Ian Wright believes Mikel Arteta needs ‘help’ from the Arsenal board after the Gunners crashed to a 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday night.
Goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon gave the Toon victory in north London in the first leg of their semi-final clash.
Arsenal have made significant progress under Arteta ever since he replaced Unai Emery as manager at the tail end of 2019.
But the north London giants have struggled for consistency this term, with their defeat to Newcastle coming just days after a 1-1 draw with Brighton.
Arsenal news: Ian Wright believes Mikel Arteta needs ‘help’ from the board after the Gunners crashed to a 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday night
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Arsenal trail Liverpool by six points at the top of the Premier League table, while their rivals have a game in hand.
And their hopes of winning the Carabao Cup appear slim, with the second leg set to be tough given it’ll be taking place at St James’ Park.
Wright, speaking on ITV, has now reacted to the result.
And the Arsenal icon has called on the board to back Arteta in the January transfer window, insisting they need reinforcements in order to improve.
“You’ve got to look at the board now,” he said.
“I don’t know what you do but you’ve got to try and do something.
“Listening to (Newcastle star) Anthony Gordon. Once they go deep Newcastle, they feel there’s not going to be enough that’s going to breach them apart from what we saw with Martinelli and we didn’t see that often enough.
“He (Arteta) needs help. I know it’s very difficult to get anything in this January window but he needs something else because if it’s gonna carry on like this, it’s going to be very difficult to score.
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“We’re not scoring with the corners, we’re not scoring with the chances we’re making, something needs to change.
“Something needs to happen…”
Les Ferdinand also provided his verdict, with the Tottenham icon left alarmed by Arsenal’s lack of creativity.
“Yeah I mean the chance they had with Gabriel Martinelli going through, I thought that was their best option,” he continued.
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“But to do that they needed to move ball quicker and have runners but they just looked like they were struggling for an answer tonight.”
January is a notoriously difficult month for Premier League clubs to get business done.
Yet Arsenal’s need for fresh faces is rising as they look to compete on all fronts between now and the end of the season.
Arsenal are next in action against Manchester United in the FA Cup on Sunday (3pm).
Arsenal news: Mikel Arteta is under pressure after the Gunners lost to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup
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They beat Ruben Amorim’s team 2-0 in the league last month, with Jurrien Timber and William Saliba on target.
However, while United have endured a nightmare season, they’ll go into the game on a high after digging deep to earn a 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.