Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui feels second-placed Arsenal don’t deserve criticism

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Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui insists it is unfair to label Arsenal a bottler after their failed title challenge.

The Gunners will finish second behind Manchester City after topping the table for most of the season.

They held an eight-point lead in March but lost crucial points to Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton in the run-in before losing 4-1 at City in April.

Arsenal’s defeats to Brighton and Nottingham Forest handed City a third consecutive title but, ahead of Wolves’ trip to the Emirates for the Premier League final on Sunday, Lopetegui feels the Gunners don’t deserve criticism for their second place.

“Of course (they don’t). It’s an amazing league and in the end they lost to Manchester City in one of the last games,” he said.

“They did a fantastic job – just look at the teams that finished below them, amazing teams.

“So I congratulate Mikel (Arteta) for his fantastic job. I remember he had big problems when he arrived two years ago, but they showed faith and faith in him and now they are reaping the rewards.

“He improved the squad and changed a lot of players and put a lot of quality on the pitch and produced some fantastic responses.

“Now they have an incredible project ahead of them.

“That’s Mikel’s credit – fantastic work. In the same way, it highlights the merit of the club and the sporting director because he couldn’t do what he did without believing in himself.

“In football, believing in the medium or long term is very difficult.

“It’s usually always short-term. I think they are reaping the rewards of that belief and I’m happy for them because teams that show patience and work hard for the future deserve to be successful.

Lopetegui remains in talks with Wolves over his future after guiding them to safety in the middle of the table. He is seeking clarification on how much support he will receive this summer, with financial fair play limiting the club’s purchasing power.

He wants to revamp the team with several departures, including Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho and Adama Traore at the end of the contract, but Lopetegui has suggested that Raul Jimenez still has a future for Wolves.

“Raul still has a year of contract with us and for me it’s not his last match with us. He’s our player,” he said.

“Raul is our player and he is under contract. I hope he will continue with us.

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