You really have to wonder how much time Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has left at this point. He has to be running out of chances as things keep going from bad to worse, and worse to somehow even more worse, week to week.
Arteta, 39, was brought in to shake things up, but all he’s done is bring football that can only be described as shambolic. Today his Gunners fell 5-0 to the club Arsenal hired him away from, Manchester City.
Does Mikel Arteta still believe he can succeed at Arsenal? ? pic.twitter.com/bVbPUZdmlg
— GOAL (@goal) August 28, 2021
While Arteta thrived as an assistant under Pep Guardiola, it appears he just wasn’t ready to be the main man yet. Or at least he wasn’t ready for a job this big, at a club this huge. Arteta himself was open about the doubts he has in the job he’s doing right now.
“I am really disappointed with the things that happened on the pitch,” Arteta said.
“I am more critical of myself and take the blame every single time we had defeats. I question myself and I have to look at every decision I make and change it if we think we should have done something different.
“It is time to reflect and look in the mirror, each of us, and try to change the dynamic straight away because we need to pick up results. A lot has happened in the last three weeks and we are in a difficult position.”
Yes, a very VERY “difficult” position, as they are off to their worst start since the 1950s. Their three Premier League contests have resulted in three losses and a -9 goal differential on the season. They currently sit as the absolute bottom side, and their next match will be against Norwich City, the team right above them, after the international break.
Team Captain Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang added: “I just blame us as a team because this is not enough. Against a team like Man City, 11 against 11, you have to take risks and you have to be brave on the ball and we didn’t. We need to work this out as a team.
“That is the only way to go forward. We need pride and we need to talk between each other, be honest and raise the level.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.