Mikel Arteta has a well-needed break from Arsenal right now.
The Spaniard won’t be thinking about anything else over the next couple of weeks, but the international break does at least provide some respite for a man very much under pressure.
Despite spending £150 million on players this summer – including a deadline-day deal to sign Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu – Arsenal are rock bottom of the Premier League after three games.
Not only that, but Arteta’s side haven’t even scored a Premier League goal yet – and have conceded no fewer than nine.
The Gunners are home to newly-promoted Norwich City after the internationals and Don Hutchison has claimed that the 39-year-old could be gone if his troops lose to the Canaries at the Emirates Stadium.
He told ESPN when asked how many more games Arteta has at Arsenal: “One game. Norwich. I think so mate. I think if he loses that one it’ll be very, very hard to convince the fans that he’s the man.”
Accurate?
Unfortunately for the former Manchester City assistant, it just might be accurate, yes.
This is already Arsenal’s worst-ever start to a league campaign and losing to Norwich would be unthinkable.
But the fact that it really isn’t that unlikely only serves to highlight the problems in North London right now.
This is Arteta’s first job in senior management and he won’t have faced anything like this pressure before.
And it has to be said that at the moment, he isn’t coping all that well with it because if he was, it would be reflected in Arsenal’s on-the-pitch performances in one way or the other.
It’s only been 13 months since he won an FA Cup but, as we know, a lot can happen in a year and you could argue that Norwich is a bigger game for him than Chelsea was in the final in 2020.
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