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Former Gunners midfielder says Mikel Arteta needs time to “unravel” the mess he inherited from former boardroom members
Arsenal face a long absence from the Premier League elite, according to club legend Liam Brady, who fears they may be “treading water for years”.
Mikel Arteta’s first full season in charge of Arsenal has been disastrous so far, and the Spaniard was unable to capitalize on the FA Cup and Community Shield wins earlier in the year.
The Gunners have fallen to 14th place in the top flight rankings, 14 points behind defending champions Liverpool, who have played one more game, with eight losses and two draws recorded along with just five wins.
A 3-1 win over Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on Saturday put some pressure on Arteta, but Brady believes his former club’s struggles for consistency will continue for some time.
Speaking ahead of the London derby, the Arsenal great player pointed the finger at former CEO Ivan Gazidis and former football director Raúl Sanllehi for spending hundreds of millions on a team of misfits.
“There was a constant battle for control of transfer spending and contracts with Wenger,” said Brady, who made more than 200 appearances for the Gunners between 1973 and 1980. Keys and Gray Podcast.
“In the end, the coach left and Gazidis took over. The people he has put in his place since then have been total failures.
“If you look at Gazidis’ record of buying players and Raul Sanllehi, who recently left the club, the money that has been spent in the last five or six years, you’re talking £ 300 to 350 million.
“Just look at the players we have only signed with Sanllehi. Pepe for 72 million pounds. Lille have never sold a player for 72 million pounds. Gazidis had the idea that he wanted to take away the coach’s power to sign players.
“After Arsene, Unai Emery entered. He was very poor, he couldn’t even speak English, running around waving his arms. No one knew what he wanted to do or what he was doing.
“Look at the team we have now. There is not a player that we have bought apart from Gabriel Martinelli, a relatively cheap transfer, who is worth more than what we paid for them.
“Look at all the others, none of them are worth what we paid for them. You would be lucky if you could get half the cash back now on an open market.
“We did not challenge the Champions League positions and we came to Europe because we won the FA Cup. Arsenal fans are not stupid. They look at the team thinking, ‘This is not going to challenge the top four.
“Unless things change with the owners and the board, we will be floating on the water for years to come. I feel sorry for Mikel Arteta, for having to unravel all this.
“It’s going to take time. I can’t see them coming back to the top unless you have a brilliant manager. Arteta could be that, there have been pros and cons so far, but he must have time for this to make sense. “
Brady went on to insist that Arsenal must be patient with Arteta as he attempts to usher in a new era, while also expressing his belief that it will be essential for the 38-year-old coach to clear the deadwood on his team to ignite a change of pace. luck.
“Sanllehi bought the players. Arteta has a lot more to say now, “added Brady.” You need a major change. It’s going to take at least a couple of years to do it. I just hope that Arteta can show that she has the ability to turn it around. “
“I think the children are up to the task. With people like Bukayo Saka and Martinelli, they have the ability and character to move us forward. My concerns lie with the elderly.
“It takes six or eight. Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Sokratis, Shkodran Mustafi, Pepe, Willian, David Luiz; I could probably name three more if I had the equipment on hand.
“We have to stick with the coach, even if he hasn’t experienced anything like this before, and see what happens.”
