Board behind me, says Arteta
Gunners manager says the 'project' is long term and finding stability would take time
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Mikel Arteta returns today to Everton, where he spent 71/2 seasons as a player before joining the Gunners in 2011. Arsenal, languishing in 15th place in the table, will face the fifth-placed Toffees with their winless league run stretching to six games.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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LONDON • This weekend marks two milestones for Mikel Arteta.
Today sees the Arsenal manager return to Everton, a club where he spent 71/2 seasons as a player before joining the Gunners in 2011.
The Spaniard will also hit the one-year mark at the Emirates tomorrow, in full knowledge that their 13th FA Cup triumph in August has been tarnished by the team's worst start to a top-flight season since the 1974-75 season.
The visitors, languishing in 15th place in the table, will take on the Toffees at Goodison Park, with their winless league run stretching to six matches.
Arteta's men have scored just 11 goals in 13 league games - only three clubs have fewer - and their predicament is "not good enough" for the club's stature.
Speaking at his virtual pre-match press conference yesterday, he said: "It could have been a really positive year but the recent form in the Premier League has taken the gloss off what we have done in the calendar year.
"We have to accept the Premier League form in recent weeks has not been good enough for this club. It's been one of the most challenging years in the club's history, for many, many different reasons.
"I would say the highlights of the year are the two trophies (the Community Shield) we won... the most disappointing is we haven't had our fans with us to take us through these difficult moments."
However, Arteta said the board knew there would be no "quick fix" when he arrived last December to replace Unai Emery, who was fired a month earlier for a near identical awful run.
Insisting the "project" was long term and that the club's hierarchy was still behind him, he said: "At the end of the day, it is the feeling that I feel with the staff, with the coaching, with the players, which is the most important.
"It's about what chemistry you have with them, what understanding they have. Do they follow you? Do they believe in what you are trying to do?"
Arteta added everybody at Arsenal was pulling in the same direction but finding stability would take time after a "big shake-up".
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EVERTON V ARSENAL
Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227, tomorrow, 1.30am
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
TODAY
Palace v Liverpool
8.30pm
Southampton v Man City
11pm
Everton v Arsenal
Tomorrow, 1.30am
Newcastle v Fulham
Tomorrow, 4am
TOMORROW
Brighton v Sheffield United
8pm
Tottenham v Leicester
10.15pm
Man United v Leeds
Monday, 12.30am
West Brom v Aston Villa
Monday, 3.15am
MONDAY
Burnley v Wolves
Tuesday, 1.30am
Chelsea v West Ham
Tuesday, 4am
All on Singtel TV Ch102 & StarHub Ch227
"We all knew - at least the people who made the decision with me to start this new project - that this was not a quick fix and it was going to take time," he said.
But despite his positivity amid the gloom, Arsenal's immediate fixture list spells danger for a struggling side low on confidence.
After Everton, they host Manchester City in the League Cup and Chelsea in the Premier League, and a poor sequence of results may see Arteta turfed out.
Having played for the blue half of Merseyside, he is aware of what today's fifth-placed opponents are capable of, especially with 2,000 home fans behind them.
"It is always really tough to go to Goodison, I played there and know them really well," he said.
"They are teams in two different moments, but we are preparing the game to go there and beat them because we need a result."
With Arsenal in a weakened state, Everton counterpart Carlo Ancelotti is looking to twist the knife but empathised with Arteta, saying yesterday: "Our job is difficult and complicated and there is pressure but it is normal.
"Everyone has to reach a target, a goal. Arsenal, maybe has another goal from other teams, but it is the same for every manager."
Arteta will be without Granit Xhaka, who is serving the second of a three-game ban, and Gabriel, who is also suspended, while Thomas Partey remains sidelined with injury.
Everton will be missing Allan, Fabian Delph and James Rodriguez but Seamus Coleman is back.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
