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Following Arsenal's humiliating defeat at the hands of Burnley on Sunday, club legend Ian Wright has had his say on the dire situation the Gunners have found themselves in.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta saw his side lose their fourth consecutive home game as a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang own goal was enough to see Burnley leave the Emirates with all three points. Granit Xhaka was also sent off for an off-the-ball incident during the game.
Arsenal currently sit in 15th place on the Premier League table, with a touch run of fixtures to end the year.
Addressing the loss, Ian Wright stated that it's time for Arteta to give his youngsters a chance.
The Arsenal legend said:
"The manager has stuck with him [Xhaka] for a while, he has shown a lot of faith in him. I think he has done the same with Willian. He has done the same with (Alexandre) Lacazette. There are players now that should be getting a blast at it now. Throw in Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe coming back on-loan and doing well at Huddersfield last season. Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles. You need to do something different because if it carries on like this and he continues to have faith in these players, and they are not delivering, then I don’t know what’s going to happen next."
Arsenal's youngsters have done well with their limited opportunities this season. Eddie Nketiah is the club's top scorer this season, bagging goals consistently in the Europa League. Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have put in performances that have earned them a place in Gareth Southgate's England squad.
Ian Wright believes that Arsenal's older players have let Mikel Arteta down
Ian Wright also believes that while a team would rely on its more experienced players to get them out of the situation that Arsenal have found themselves in, the Gunners' veteran players haven't been up to the mark this season.
He said:
"It’s a time when you need experienced players the most, I feel like at this particular moment, he has had a lot of faith in them and they have kind of let him down up to this point. I think Arsenal are at a real crisis point in terms of confidence. It’s going to be even lower now and it’s going to take something to build them up. This is why it needs some freshness. Just blood some fresh impetus."
Mikel Arteta has a huge task on his hands to turn Arsenal's fortunes around.
