Former Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has urged the club’s supporters to keep the faith in Mikel Arteta as he’s the ‘right guy’ for the Gunners.
The Spaniard has come under increasing pressure at the start of this season after Arsenal lost consecutive matches to Brentford and Chelsea without scoring.
Arteta is in his second full seasons at the Emirates and he’s been backed this summer by Arsenal’s board, who have financed £140m of spending on the likes of Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White and Martin Odegaard.
But some fans have already lost their patience and with Manchester City to come on Saturday, Arsenal could lose three on the bounce for the first time since 2019 under Unai Emery.
But Wilshere believes that Arteta needs more time in north London and he’s urged supporters to stick by the Spaniard.
‘It upsets me to see where they are,’ Wilshere told the Athletic.
‘One thing I will say is that I do think Arteta is the right guy. Obviously I see the news, stuff on social media… some people want him out. I think he’s trying to build something and I think it will take time.
‘What hurts me the most is that when I was there and we dropped a little bit, we still got into the Champions League (by finishing in the top four). Then when we dropped out of the Champions League, it felt like a massive disappointment — ‘Oh my god, we need to be in Champions League, we need to be challenging’.
‘Now, they’re not even challenging for that. They’re not even challenging for a Europa League place, really. But there’s a good group of young players, which I feel is probably the best since me, Aaron Ramsey and Kieran Gibbs came through. These players need a few years.’
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