Arsenal ‘Entitlement’ Bites Arteta: Learn from Ranieri, Mourinho 2026

Key Points

• Arsenal have been accused of developing a mentality of entitlement, with critics arguing that the club and some supporters speak and act as if success is owed to them rather than earned on the pitch.
• In a Football365 Mailbox column titled “Arsenal ‘entitlement’ bites them again as Arteta told to learn from Ranieri and Mourinho”, a contributor argues that Arsenal’s recent stumbles in the title race reflect psychological, not purely tactical, shortcomings.​
• The writer, identifying as an Arsenal supporter, links the mentality issue to a wider “nearly‑teams” culture in North London, suggesting both Arsenal and Tottenham have, over decades, become associated with falling just short in major competitions.
• Former Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has described Spurs as “not a big club” in terms of wage expenditure and has openly questioned the club’s direction and transfer strategy, comments that feed into the broader narrative of Spurs as perennial nearly‑men.
• The Mailbox piece suggests that media focus on London clubs and fan expectations around Arsenal and Tottenham may have contributed to a sense that these teams should be winning trophies, despite the reality that no club is guaranteed success in elite sport.
• The author compares mentality in football to tennis, arguing that the difference between serial winners such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and the rest was often psychological resilience rather than raw talent.​
• Leicester City’s 2015‑16 Premier League title under Claudio Ranieri and José Mourinho’s title‑winning sides are cited as templates for how managers played down expectations publicly, in contrast to what is portrayed as more romantic, outward‑facing rhetoric from Mikel Arteta and Arsenal about “doing something beautiful” and “finishing the job”.​
• The piece argues that such public language from Arsenal and Arteta amounts to “entitlement talk”, and suggests Arteta should emulate Ranieri and Mourinho by deflecting title talk and lowering the external temperature around the club.​
• Pep Guardiola is highlighted as an example of a title‑winning manager who consistently talks up upcoming opponents and praises rival coaches like Fulham’s Marco Silva in press conferences, while quietly instilling a ruthless, winning mentality inside Manchester City.
• The Mailbox contributor contends that, despite narrative claims that Manchester City “must win all their remaining games”, historical precedent shows City can usually afford the odd defeat and a couple of draws and still edge Arsenal in a title race.​
• Arsenal’s record over the last three seasons is examined, with the writer noting that with 12 games left and 36 points available, Arsenal have taken an average of around 24 points, a return which has repeatedly left them short against City over a full campaign.​
• The suggestion is that Arsenal’s recent run of finishing second three seasons in a row reflects strong progress, but also exposes a recurring inability to sustain title‑winning form in the decisive final third of the season.​
• The author insists City have not yet “won the league” and still regards Arsenal as “slight favourites”, but believes Arsenal must win their next four or five matches to keep the title race genuinely alive.​
• The column warns that if Arsenal drop more points before the League Cup final at the end of March, Manchester City could be three or four points clear, risking another early fade in Arsenal’s title challenge.​
• On the same day Ange Postecoglou publicly described Spurs as suffering from a “nearly‑men mentality” and confirmed he viewed “Spursy” as an accurate tag, Arsenal dropped more points, reinforcing the columnist’s theme about North London’s mentality problem.
• Postecoglou revealed that after finishing fifth in his first season at Spurs he pushed for “Premier League‑leading players” such as Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi but ended up with Dominic Solanke and three teenagers, which he felt was not the profile of signings to take Spurs from fifth to title contention.​
• The Australian coach argued Spurs’ spending and wage structure do not reflect that of a genuine “big club”, despite the construction of a state‑of‑the‑art stadium and training ground, reinforcing his view that the club’s ambitions and mentality are misaligned with its infrastructure.
• Postecoglou further suggested that internal timidity at Spurs meant “nobody internally would dare say” they should win a trophy, contrasting with his own decision to set the target of winning silverware in his second year to break the psychological ceiling.​
• The Mailbox piece uses Postecoglou’s comments as a mirror for Arsenal, suggesting that while Spurs may under‑sell themselves internally, Arsenal’s public messaging sometimes tips into overconfidence, leaving them exposed when results falter.
• The Football365 editor frames the Mailbox as part of a wider debate about Arteta’s future, with other recent letters branding him “Arsenal’s Brendan Rodgers” or a “Poundland Mourinho” after a Champions League semi‑final defeat to Paris Saint‑Germain, accusations that he has spent heavily without delivering major silverware.
• Despite the criticism, other pundits such as Jamie Carragher have at times argued that Arsenal’s tactical shift under Arteta towards greater pragmatism and set‑piece strength shows a growing maturity and a move towards a more sustainable, title‑ready model.

