Arsenal: Edu Gaspar Talks January Signings, Willian & Mikel Arteta

Backing Mikel Arteta

Regarding Arteta, the Brazilian has offered his stern backing amid the adversity.

"“Just believe. Internally here, listen, we are doing well. It is unfair to talk about one person, we are a football team, we have to talk about ourselves, talk about “we” and not “him” so that for me is the main message. “The way I see things is very simple. It’s normal and easy to be driven by the results. But for me, the main point is when I see something in which I can see the future, see where we go, the way we’re building things, starting to see it on a daily basis.” Source: Sky Sports"

Believing in the manager is one thing, but having equal faith in the team around him and the players at his disposal is another.

His point about results indicate, if anything, that he expects Arsenal’s current plight to continue. Football is a results business, whether one likes it or not.

Any measure of success is built on what results you accrue. Yet, the state of Arsenal right now is so dire that results, as desperately craved as they are, almost come secondary to having a clear long-term plan ahead.

Said vision for the future involves less than half of the squad at the club at present, with the shining light being the few youngsters and summer additions who supporters can rally behind.

Edu has to back his manager, not least given the club decision to appoint him as ‘manager’ just nine months into his tenure. The jury is still out on whether Arteta is the right man for the club, and indeed all we’d hoped him to be, but that call does now appear premature.

If he had an experienced director of football above him providing insight, the decision wouldn’t have happened.