Arsenal started last season in dire form, but a repeat of that will not affect whether manager Mikel Arteta will remain in charge claims Dharmesh Sheth.
We ended last August rock-bottom of the Premier League table, having failed to score a single goal as we went onto lose three straight matches, and that ultimately cost us a place in the Champions League after missing out on the final day of the season.
The board has once again backed Arteta in the transfer market as we continue to rebuild our squad in hope of climbing further up the table, but despite the ramifications of what another slow start could mean for the following campaign, Sheth insists that the club and the manager are on the ‘same page’ and that his job would remain safe.
“Some of these players that Arsenal are buying are very, very young,” Sheth told GiveMeSport. “That tells its own story because it’s telling Mikel Arteta that he (Kroenke) wants to build something.
“They’ve got such a young squad and if they don’t hit the ground running, I don’t think that would put any pressure on Arteta in his position, simply because everyone in the hierarchy at Arsenal are on the same page and saying ‘we’re going to build this squad’.
“It might take a little bit of time, but the green shoots were there last season with the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka being first team regulars. They’ve brought in another 19-year-old in Marquinhos, who they’ll hope to blood into the squad this season as well.
“I think, long-term and short-term, it’s looking very, very good for Arsenal. With regard to the long-term, I think Arteta’s their man.”
While we understand that there can be pressure on our side to start the new term well, there is actually no reason to believe that the club would consider moving Arteta on. The new contract he signed at the end of last season is testament to that.
We understand that there were rumours his job could be at risk after we opened the previous campaign with successive losses, there appears to have been zero substance behind it, and our spending so far this summer ha further shown that the board are well behind the current hierarchy.
How bad do you think our start to the season would have to be for Arteta to come under pressure from those above?
Patrick