Charlie Austin has claimed that Arsenal fans need to give Mikel Arteta a break, and claims that he is working with a squad of players which are not good enough at present.
The Gunners currently sit down in tenth in the Premier League table, 11 points off the fourth an final Champions League place at present, and fans have come to criticise the manager in recent months.
Arteta took over the helm in December 2019 with the team faltering in the division, and the Spaniard rescued their season by winning the FA Cup.
The Spaniard was then backed in the transfer market, shelling out for Thomas Partey’s release clause on Deadline Day, as well as bringing in defender Gabriel Magalhaes despite a host of centre-backs already at the club.
The new season hasn’t gone to plan however, falling down the league table to sit outside the European places, we are already out of the FA Cup and League Cup, and are in danger of being eliminated from the Europa League.
His place in the role is now coming under question amongst Arsenal’s fans, but Charlie Austin, who is currently enjoying a loan spell with QPR in the Championship believes Arteta deserves backing.
Austin was with the TalkSPORT presenters on Monday, when they decided to read out some messages on the subject, and decided to reply to one in particular which read: “It’s not the worst Arsenal team, the manager isn’t good enough for the job. He will be some day, but not now. If we had Ancelotti we’d be doing a lot better.”
It didn’t go down well with Charlie however, stating: “That’s a cop-out tweet.
“‘If we had Ancelotti’? When they appointed Arteta they were buzzing about a new beginning after the ‘boring’ football under Emery, and now it hasn’t worked out they want to bring someone else in!
“Trust your manager, give him time!
“Can you please Arsenal fans? Wenger was there for so long but all of a sudden they hammered him like he was a failure, so he leaves. Another manager comes in, Emery, they didn’t enjoy him and Arteta comes in and now he’s to blame.
“Look at your squad. Is your squad good enough to finish in the top four? Simple answer, no.
“Is your squad good enough in the top six right now in the Premier League? No! Well there you go then, your team just isn’t good enough.
“We’re not talking about titles, we’re not even talking about top four or even top six. Is this Arsenal team good enough to finish in the top half of the Premier League? That’s the question for Arsenal now.”
Is the general consensus that Arsenal’s squad is strong enough to challenge with the rest of the top four? Are there six squads stronger than ours? Is Arteta no longer considered the man to take Arsenal forward amongst the fans?
Patrick