Mikel Arteta has been quizzed on his future, and asked if he would consider stepping down as Arsenal boss as his side endure a torrid run of results.
The Spaniard has struggled to turn his side’s fortunes around of late, and could well be the victim of his own amazing start to life in the role, as calls come in for the manager to be moved on.
Arteta has no intention of leaving however, and is solely concentrated on helping his side to resurrect some kind of form by staying positive.
“I don’t like to think about those steps because then I will be thinking in a negative way and I cannot do that,” Arteta claimed during his pre-match press conference (via Arsenal.com).
“At the moment, I have to try to be as positive as I can, believe in what we’re doing, try to modify things to make it work better, and stay strong.
“We’re going through a lot of difficulties, the last thing we want to be thinking of is more problems coming up in the next few months.
“I’m not in that state of mind. I know the responsibility that I have and why I am here. Everybody knows that from a few months ago, this wasn’t going to be resolved really quickly. I think that’s the consciousness of everybody at the club.”
The decision could well be made for him should his side’s woeful form continue however, with a return of just five points from their last 10 Premier League matches dangerously below expectations.
It appears unlikely that the club’s form in the Europa League or domestic cup competitions will be enough to secure his role as manager, while the prospect of being relegated looms over their head, but at this relatively early point in the campaign it would be a little hasty to consider dropping out of the top division.
The team now has the worrying task of taking on PL giants Man City and Chelsea in consecutive matches amidst our torrid form, but while we may not be expected to win, the team will need to show some fight or Arteta may not see out 2020.
Patrick
AFC Please give Arteta his signed form P45. period
Abdul, if we win our next 5 league matches, I take it you will still be of the same opinion?Basically you have joined the hoards who cannot see the real reason for the slump in our form.Players seem to be absolved when the going gets tough, as demonstrated in the crazy sacking of the Manager who had the audacity to put Deeney in his place at Watford.Every season the number of Managerial casualties seems to increase as Boards look for a quick fix to appease fans. In nearly every case their actions fail to produce the success they crave as basically the new man is having to work with the tools he inherited.Only the wealthy such as Chelsea and the Manchester Clubs can buy high quality and the success it brings.Other, well run concerns like Liverpool take a more pragmatic approach and have given new Managers time to get their project in order.Klopp is a good example.The fickle fans of Arsenal FC , seem intent to destroy Arteta because he only served his apprenticeship at Man City as a number two, and that in their eyes is not good enough for their great Club.Well I have to tell these fans that an open cheque book will not be available to attract an experienced Manager with a proven track record, and the sooner they realize this the better.The reasons we are in a mess is because of shocking recruitment and the fact that our absentee Owner does not have any understanding of what the Club means to its fans.To him it’s an investment, but to decent fans it plays a large part of their life. Despite our current problems I remain confident that Arteta will come good and I believe he is the type of dedicated young coach we need to bring out the best in the young players at Arsenal and lead us to better things in the not too distant future.
What you need to ask yourself is when will he come good in a year’s time in two years time, or worse will he ever come good and can we afford him the time to learn on the job and who are you actually supporting Arsenal fc or Arteta fc, I support Arsenal fc, Arteta is responsible for team performance and he is currently not doing his job if the players are not performing its his job to either drop them or motivate them to do better but he cannot continue picking these so called under performers and then turn around and blame them, if things don’t work out
I’m with you, Grandad. Arteta has made some mistakes but at least half of the first XI are Championship level players. Whoever is at the helm will struggle enormously. We should continue to hold MA accountable but fans seemingly have not learned their lesson in that a change of manager ≠ improvement in fortunes. We need stability as much as possible at the moment.
Are you talking short term or long term currently we need points on the board what you suggest is a change in structure, in the mean time we continue to drop down the table, please look at the applicable solution based on the crisis we currently find ourselves in.
Besides how much will it cost you to pay off the contracts of half the team then on top of it buy half a team, wasn’t Arteta supposed to be this brilliant man manager who improved every single player he worked with at City, we still waiting on him to develop our highly rated youngsters, which we have plenty of, by now I was expecting Smith Rowe to be integrated into the first team.
A perfect response Grandad
But nobody is saying why players are playing worse under Arteta than they did previously or for previous teams, that is the question.
