Alan Shearer has asked Arsenal’s board to calm down as pressure mounts on them to fire Mikel Arteta.
The former England striker says that Arsenal has had most of their current problems for a long time and six months or a year will not be enough to get it sorted.
He talked about Arteta’s good start at the club and added that Spurs achieving success might also be putting pressure on Arsenal to get things right.
The Gunners are currently 15th on the league table and Shearer says that they will not be able to finish inside the top four as they may have planned and urged them to think about a top-six or top-seven finish when this campaign ends.
Arsenal backed Arteta in the last transfer window, but Shearer says he needs more support in the next one and in the summer.
‘Arsenal were very impressive at the end of last season,’ Shearer said as quoted by the Metro.
‘The way they won the FA Cup, beating Manchester City and Chelsea, it all looked as though it was on the right track with a team that was organised and that wanted to play for the manager.
‘The team we are seeing now looks totally different, just four or five months on. They have no creativity and there’s a lot of problems.
‘If you look at the signings they have made in the last eighteen months there have been a lot of errors made with transfers and contracts, with Ozil frozen out, and when you put all of those together then Mikel Arteta has big problems on his hands.
‘How well Spurs are doing is probably heaping more pressure on Arsenal and I don’t see them getting anywhere near the top four this season now.
‘They need to try and string some good results together and a 6th or 7th placed finish now looks like their best outcome and that is what they should be aiming for.
‘The board need to stay calm and give him time to turn it around with support in the transfer market both in January and next summer.
‘The issues Arsenal have had for the last few years now will not change in six or twelve months, it will take a while to get them back to where they want to be and they need to back Arteta to do that.’