North LondonArsenal ‘entitlement’ bites them again as Arteta told to learn from Ranieri and Mourinho (North London News) February 14, 2026 – In a fresh broadside at the mentality of North London’s biggest clubs, a Football365 Mailbox contributor has claimed that Arsenal’s recurring title setbacks are rooted in a sense of entitlement and urged Mikel Arteta to learn from the more understated public approach of Claudio Ranieri and José Mourinho.

How does the Mailbox writer define Arsenal’s ‘entitlement’?

The central thrust of the Football365 Mailbox article is that Arsenal have, in the eyes of the writer, slipped into a mindset where success is discussed as an inevitability rather than something that must be relentlessly earned.

As reported by the unnamed Mailbox contributor in Football365’s piece “Arsenal ‘entitlement’ bites them again as Arteta told to learn from Ranieri and Mourinho”, Arsenal’s rhetoric around “doing something beautiful” and “finishing the job” is presented as emblematic of an entitled outlook that jars with the reality that the current squad has yet to win the Premier League.​

The author argues that, while supporters of rival clubs have long mocked Tottenham as “Spursy” and branded Arsenal “bottle jobs”, the more substantive issue is psychological. They contend that elite sport is decided as much by mentality as by tactical plans or technical ability, drawing a comparison with tennis legends Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, whose dominance, they say, was built on psychological resilience as much as on their skills.

According to the Mailbox piece, Arsenal’s public discourse – including Arteta’s stylised language about beauty and completion – risks creating a narrative in which success is assumed, heightening scrutiny when form dips and intensifying the sense of collapse when the club falls short in the run‑in.​

Why are Arsenal and Spurs described as ‘nearly‑teams’?

The columnist frames their criticism within a wider observation that both Arsenal and Tottenham have, over the course of the writer’s lifetime, developed a reputation as “nearly‑teams”.

As set out in the Football365 Mailbox letter, the author, who identifies as an Arsenal fan, says they are not merely re‑hashing stereotypes about Spurs being “Spursy” or Arsenal being “bottle jobs”, but rather pointing to repeated patterns in which both clubs fall away at decisive moments in league or cup campaigns.

They suggest this culture may be influenced by geography and media framing, arguing that because Arsenal and Tottenham are historically the biggest clubs in London – described as the country’s biggest city – there is a perception, both locally and in national coverage, that they should be consistently winning major trophies.

In this telling, expectations at both clubs have grown faster than the structures and decisions that underpin prolonged success, leaving them vulnerable to scrutiny when they fail to match the standards set by serial winners such as Manchester City.​

On the Tottenham side of the North London divide, the Mailbox column’s theme is underscored by recent remarks from former Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, who has publicly questioned Spurs’ mentality and status.

What did Ange Postecoglou say about Spurs’ mentality and status?

On The Overlap podcast, reported by ESPN and other outlets, former Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou described Spurs as “not a big club” in terms of wage expenditure and transfer muscle, despite acknowledging that the club possesses an “unbelievable stadium” and training facilities.

As reported by Joey Lynch of ESPN, Postecoglou said:

“When you look at the expenditure, particularly in the wage structure, they’re not a big club. I saw that, because when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players.”

He went on to confirm that he saw the “Spursy” tag – long used by rival fans to characterise a tendency to falter at key moments – as having “100%” truth to it and admitted that changing that mentality had been central to his mission in North London.

According to ESPN’s account, Postecoglou explained that he set a specific aim of winning a trophy in his second season to break what he perceived as a psychological ceiling at the club, stating that “nobody internally would dare say” such a target because decision‑makers were “too scared” after previous near misses.

He also revealed details of the transfer frustration that coloured his time at Spurs, telling The Overlap that after finishing fifth in his first season he wanted to recruit “Premier League‑leading players” and identified Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi as key targets.​

However, as reported by ESPN, Postecoglou said Spurs ultimately signed Dominic Solanke – a player he stressed he “really liked” – alongside three teenagers, Archie Gray, Wilson Odobert and Lucas Bergvall, which he argued was not the profile of recruitment required to take Spurs from fifth place to genuine title contention.

The Australian added that, in his view, those teenagers are “outstanding young players” who can become excellent options for Tottenham, but stressed that they were “not going to get you from fifth to fourth”, again underlining his concern that club actions did not align with stated ambitions.​

How is Leicester under Ranieri used as a model for Arsenal?

