Pundit Robbie Mustoe has discussed the situation at Arsenal and has issued a damning verdict about the north London club.
Mustoe was talking about the Gunners on the latest episode of ‘The Two Robbies podcast recently. While discussing the club’s recent loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, Mustoe addressed the issues surrounding Arsenal and why Mikel Arteta already has his work cut out at the Emirates.
Having lost to Manchester City, Arteta’s men also took a 2-1 loss at the Amex Stadium over the weekend. Despite taking the lead through Nicolas Pepe, the Gunners lost the game as Neal Maupay found a stoppage-time winner to help the Seagulls grab all three points (via BBC Sport).
Will Mikel Arteta be successful as the Arsenal manager?
No question about it
He is bound to fail
While talking about the game on Saturday, Mustoe said: “The longer [Mikel Arteta is] there, the more obvious it is how difficult this is and what a tough job it is.
“And we wonder what the appetite is like at Arsenal ownership boardroom level to try and put this right. There are several players there, I know we talk about senior players I referenced there, you go through their senior players, there’s issues.”
Mustoe talked about Alexandre Lacazette not playing enough and reports linking Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with a move away from the club. While David Luiz has now signed a new deal, Mustoe also talked about the Brazilian and the uncertainties that surrounded his future.
He said: “Alexandre Lacazette’s not been playing, he’s going to be miserable. David Luiz, not sure about his future. Aubameyang, is he going to stay, is he going to go? Mesut Ozil, not a leader. What chance have you got if your seniors have got issues or are fed up? There’s a big clearout needed and you can see it; you can see hints of it because of his team selections.”
Clearly, Mustoe isn’t pleased with what is going on at the Emirates Stadium. These issues some of Arsenal’s senior players have shows that something indeed isn’t right at the club currently.
TIF Thoughts…
The club is currently at the tenth position in the Premier League and they’re only three points ahead of 14th-placed Southampton, as things stand. They are also six points behind fifth-placed Manchester United (via WhoScored).
That isn’t a position that Arsenal would want to be in and having lost their last two games, there is a need to pick up points or they can fall further down the table. To do that, they would need their senior players to fire on a consistent basis.
With Luiz’s future now sorted out, Arteta would want the same to happen for Aubameyang as well. Mesut Ozil hasn’t played a single minute of football after lockdown and Lacazette has scored only twice in his last 12 league appearances for the club.
Those are concerning issues that Arteta needs to address and he needs to sort them out soon if he wants the club to finish in a respectable position this season.