The Arsenal hierarchy have reportedly already decided not to sack manager Mikel Arteta yet. According to the Daily Mail (via the Express), the result in the North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday won’t make a difference.
Arteta’s position at Arsenal has come under immense scrutiny after a terrible start to the new Premier League campaign. The club lost three consecutive games to Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City without scoring a goal for themselves.
The pressure mounted due to Arsenal spending close to £150 million on six new players in the summer transfer window. Yet they failed to secure points from their opening three matches.
But since then, Arteta has somewhat steadied the ship at Arsenal. The Gunners have won two games in the league, against Norwich City and Burnley without conceding a goal. On top of that, Arsenal also defeated AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup.
According to the aforementioned source, this run of wins has lifted pressure on Arteta. The Arsenal board is now “genuinely enthusiastic” about the future under the former Manchester City assistant manager.
Arsenal have now overcome the problems surrounding player injuries and coronavirus and look set to have a healthy squad for the next few games. With the board backing the young manager, things are looking up for the north London club.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes every club goes through a rough patch
Meanwhile, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes each club goes through a rough patch in their history. He also feels the recent run of bad form will make his young squad even stronger. Speaking to Sky Sports, Arteta said:
“We are in a different moment in our history. Every club has to go through different patches, and we went through the patch of the last 18 months with a big covid situation on the back of a lot of instability in the club in the last two or three seasons.
“That’s a difficult mix to suddenly turn things around and build something incredible,” he added. “But I’m a big believer that this had to happen. For this club it had to happen – we had to experience this and that’s going to make us much stronger.”
It is worth noting that despite his recent struggles, Arteta has won two trophies with Arsenal. The 39-year-old manager guided Arsenal to an FA Cup triumph against Chelsea and later defeated Liverpool in the 2020 FA Community Shield.
As things stand, Arsenal are currently 13th in the Premier League.
Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee
