Arsene Wenger has defended Mikel Arteta over Arsenal’s start to the new season.
The Gunners sturggled last term with an eighth place finish and semi-final elimination in the Europa League.
That disappointing campaign meant Arsenal missed out on European football for the first time in 25 years, and despite spending more than anyone else this summer, racking up a spending total of £131.8million, according to 90min, this season has not started well.
The Gunners are rock bottom after three games, losing all three of their outings and conceding nine goals in the process.
And with that in mind, Arteta is unsurprisingly under pressure already as he struggles to ensure his team improve from last season.
Though, he does have one of the most respected people in Arsenal Football Club history on his side in Wenger.
The former Gunners boss pointed out in a recent interview with BILD via the Mirror that Arsenal have played Chelsea and Manchester City in two of their first three games, suggesting there is no need to press the panic button just yet.
He said when asked about returning to the club: “Today the club is in good shape. They had two tough games, the team has potential and I hope they can come back. At the moment I’m just a fan.”
There is, of course, a large slice of irony in that there is talk of a Wenger return given how he was treated at the back-end of his spell at the Emirates Stadium.
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Though, Wenger is right about Arteta. The Spaniard may not be performing well, but the fixtures he and Arsenal have hard to kick-off the campaign are hardly a fair platform on which to judge.
Having said that, the manner of some of the defeats have been concerning, and while a sacking would be harsh, the pressure is not.