Former Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia has backed Mikel Arteta to take the club back to the top sooner rather than later.
Arteta was appointed as Arsenal head coach back in December after the club decided to sack Unai Emery.
The decision to bring their former captain in was made with the club sitting 10th in the table and seven points adrift of the Champions League places at the time of his arrival.
Since then they have shown steady improvement under him, although they now sit eight points outside the top four as things stand.
Almunia is expecting significant improvement moving forward, though, saying Arteta’s relationship with the players should help them flourish.
“At Arsenal, with how big that club is, it is a shame to see them there,” he told Marca.
“What is certain is that sooner or later, he will be among the best again, and Mikel will surely help them.
“He was a footballer until recently, he has shared the locker room with players that he now trains and knows how the modern footballer thinks.
“He will know what is best for them, you have to give it time.”
Almunia spent no fewer than eight years at Arsenal, making over 100 appearances for the club after arriving from Celta Vigo in 2004.
He won the FA Cup and Community Shield during his time there, as well as finishing as runners up in the Champions League and the League Cup.
It is undoubtedly his troubled relationship with Jens Lehmann that most remember, though, and he admits the German is now a friend.
“I had a very strong rivalry with Lehmann, and that helped me mature, and I learned a lot from him,” he added.
“Jens has a very competitive and strong character, and the relationship was difficult at times.
“But I took a lot of good things from him and now we have a good relationship.”
