Arteta urges Arsenal fans should stick with Arteta

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has urged supporters to continue showing their support for the club as it rebuilds under Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners have not qualified for the Champions League since the 2015-16 season and have finished eighth in the Premier League the last two seasons.

Wenger had a tumultuous relationship with Arsenal fans near the end of his largely successful near 22-year tenure, which ended in 2018, and current incumbent Arteta — who took over in December 2019 after Unai Emery stepped down — has also faced criticism from some supporters.
However, Arteta’s team is fifth in the table and unbeaten in ten games across all competitions, and Wenger has urged fans to support the Spaniard and his team through thick and thin.

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“My advice is just to the fans to continue to support the club, to Arteta, to try and gain the momentum to keep this going,” the 72-year-old said at the world premiere of Arsene Wenger: Invincible in London on Monday evening.

“They’ve put a lot of money and hopefully some potential into the team, and (I hope) they can keep that momentum going.”

Wenger won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, including doubles in 1998 and 2002, and oversaw a record 823 games during his tenure.

However, after moving from Highbury to the Emirates in 2006, Arsenal struggled to maintain title contention, despite finishing in the top four every year until Wenger’s penultimate season.
“It changed the landscape completely (the move from Highbury) because we had limited resources to keep the club at the top level,” the Frenchman explained.

“To remain — people only speak when you win — but we were three times second, five times third, and six times fourth, and that consistency is the most difficult with the limited resources that we had at the time, and I’m very proud of that.”
His legacy also includes an unbeaten title-winning season in 2003-04, which is the subject of a documentary film that will be released on Thursday, and Wenger admitted with a wry smile that he hopes no one will ever match his feat.

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“Look,” he explained, “we all want to do things in life that no one else does.”

“Let us not be hypocritical, of course it is. But it’s also important to me that you do your job as well as you can, that you don’t have a single moment of weakness during the season, and that at crucial moments in games, the players don’t give up, that they keep their focus, and that you refuse to lose.”
rteta, who was also in attendance at the film premiere on Monday evening, played for the Gunners under Wenger from 2011 to 2016 and says the Frenchman had a huge influence on his decision to become a manager.

“He’s the reason I’m a manager,” Arteta explained.
“When I first joined the club, I saw how he could understand how important values were for the team and the club, to be consistent, and then he was really supportive the day I told him I started studying and working on my badges.”

“He was always very supportive because he believed that one day, probably sooner than expected, but I had what I needed to become a manager.”