Former Arsenal defender Nacho Monreal has admitted he still follows the club and offered his backing to under-fire manager Mikel Arteta.
Arteta has found himself under increased scrutiny this season, with a series of disappointing results meaning the Gunners are currently 13th in the table with eight defeats from 16 games thus far.
That’s seen the Spanish manager roundly questioned, with many believing that he might not be the right man to lead the club forward.
Arsenal, though, have continued to stick by their man, backing him to the hilt and insisting they believe he is doing the job they expect of him.
Whether that stays the same if results continue to be poor remains to be seen but he’s now received backing from his former teammate regardless.
“I follow Arsenal quite a lot. It’s been a rather difficult season,” he told Mundo Deportivo.
“It’s true that this year they started off winning, but then they string together a lot of bad games and results. They have been in fifteenth place, suffering a lot, with many doubts.
“The club has a lot of confidence in Mikel, and I see him prepared to solve this and give a personal touch to the team.
“I believe that the victory (3-1) against Chelsea on the last day will give them air and confidence.”
Fortunately for Arteta, things do seem to be taking an upward turn after that win over Chelsea, with Arsenal securing another one over Brighton last night.
That result moved them nine points clear of the relegation zone, with the same gap now also separating them from the top four.
The key to Arteta keeping his job will be ensuring that the gap to the top four becomes smaller while the gap to the bottom gets bigger in the coming weeks.
