Gabby Agbonlahor has told talkSPORT that Arsenal could become the laughing stock of the Premier League if they lose to Norwich after a must-win run of games for Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners claimed their first win of the season against West Brom in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. But defeats to Brentford and Chelsea in the Premier League have put the pressure on Arteta. The Telegraph claim he has five games to show why he should be kept.
Agbonlahor believes the Arsenal board will be fair to Arteta when it comes to his future. But admits the real challenge will start after Sunday’s clash with Manchester City, with a string of must-win fixtures. With Norwich first to follow after the international break.
“The Arsenal board would be fair with him,” he said. “They’ll look at the Brentford [game] and say bad performance. Chelsea not great performance, but they did show a bit of fight in the second half. They could have lost five, six-nil, but they kept the score down to 2-0.
“They’ll see Man City; they’ll want to see the team playing for Arsenal [and] playing for the manager in that game. Then after that, it’s Norwich, Burnley, Spurs and Brighton. They’ll look at them four games and think: ‘Okay then, we have to be winning the Norwich game, we have to beat Burnley’.
“They’ll take a draw against Spurs, maybe a draw against Brighton. They got to show in that Norwich game they’ve got to win it, that’s a must-win. For me, if they don’t win that game, I would get rid of him there. If Norwich come and turn you over, then it’s like Arsenal are the laughing stock of the Premier League.”
Does the season start after Manchester City for Arsenal and Arteta?
Having failed to qualify for a European competition last term, Arsenal and Arteta will have wanted to start strongly. Instead, defeat to newly-promoted Brentford and a poor display against rivals Chelsea have put Arteta in contention to be fired.
Arsenal will likely go into facing Manchester City with few expectations other than playing for Arteta, like Agbonlahor suggests. After that, the real pressure begins with last season’s Championship winners Norwich before potential banana skin sides Burnley and Brighton.
Failing to take results against Norwich or Burnley would make next month’s north London derby even more must-win for Arteta. But Arsenal may not feel as if they can wait until the October international break to make a change if results have not picked up before then.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
