Ian Wright fears his old club may miss out on the top six despite recent improvement.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright fears Mikel Arteta’s side may not get into the Premier League’s top six this season despite improvement since Unai Emery’s sacking.
As per Premier League Productions, via Metro, Wright has already written off the top four as a possibility and says that a lack of wins under Arteta has undermined their top six chances too.
Wright said: “You can’t lie about where Arsenal are in the league and you’d like to have thought they’d have more wins by now. Giving the fans something to cheer about is the best they can hope for, I think top six may be out of sight, I know top four is with the way it’s gone. The expectation now is to finish the season well, maybe have a good run in the cup.
“Give the manager the opportunity in the summer to try and bring the kind of players that he wants, to implement the style that he wants to play. Defensively they’re a lot more solid, there’s been an improvement in players, and the intensity of the team.”
Given how inconsistent the sides in the race for the top four are and the fact Arsenal have been unbeaten in the league in 2020, that shouldn’t be an unrealistic target.
But the fact is they have had too many draws, although a really strong run between now and the end of the season would ramp up the pressure on Chelsea and Manchester United.
Arteta needs to use this season like Brendan Rodgers did at Leicester; implementing his ideas ready for a full pre-season and making a real fist of it next time around.
He’s already able to see which players fit his plan and which don’t and that process is only going to continue next season. Top six should be a realistic goal this time around, although perhaps it would be easier to develop without the Europa League getting in the way.
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