And Grandad do you not realise in the present climate, what a silly statement “if we win our next five games” is. It is a meaningless throw away silly statement and tells us nothing in the real world.
Great comments 👍🏼 @Grandad
Arteta has got eyes but he cannot see, that the reason Arsenal is struggling. As a manager, he cannot see where the problem lies. Maybe he doesn’t have the capability to see that. Arteta should just leave Arsenal in peace, because he doesn’t understand the game of football. He’s even confusing players, with his style of play and tactics. With Arteta, there’s no hope in Arsenal
Totally with Grandad, one of the VERY wisest minds on this site. There is a great deal of silly hysteria towards the wrong person in MA, when the REAL anger should be against the rotten and non caring owner who took effective control in 2007 and SOME of us can’t help noticing that all our decline and problems stemmed from that year.
Dein was ousted,in a catastrophic and historic club calamity and WENGER WAS CUT ADRIFT WITHOUT HIS DYNAMIC RIGHT HAND MAN, A MAN WHO UNDERSTOOD AND LOVED FOOTBALL, OUR CLUB,AND WHO NETWORKED CONSTANTLY AND TO OUR CLUBS BENEFIT.
By all means be angry, be very angry but pick the RIGHT target. It is Kroenke, not Arteta, as GRANDAD THE WISE SAYS SO RIGHTLY!
You continually looking at past failings to support the current non performance you always talk about pie in the sky, we all know that we have absent owners who don’t really care for football but are continually going to beat that dead horse we are flirting with relegation and you want to give us a history lesson, get over your affection for Arteta he is not the coach we all expected him to be make peace and move on, but please stop defending him you make yourselves look silly
That is fair enough but what do you suggest, bearing in mind we do have this absentee owner who shows no willingness to do anything more than the bare minimum? Most owners crave success not just mediocrity
It’s clear as day SueP we desperately need a new coach that are capable of turning our highly rated youngsters into proven stars of the Premier League. I know some fans want high profile signing but that is not sustainable and only a few clubs in world football can afford to do that, when the coach is in place and we move up the table let’s refine or change our recruitment setup and then get in a professional to deal with player contracts, that would be my way forward
A great suggestion Mike.
My next question is who do you think it should be and then if he wants the job, with the financial restrictions that operate at Arsenal, do you think he will do any better?
I fully understand your concern, I feel it myself but I am looking at it from a different perspective to you. I assume that when Arteta worked under Pep that he was allowed to take training sessions and having taken all his coaching badges was more than adequately qualified to teach youngsters right up to the first team. He must have been good enough to be Pep’s deputy but I can quite see that the managerial role might be tricky to negotiate until he is more experienced. Dealing with the likes of Auba who can’t cope with losing his goal scoring mojo and the 3 unwise men who got sent off, is a different matter to coaching. His management skills have not yet developed yet..
Sue taking coaching as a number 2 is a million miles away from running a football club. People are blaming the players and that is their opinion but can anyone then please tell me why under Arteta they are not performing as most of them have in the past at Arsenal and the teams they came to us from.
Which players exactly?
All
Ok then Reggie
This time last year Dean Smith and Ralph Hasenhuttl were quids in to get the chop. Remind me where their clubs are now?
And yes, I know that this doesn’t prove that Arteta is the next Pep and that everything will be fine at Arsenal.
All it proves is that sometimes sticking with a manager of an underperforming team can pay off. Unless of course you belief that Southampton’s board were just a bunch of Hassenhuttl fan boys with their heads stuck in the sand and secretly weren’t fans of the club…
👍
With all due respect we aren’t coming from where Villa and Southampton are coming from. They are rising from their default positions and we are falling.
Is that important Reggie?
It is a moment in the season.
Yes,they are coming from a lesser place, improving and with due respect bettering their expectations. We are the opposite.
I watched the press conference from this morning and what I see is an intelligent man who knows exactly the position he’s in, and is working hard to improve things. We don’t always know what’s going on behind the scenes as evidenced by Wenger’s admission that the new stadium was financed on the basis that he stayed in charge. None of us knew that at the time.
So by all means express your frustration at the results, but can we dial back on the narrative that Arteta’s a useless idiot who knows nothing?