‘Possibly then’: Pundit predicts when Arsenal could sack Mikel Arteta

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Optus Sport pundit Michael Bridges believes Arsenal could give Mikel Arteta up to the “player break” in mid-January before deciding to part company with the beleaguered Gunners manager.

Arsenal are in dire straits at present, having lost eight of their 14 league games so far, and haven’t won a league game since 1 November, when they ran out 1-0 winners at Manchester United.

Since then, the Gunners have lost to Aston Villa, Wolves, Spurs, Burnley and Everton, and drawn with Leeds and Southampton in the league.

On Tuesday night, Arsenal were put to the sword by Manchester City in the League Cup quarter-finals, Pep Guardiola’s charges running out 4-1 winners at the Emirates Stadium.

The North Londoners are currently 15th in the Premier League table, just four points clear of the bottom three, and at present they’re struggling to create chances, never mind win games.

Speaking on Optus Sport’s GegenPod, former Premier League striker John Aloisi was asked how close Arsenal are in terms of having to make a call on Arteta’s job, simply to save the season.

“Yes, they are (the stake that serious over the next weeks),” he replied.

“If they start to fall into the relegation zone, which they’re not far off, it starts to become dramatic and they need to make a decision…”

And Bridges added: “They’ll give him through the Christmas period… then once they get that break of a week to two weeks (in January) possibly then (he could go).”

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Arsenal are a sorry sight at present, a team that went into the new season with expectations so high – and rightly so, given their FA Cup and Community Shield wins, not to mention some good signings – floundering near the bottom of the table.

While Arteta is no doubt a good coach with a lot of potential, for the Gunners to have to worry about a relegation battle – and given some of the games they’ve lost and drawn, that’s relegation form – shouldn’t be happening and, as such, there could be some tough decisions on the horizon.