understands the technical side of football knows Arsenal did the best they could. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unlucky they couldn\u2019t win, but the superior team took the victory.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Hartlepool United vs Portsmouth At Victoria Park, Sam Sodje. Copyright: Imago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\u201cThey played to their full potential. You can only play according to the squad you have,\u201d the 47-year-old continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cFans who don\u2019t understand the tactical side might think they should have played differently, but if Arsenal had opened up, they would have been beaten 4-0.<\/p>\n

\u201cMikel Arteta got the absolute best out of his players. They reached the final unbeaten and defended brilliantly. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey simply don\u2019t have the profile of players to pass opponents off the park like a team like PSG can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Mikel Arteta, manager of Arsenal, walks past the UEFA Champions League trophy. Copyright: ImagoxDavid Klein \/ Sportimage <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mikel Arteta delivered the English Premier League title for Arsenal in the just-concluded season, their first in 22 years. Sodje believes that if the former Everton midfielder is backed with attacking signings in the transfer market this summer, they can go all out to win everything next season.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLooking ahead to next season, we have to credit Arteta. He was tasked with winning the league and built a specific system to achieve that. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow that they are champions, he may evolve the system toward more explosive, attacking football.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will require a different profile of player. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt took the club over two decades to win the league again and years to reach this final; Arteta found a formula that wins matches, and we have to respect that. <\/p>\n

\u201cNext year, as defending champions, they will need to break teams down, which means recruiting players who can create more chances,\u201d the former Brentford defender concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Paris Saint-Germain v Arsenal, Champions League, Final. Copyright: ImagoxChrisxFoxwellx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Arsenal’s loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the UCL final means there won’t be an all-English UEFA Super Cup final. The French side will play against Aston Villa on the 12th of August.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Adefolahan Guerreiro” src=”https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f64d35abfd960f4a5a400c4bb517f7f0be6c48b655560fbdd37e59d9fc9ca58?s=80&d=mm&r=g” height=”80″ width=”80″ loading=”lazy” decoding=”async”>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tAdefolahan Guerreiro\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAdefolahan is a multilingual CAF-Accredited sports journalist and football writer whose work spans outlets like Soccernet Nigeria, Pure Football UK, and Royalsportz. <\/p>\n

With a sharp eye for detail and a background in college sports, he tells the African football story with depth, flair, and global perspective.<\/p>\n

Fluent in English, Spanish, and German, he brings a cross-cultural voice to his coverage, blending insight with accessibility for readers around the world.
\nHis portfolio includes interviews with top Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, Sikiru Alimi, Sodiq Ismaila, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.<\/p>\n

A devoted Borussia Dortmund fan, Adefolahan thrives on the emotion and rhythm of the beautiful game. Away from work, he\u2019s a sci-fi enthusiast and series lover who enjoys exploring how sport, storytelling, and culture collide.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Adefolahan Guerreiro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta during Champions League semi-final, first leg match vs Atletico Madrid. Copyright: ImagoxAlterPhotos\/ABACAx Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to their first UEFA Champions League final in two decades last Saturday, but they fell short to Paris Saint-Germain, losing out on penalties, Soccernet.ng reports. However, former Super Eagles and Leeds United defender Sam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":909888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27655,35787,2005],"tags":[42804,84170],"class_list":["post-909887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arteta","category-mikel","category-soccer","tag-arteta","tag-mikel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=909887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}