Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CLOCK TICKING FOR A MAN RUNNING OUT OF TIME...
Gunners will stand by Arteta - but patience won’t last foreve
The Emirates, tomorrow, 7pm THE clock is ticking on Mikel Arteta – but time has not run out.
Arsenal will stick with Arteta into next season despite the Gunners failing to qualify for Europe and being on course for their worst Premier League finish since 1995.
Whether that proves to be the right decision only time will tell, but the club is determined to rebuild this summer and give Arteta time, patience and better players.
The bigger worry for Arsenal fans is whether Arteta will prove to be the right man and that’s the challenge facing a rookie manager in his first job.
Serious questions are being asked of Arteta for the first time and it would be wrong to say there are also not doubts in the dressing room about the Spaniard.
Arteta can be regarded as arrogant, will not admit to being wrong and is completely lacking in humility.
But as someone with great knowledge of both Arteta and
Arsene Wenger pointed out, the ability to be self-effacing, self-critical and to be able to laugh at yourself is a “critical quality”.
Wenger had doesn’t.
Arteta, 39, boasts a reputation as a brilliant coach. He learned under Pep Guardiola and his time as No.2 at Manchester City meant he arrived in December 2019 as a popular choice to succeed Unai Emery.
As a former Arsenal captain he had an instant connection with the fans and, in winning the FA Cup in his first season, there was huge optimism.
Everyone accepted it might take time and a few transfer windows to get the club back to where they belong.
Now, just 18 months into his reign, fans are getting restless. And that’s understandable because, while no one expected it, Arteta them to become champions overnight, the very least you expect is some tangible signs of progress.
Yet this season the Gunners have gone backwards.
It seems they have flatlined in mid-table and the defeat to Villarreal was a lame surrender when they needed to summon a big performance to save their season.
The real worry was the players didn’t look as if they were busting a gut for the manager. Even worse was that Arteta was outfoxed by Emery and that’s arguably the most damning aspect of all.
Are they right to stick with him? The simple answer is yes. They cannot carry on changing the manager because where would they go next?
Arsenal need to rebuild the squad. And stop doing bad deals. Selling keeper Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa was a shocker and £72million record-signing Nicolas Pepe has not delivered. Pierre-emerick Aubameyang’s bumper three-year contract doesn’t look so clever any more.
You cannot criticise the owners for a lack of investment. They have broken the transfer record year after year and dug deep to buy Thomas Partey for £45m. So the bigger question must be, is the right structure in place?
Technical director Edu should be under the spotlight as there’s a feeling this summer will be vital. They will need to offload to free up space in squad and also from the w bill. Hector Bellerin could the first in an exodus.
But there will also b money available to buy players and four new faces will allow Arteta to go again.
Yet Arsenal are not as goo as Manchester City, they not have such good play and to try and get them to p like Guardiola’s men misguided. Work with tools you have got.
The Kroenkes are go nowhere and are simply interested in selling to Spo founder Daniel Ek and Invincibles dream team – n or further down the road. T Kroenkes believe in Arteta a will support him.
But the manager must st next season well. The patie will not last forever.
The Kroenkes are going nowhere. They believe in Arteta and will support him