The Arsenal boss has taken a bold stance…
Although it may take some effort to see, the improvements at Arsenal have been shown under Mikel Arteta. While the Gunners will want more from their side, they are yet to lose a game this year and the winter break will have served them well as Arteta looks to recuperate his men.
The Gunners sit in tenth place of the Premier League, 10 points behind Chelsea who sit in fourth. There is plenty of ground to make up if Arteta wants to achieve his objectives but it is doable with the right effort and consistency.
According to the Evening Standard, when asked about his chances of reaching the top four by the end of the season, Arteta refused to rule out the possibility. His next test will come against Newcastle this weekend, following their disappointing goalless draw to Burnley in the last Premier League match.
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Certain players are looking revitalised under the new boss, like Gabriel Martinelli and Lucas Torreira. However, there are still some players that need to make the same improvements such as Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette. If Arteta is seriously confident about making the top four, then he will have been drilling these players during the weekend break.
The Gunners have been known to let things slip around this time of the season but this time out, they need the opposite to be the case. They need to start winning games and they need to be winning them consistently.
The team spirit will have been given a great boost as they finally (and trust me, I’m jealous of them), trained in the sun. They won’t have missed the terrible weather we’ve been having in England lately, that’s for certain. Although this boost of morale needs to transcend onto the pitch otherwise it’s redundant.
Do you think Arsenal can start their top-four quest by beating Newcastle?