Arsenal suffered a blow to their European ambitions through a Premier League finish after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. The result means that the Gunners will finish outside the top six for the first time in 25 years which is a big concern.
Mikel Arteta has been given a tough job to do. The Gunners were in an awful position when he first took over and tonight’s result means that their Premier League season is a failure.
However, a route to Europe is still open through the FA Cup and Arteta taking Arsenal to the final shows some improvement in the squad.
The Arsenal boss will need a lot of help from the board this summer. Some fans feel that he might not be given the funds needed to sign the players he wants for his first full season and they made their voice heard.
During the game, Arsenal fans organised a plane to fly over Villa Park with a banner saying ‘Back Arteta Kroenke out’. That sent a clear message to the board and it was a sign of support towards the Gunners boss as well.
Arteta was asked about the banner and the fans’ concerns about Stan Kroenke not investing enough and the Arsenal boss reiterated that he has the full support of the owners.
He told Sky Sports: “No no no. The Kroenke’s and the board and the sporting director and everybody, I feel full backing from them.”
“What we don’t know is a lot of things that we have to wait a little bit of time to be there but backing and support, 100 per cent. The fans have to believe what I am saying because if I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t say it.”
Arteta definitely needs the board’s backing this summer. Arsenal are a long way off where they should be and without proper investment to rebuild the squad, they are unlikely to make it back to the top any time soon.
Arsenal fans haven’t quite had the best of relationships with their owners over the years. However, the board sanctioned a lot of money to spend last summer and based on the improvement seen under Arteta, it is likely that they support him in the transfer window again.
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