Ray Parlour insists that the board have to back Mikel Arteta IF they believe he is the right man for the job, but will they still be so sure?
The Gunners haven’t enjoyed Champions League football since the 2016-17 campaign when they were eliminated by Bayern Munich, and only narrowly scraped into the Europa League thanks to winning the FA Cup last season, with their league position not proving strong enough to warrant one.
The board seemingly backed the manager in the summer, bringing in Thomas Partey for a substantial fee, an amount they appeared unwilling to meet until Deadline Day. They also moved swiftly to beat other clubs to Willian’s signature, who should have proved to be a big signing, as well as Gabriel Magalhaes arriving for a substantial fee also.
The above signings were a clear indication that Arteta was having his say on transfers, and showed a willingness to support the manager, when they could easily have forced the Spaniard to promote William Saliba into the first-team, a player who cost over £30 Million the summer before.
Our form has been highly inconsistent this season however, although the same can be said for a large number of clubs (possibly down to the congested fixture list thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic), but question marks definitely remain at present.
One former player in Ray Parlour is willing to back Arteta however, and claims that if the board have to support him in the transfer window if they are serious.
“He’s learned a little bit from Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola as well, but I would give him a chance,” the Arsenal ‘Invincible’ told talkSPORT.
“It might take a couple of transfer windows, look at Jurgen Klopp, he got an opportunity. He came into Liverpool and there was a plan.
“Arteta has got to show he’s got a plan going forward. It might take three years to try to challenge that top four or try to challenge for the league.
“But we know money does make it easier and that’s where the board come in.
“If they think they’ve got the right man, please give him a chance by giving him a little bit more money.”
There is more than enough reason to have your doubts about the Arteta plan, but there is also plenty to be excited about after he showed he was able to turn our dreadful form around from the end of 2020.
Do you still fully believe in the Arteta project? Will the board have any reservations?
Patrick