Arsenal Football Club need to make a decision on the future of Mikel Arteta, and should they decide to back him in the long-term, they need to work together to discuss new targets.
We currently sit way back in the table, and are currently piling pressure on ourselves to turn the season around, but it is dead already.
Any level of realism must tell us that we are not winning the Premier League this season, while we have very little hope of qualifying for the top four through the league, and the top four/six in the division is just a pipe dream currently, so we need to remove this pressure.
Arsenal do stand a fair chance in the Europa League, and are still in the running in both domestic cup competitions, and anyone with any sense will not seriously consider us for the relegation places.
With all this in mind, and with Mikel Arteta’s side putting excess pressure on results, the Gunners hierarchy should take a stand, and agree to right off the season.
I know it is difficult to comprehend how we have fallen right away after impressive end to last term, added to the 100% record we started the new one with, but we have to put that behind us.
We now need to be looking to the future. We have some older players who retain their place in the first-team despite their form, while we have younger players impressing in the Europa League and should well have a bright future ahead of them if they are given the opportunity to thrive.
William Saliba needs to be brought up to the first-team so we can figure out if he has what it takes to step-up before the new season.
Ozil, Sokratis and Mustafi are gone before next season, so don’t bother considering any of these for minutes this term.
Bring the likes of Balogun, Nketiah, Willock, Nelson, Smith Rowe and even Miguel Azeez into the fold and give them plenty of minutes, to finally get a grasp of just how far they can go.
I’d even go as far as to say sell Alexandre Lacazette for whatever fee we can get in January if there is no new contract on the table, as he hasn’t cut it, and his value is only diminishing with only 18 months left on his contract. What is the point?
Whether Arteta is the right man for the job, or whatever expectations we had for our season need to be reassessed, but I’m fed up of seeing the team play the same old players and struggle, when our league aspirations should already be buried.
Would the youngsters be doing as bad a job as our so-called senior options? Is it too early to write off our chances of climbing the table? Or is it too simplistic to claim that relegation isn’t possible for our club at present?
Patrick