Arteta needs all Guns blazing from start or fans will ramp up heat
KEOWN SETS SCENE
MIKEL ARTETA has been told Arsenal must get out of the blocks quickly or risk intense pressure with fans back in the Emirates.
The Gunners boss took over in December 2019 and had only six Premier League home games in his initial honeymoon period before the first lockdown.
Arteta won the FA Cup in his first season but has divided opinion among supporters at a ground that was a cauldron of discontent in the latter years of Arsene Wenger’s tenure and during Unai Emery’s reign.
Now former Arsenal defender Martin Keown says the Spaniard must get it right from the off despite a tough early fixture list.
Keown said: “The crowds will be back in the ground and that could be an extra incentive or make it more difficult for them. I think the home support can be a huge force for Arsenal and Arteta if things go well. Their opening fixture is difficult at Brentford.
“Then they play Chelsea and Manchester City and then you have got Spurs waiting [in September].
“I think Arteta doesn’t need to be told that he needs to get it right early and quickly. They need to start well, otherwise there could be real pressure.”
Keown praised the £50million capture of “proper defender” Ben White, above, from Brighton, but believes the club need more big signings after finishing eighth last season and missing out on European football for the first time since 1995.
He said: “I think they have bought a proper player in Ben White. He is like Laurent Koscielny – passes the ball and reads the game extremely well. You have to have a marquee signing and I think Arsenal maybe needed two or three.”
Despite the promise of rising stars Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, Keown wants more investment in the midfield. “They have signed Albert Sambi Lokonga from Anderlecht but you could say that is a secondary league,” said the man who is one of the Arsenal Invincibles.
The club finished six points off fourth-placed Chelsea but Keown said: “They never really looked like getting in the top four. City were by far and away the best team and Arsenal need to close that gap.
“This season they need to demonstrate every week they are capable of being in the top four. If they were to just miss out, it would be progress.
“Last year the team played in a succession of different formations and it seemed that the manager didn’t know which was the best formation. He needs to show the formation he wants and stick with that.”
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