Former Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit says the club needs to win silverware to ensure the effort over the past few seasons is not wasted.
The Gunners have twice finished second behind Manchester City in the Premier League and have been widely tipped to be their primary challengers again this term.
Speaking to David Seaman’s ‘Seaman Says’ podcast, via Betway, Petit claimed Arsenal must believe they can overhaul this reigning champions this time around.
“I think it’s very important for the players, for the manager and the staff, even for the fans, to win silverware,” Petit said.
“I think this season is very important for that, for (Mikel) Arteta, because if you want the players to believe in the manager, you need to get something at the end of the season.
“They were very close the last two seasons. Man City is still the reference – they have a very good team.
“But I’m pretty sure that because the gap is not that important for the last two seasons, I’m thinking that this season could be the season for Arsenal.”
Petit knows what it takes to be a winner in English football having helped Arsenal win the Premier League and FA Cup double in 1997/98.
He formed a formidable midfield partnership with Patrick Vieira, with the pair redefining how teams operated in the centre of the park during that era.
However, while the French duo played a pivotal role in Arsenal’s success, the team also benefited from having a strong core of English players.
Nigel Winterburn, Ray Parlour and David Seaman each played more than 30 league games that season, while Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Ian Wright and Steve Bould also featured regularly.
Petit believes the blend of homegrown players and overseas talent was the perfect combination as the Premier League was evolving during the 1990s.
Arsenal have just four English players in their current squad – Ben White, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling – which highlights how things have changed.
While Sterling has four Premier League title successes on his CV, the other trio have failed to break their duck in the English top flight.
Rice and Saka also came up short at the 2024 European Championship as England were defeated 2-1 by Spain in the final in Berlin during July.
Petit says that finishing second counts for little in the grand scheme of things and has urged Arsenal’s English core to set the record straight this season.
“Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka – they’re very good players,” Petit added. “I like them very much, but they need to get silverware.
“Just like England at the Euros, you finish second, but at the end nobody will remember that. You need to get the silverware.
“They need to get that if they want to reach the last step and play in the same water with City. They have to believe themselves that they can win something against City, so they need to beat them as well.”