Within the Football365 Mailbox, Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City are presented as a case study in how to handle title talk without fuelling entitlement.​

The author points out that during Leicester’s improbable 2015‑16 Premier League title campaign, Ranieri repeatedly and very deliberately played down questions about winning the league. As reported across contemporary coverage, the Italian typically cast his side as underdogs and refused to frame the title as a realistic objective until the latter stages of the season.

The Mailbox letter argues that this approach helped shield Leicester’s players from suffocating external pressure and presented an image of humility and hard work, even as results placed them in a commanding position.​

According to the Football365 contributor, José Mourinho adopted a similar tactic in his title‑winning stints with Chelsea and later with Real Madrid, regularly diverting attention, questioning the inevitability of success and publicly painting his sides as fighting against stronger or more established favourites.

The writer contends that Arteta and Arsenal would be wiser to “take a leaf out of Ranieri’s Leicester title win” by batting away questions about the title externally, even if they nurture more ambitious targets behind closed doors.​

What contrast is drawn between Arteta’s rhetoric and the approach of Guardiola and Mourinho?

The Mailbox column draws a sharp contrast between how Arteta speaks publicly about Arsenal’s ambitions and how Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho are perceived to manage narratives around their teams.​

According to the Football365 letter, Arsenal’s head coach and various figures around the club are fond of talking about “doing something beautiful” and “finishing the job”, language the writer labels “entitlement talk” on the basis that the club have “won nothing” in terms of the Premier League under the current regime.​

The author insists that such phrases might be acceptable internally, as motivational tools within the dressing room, but warns that using them in public statements only reinforces the impression that Arsenal expect success as a right rather than a goal to be fought for week by week.​

By contrast, the Mailbox piece points to Guardiola’s manner in pre‑match press conferences, where he is said to “constantly shower praise on Arsenal” and habitually talks up forthcoming opponents as though they were vintage sides, even when history or comparative form suggests City are strong favourites.

As reported by YS Scores and other outlets covering Manchester City’s preparations to face Fulham, Guardiola recently described Fulham as an “excellent team” whose “movements, methods, and quality” and balance between defence and attack have improved season after season, and he spoke of Marco Silva as “one of the best coaches”.

The Mailbox writer sees this as instructive: outwardly Guardiola projects respect and even caution, while inwardly instilling among his players an expectation of victory, whereas they fear Arsenal are projecting grandeur externally whilst not yet having the trophy record to back it up.​

Mourinho is cited as another example of a manager who publicly dampened expectations even in seasons when his teams, such as Chelsea, were strong favourites. The writer argues that in repeatedly playing down his own chances and emphasising the strength of rivals, Mourinho was both managing pressure and sharpening his squad’s competitive edge.

What do the numbers say about Arsenal’s recent title challenges?

Beyond psychology and rhetoric, the Football365 Mailbox column delves into the numbers underpinning Arsenal’s recent Premier League campaigns.​

The author notes that Arsenal have finished second in the league for three consecutive seasons, a run that underlines significant and sustained improvement under Arteta but also highlights a recurring pattern of falling just short of Manchester City.​

As described in the Mailbox, over that three‑season span Arsenal have, on average, collected around 24 points from the final 12 matches of each league campaign, out of a possible 36. That equates to dropping roughly 12 points in the run‑in, a level of slippage that, against a City side capable of long winning streaks, has proved costly.​

The writer contends that media narratives fixated on the idea that “City need to win all of their remaining games” are misleading, because historical precedent suggests City can usually afford a defeat and a couple of draws over the closing stretch and still prevail if their main challengers, such as Arsenal, falter.​

Within this context, the Mailbox maintains that Arsenal’s latest setback – the precise match is not detailed in the excerpted letter but is framed as another stumble on the same day as Postecoglou’s comments – is “entitlement biting them again”, in the sense that early‑season form and bullish language have not yet translated into the flawless finishing kick required to dethrone City.​

Are Arsenal still in the title race, and what must they do now?

Despite the sharp tone of the criticism, the Football365 correspondent explicitly rejects the suggestion that the title is already lost and insists they are not declaring City champions.​

In the Mailbox article, the writer describes Arsenal as “slight favourites” at this stage of the season but stresses that this status is contingent on immediate improvement in results.​

They argue that for the current campaign to become a “proper title race”, Arsenal need to win their next four or five matches, thereby maintaining pressure on City and preventing the champions from opening a decisive gap.​

The letter warns that if Arsenal fail to string together that kind of winning run, Manchester City could, by the time the League Cup final arrives at the end of March, be three or four points clear, at which point another Arsenal title challenge may have “faded away prematurely”.