TalkSport pundit Tony Cascarino has given his verdict on the future of Mikel Arteta at Arsenal following the Gunners’ start to the season.
Following a rather disappointing campaign that saw them fail to qualify for Europe for the first time since the 1995/96 season, things haven’t managed to pick up at the Emirates Stadium at the start of the new campaign.
Whilst they did spend a lot in the summer transfer window, they haven’t been able to yield any positive results in the league, with their only reprieve being a thumping victory over a second-string West Bromwich Albion side in the Carabao Cup, which has reportedly put Arteta under some pressure from those above him.
Speaking about the situation on TalkSport, Cascarino felt that if results didn’t pick up soon for the Gunners, despite the amount of money that Arteta was allowed to spend in the summer, he could envision a situation where the Spaniard was shown the exit door.
He said: “I think if you’re going to give someone as much money as Arsenal have backed their manager with, there was going to be a length of time, that he would get a number of games. But if this, like Simon’s [Jordan] alluded to, these next three games, have you come out at the wrong end and have a very poor return of points from these games, anything could happen before the next international break.”
TIF Thoughts on Tony Cascarino’s comments about Mikel Arteta at Arsenal…
Will Mikel Arteta still be Arsenal's manager at the end of the season?
Yes
No
Given the age of every player they brought in this window was 23 or under, it’s clear that there is a long-term project going on at Arsenal. But whilst the players might need some time to bed in and start to prove themselves, with Arteta having been there nearly two years now, he has arguably had enough time to prove himself.
And barring an FA Cup triumph, the Spaniard has failed to progress the side when it comes to the league or in European competition, and is quite rightly being scrutinised for his failure to do so – and he has arguably run out of chances whilst some players are still in the process of being given their first.
There needs to be something solid to prove that the club are moving forward both with Arteta and the players, and if they don’t come about in this next run of games, it isn’t impossible to think that the Arsenal board might look to see if they can find a manager that can get results out of the players, both straight away and moving forward into a new era.
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