Paul Merson offers a stern transfer warning to Mikel Arteta.
Paul Merson has warned Mikel Arteta of the task at hand as the Spaniard looks to build his Arsenal team.
The former midfielder took charge of Arsenal in their game against Bournemouth and it ended in a 1-1 draw.
Merson thinks that almost nothing changed in that performance to suggest that it wasn’t Arsene Wenger or Unai Emery that was still the club’s manager.
He warned Arteta not to get carried away by the result and insists that the Spaniard is in for a busy summer if he is serious about changing Arsenal’s fortune as their manager.
Writing for Star Sports, the Arsenal legend claimed:
“He’s got to have a massive clear-out in the summer in my opinion, start over and get them doing the things he wants in pre-season.
“Arteta got his best players on the pitch on his debut as Arsenal boss but it might as well have been Arsene Wenger or Unai Emery.
“What’s the difference?
“They let in a weak goal and played way too open. And they look just as vulnerable as ever. It’s early days but I think he’s got his work cut out.
“He’s deluded if he thinks he can take this team anywhere in its current form because the players are not up to it and the mentality is not right.”
I think it is far too early for Merson or anyone to judge this team under Arteta. He needs to be given time and there may well be players in the team right now that most people want sold that could be turned into huge assets under the Spaniard. Time is so important here.
Arsenal will take on Chelsea in their next league match and the performance in that game will go a long way to determining what we can expect from Arteta going forward.