Gunners still back Arteta to lift gloom
BOARD KEEP FAITH WITH BOSS DESPITE NEWCASTLE CALAMITY
THE huge depth of despondency surrounding Arsenal following their capitulation against Newcastle has done nothing to destroy the belief that Mikel Arteta is the man to bring back the glory days.
The 2-0 defeat at St James’ Park means that even if the Gunners beat Everton at the Emirates on the final day of the season, they need Tottenham to lose against already-relegated Norwich to clinch a place in the Champions League.
It is now six years since Arsenal were last in European football’s elite competition and going into Monday night’s game it was all in their own hands.
But Ben White put the ball into his own net and Bruno Guimaraes completed the victory for Newcastle. “Overall there is huge disappointment and frustration,” said Arsenal’s England international Bukayo Saka.
“I just can’t believe how we performed.
“We lost all our duels. We lost all the second balls. We didn’t play out well. There is just overall disappointment in every aspect.
“Come Sunday against Everton at the Emirates we’re going to be there to win, and hopefully things go our way.
“That’s all you can do from now. Technically it’s not over, we can still do it, but we’ve missed out on two big opportunities to put ourselves in a good position. So it’s just a shame. I think it’s going to hurt a lot of us. You know, all of us, the fans – all of our families.”
The Arsenal board’s faith in Arteta remains unaffected, however, and having come so close to the No.1 aim of returning to the Champions League, there remains a determination to back him in the transfer market this summer, regardless of which European competition the club ends up in.
Top targets such as Gabriel Jesus, above, remain on the wish-list – although the harder part of of the equation might be persuading Manchester City striker to give up that Champions League stage if all they can offer is the Europa League. Tammy Abraham and Dominic Calvert-Lewin remain highly regarded and might be easier to persuade to become part of the Arteta “process”. Having cleared Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the wage bill in January, the contracts for both Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah are due to expire at the end of the season, which could give some extra room for manoeuvre financially. Germany international Bernd Leno is also likely to leave, having lost his No.1 spot to Aaron Ramsdale.
That said, bargains where they are available – such as Leicester’s Youri Tielemans, who is entering the final year of his contract at the King Power Stadium – will be the order of the day.
After the £150m outlay last summer, Arsenal are aware they are really beginning to push the boat out in their chase for one of those so-far elusive top four positions.
Needless to say, there will be no small amount of relief if the miracle does somehow happen on Sunday.