Paul Merson, a former Arsenal player and current football pundit, has weighed in on Mikel Arteta’s tenure as the manager of Arsenal Football Club. Further, he suggests that Arteta has until Christmas to show that he’s the man to take this team forward. With Merson’s remarks made at an interesting moment for Arteta, the Gunners boss has had a season extraordinarily void of shiny silverware.
Merson’s scathing report underscores the pressure quickly surrounding Arteta as he tries to manage one of football’s most fickle and volatile atmospheres. This same reputational capital has been considerably tarnished by the pundit’s subsequent prediction that Arteta’s failure to win any silverware this season could cost him his job. Sounds easy, but according to Merson, this is going to be the most important few months in the club’s history in deciding if Arteta loses his job as manager.
Arteta was appointed as Arsenal’s manager in December 2019. Since then, he has faced a series of hurdles and challenges to restore the club to its previous glories. No wonder he keeps winning the FA Cup in his first season. This last campaign has been a bit of a disaster, leaving fans and critics scratching their heads as to what is going on with the club.
As Merson noted, Christmas would be a kind of fulcrum in the season. He called on the club’s hierarchy to judge Arteta’s work fairly over this transitional spell. The former player emphasized that if Arteta cannot deliver a competitive squad and tangible results by then, it may be time for Arsenal to explore other managerial options.
As Arsenal maintain their title challenge at home and in the European Champions’ League, all eyes are on Arteta. How the new season plays out, particularly in the early months, will be an essential factor in how his managerial talents are judged. Merson’s brutally honest appraisal should be the frustration of every supporter who simply wants to see their team doing better out there on the grass.
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