Mikel Arteta “now realises the enormous task he has” on his hands at Arsenal, says Ian Wright, with the Spaniard facing a “massive ask” to rebuild the Gunners on the budget he has to work with.
The purse strings were loosened at the Emirates Stadium during the summer transfer window of 2019, with club-record signing Nicolas Pepe among those drafted in, though little return has been found on sizeable investment.
Unai Emery paid the price for that with his job, with an SOS call put out to former club captain Arteta as Arsenal sought to find inspiration and forward momentum from somewhere.
They have continued to tread water under a new coach, with a 0-0 draw against Burnley on Sunday leaving the Gunners stuck in 10th spot in the Premier League table.
Wright says a major rebuilding project still needs to be overseen in north London, with a sleeping giant struggling to wake from its slumber.
Next Match
The Arsenal legend told Premier League Productions on the back of a goalless outing against Burnley – the Gunners’ 13th stalemate of the 2019-20 campaign: "Mikel Arteta now realises the enormous task he has.
"The way they started, it looked like something was going to happen but then after that they slowly went further and further into their shell.
"It’s something he has to address because in terms of the calibre of player we’ve got – and you have to give Burnley credit for where they are – but we should be performing a lot better.
"We’ve got a lot of young players coming through that you hope can step up to the mark but we’ve got a lot of players there that aren’t playing to a level where Arsenal should be.
Getty Images
"That’s the job that Arteta has got, to get them back to that level. Whether or not he can do that with the funds that he’s got, which isn’t much, is going to be a massive, massive ask."
Arsenal had their chances against the Clarets, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang getting sights of goal on his return from a three-man ban – including one wild first-half strike which flashed wide when well placed.
Wright is reluctant to point fingers at the Gabonese, given his value to the cause, but admits that he looked short of his best when passing up opportunities at Turf Moor.
"You can only put it down to a little bit of rustiness," he said of the Arsenal captain.
"It seems like a very poor finish, a rushed finish. You would have thought a side-foot from where he was would have sufficed."