By Brian Bariyo Tumuramye
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side finished level with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in their latest Premier League match
Former West Ham and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has insisted that Mikel Arteta is making improvements at the club but has told him what he has to do next.
A 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park left the Gunners still searching for their first back-to-back victories in the Premier League since August, with Arteta winning just one of his four league matches in charge.
The result puts Arsenal at risk of falling 11 points behind Chelsea in the top-four race ahead of the later games on Saturday, with Arsenal looking set for another season without Champions League football next term.
However, Cole has urged Arteta not to worry about the European football and wants him”We can’t get into the business of young managers coming to such a big club and expecting them to turn around. It’s great when it does but I’m looking at it from a tactical perspective and there’s clear differences in the team,” he told BT Sport.
“There’s been improvements, I think they’ve been unlucky in certain games, and the biggest challenge for him is sorting out all of the stuff that goes around the pitch, to change the mindset around Arsenal to focus on recruiting the right players to push the club forward.
The goal that they conceded today was the sloppiness that we’ve seen for the last few years with Arsenal and that will take a while to get rid of because that’s players’ mentality, like he said himself he’s furious with it, because they switched off.
“You can’t just turn this players into being defensively astute straight away. He might have to bring a few bodies in, a few characters, and work with the back four, the goalkeeper, to get more solid. I think it’s been a good start for him.
“Forget the Europa League, forget the Champions League, get on the building blocks. Make sure Arteta is in there on Monday morning with the recruitment guys and get the right players in. It’s a long-term thing.”
