Positive Wenger backs Arteta!
Despite Arsenal failing to qualify for the Champions League since the 2015/16 season, when Arsene Wenger himself guided us to a second place finish behind champions Leicester, Wenger believes that the time is now for our club to get back to where we belong!
Coming off a season in which we had finished in our worst league position for 25 years, we have for five years had to settle for the Europa League. A number of team changes and a number of managers later and Arsene Wenger has pinpointed Mikel Arteta as the factor to get us back to where we belong. A show of faith which Arteta has so far, so good, played to the rules, leading our team to their record 14th FA Cup and also pipping Liverpool on penalties to lift the Community Shield. After Arteta’s heroics came the investments in new players and the tying down of our skipper Aubameyang too, which all in all come within nine months of joining the club. These achievements surely place Arteta in a close second to Arsene Wenger, and I can only imagine what we can achieve in a full season of him at the helm.
Hopefully, he can emulate Wenger who led us to top-four finishes for 20 consecutive seasons.
Wenger spoke in the Guardian and is certain that Arsenal can now be a threat to the top positions once again, stating: “I think there is a good team spirit and they have a good chance to do well. I believe it will not be very difficult to improve on the number of points they got last season. But I’m convinced Arsenal can be in the top four, if not more. Why not more? They can be the surprise package for me this year: they bought well, they strengthened the defence well. And they kept the players who were already there. In my last year I bought (Pierre-Emerick) Aubameyang, they kept him. They have every ingredient and no real weakness. A club is about identity. Identity is about values and values are about the people who carry these values. And so it’s important there is a continuity on that front for me.”
Here’s hoping the words and successes of Wenger ring true come the end of the season hey Gooners?
Shenel Osman