ARTETA FACES FINAL CHANCE

OFF NIGHT: Ceballos was sent off at Villarreal as pressure piled up for Arteta

MIKEL ARTETA concedes everything that could go wrong at Arsenal is going wrong. In an astonishing assessment of the crisis, the under-fire Spanish coach has identified numerous issues.

Arteta’s future appears to be hanging by a thread, with Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Villarreal critical.

The 2-1 away loss in the first leg sparked a backlash from supporters, particularly Arteta’s decision to play without a recognised striker.

And his latest explanation of the Gunners’ dreadfully inconsistent season – he says the problems stretch right across the park – is unlikely to appease the fans.

Arteta, who started with forwards Pierre-emerick Aubameyang and Gabriel Martinelli on the bench against Villarreal, said: “It’s many different reasons. Consistency in our results in the Premier

League is very different to the Europa League, where we have been very consistent.

“In the league we haven’t been for many reasons. One of those is the line-up; another is the amount of errors we have produced in key moments.

“Another, I’d say, is the lack of effectiveness in the final third to kill games off; another is because the opponent has sometimes been better.”

Wow, not much there to fill the faithful with optimism. And they will be most concerned to hear Arteta identify a constantly changing starting 11 as a key factor in their dismal form.after all, that has often been down to his choice.take naming Brazilian hitman Martinelli as a substitute in Spain, though Arteta denies the teenager has not been given a fair chance.

“Well, he has started some games,” said Manchester

City’s former assistant boss. “But you need to have balance in the team in many senses and people have to miss out.”

Arteta is acutely aware the knives are being sharpened and anything less than winning the Europa League could see his rollercoaster reign end.

He added: “I don’t want to think that way. I want to think that we’re going to be in that final,with really positive consequences after that.”

PROBLEMS ALL AROUND: Mikel Arteta