Mikel Arteta needs to be backed in the transfer window if Arsenal are going to challenge the Premier League’s best, according to Freddie Ljungberg.
Arsenal have made a slow start to the season, winning four and losing four of their first nine Premier League games, with just nine goals scored and another blank in the goalless draw with Leeds United on Sunday.
The Gunners did invest in their playing squad during the summer transfer window, bringing in Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid for £45million and signing Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille for £27m.
But former player Ljungberg, who took charge of the side between Unai Emery’s departure and Arteta’s arrival, believes “it’s obvious” that the Gunners hierarchy need to back their manager further in coming transfer windows.
“Yeah, it’s not easy. Like he (Arteta) said, he thinks it’s gonna be a bit of a roller coaster,” he said on Sky Sports Super Sunday.
“If you look at it in the last couple of years, I think they’ve got good players there, but of course they need to invest in their squad. It’s obvious for everyone to see.
“I think they did some good business in the centre-back position this summer, but if you look at the big clubs - City or Liverpool - they have top, top players in certain positions.”
The Gunners have struggled in front of goal in recent games, failing to score in four of their last five Premier League games.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored one league goal in his last eight games, but Ljungberg, who left his role as Arsenal assistant coach in August, is backing Arteta to find a solution.
“I think you need to give Arteta a bit of time, it’s his first job in management,” he said. “He needs time, like he says, he needs time in order to implement his ideas, but of course, it’s difficult.
“When he first came in, people were a little bit surprised with how he played, when we went back against the big teams, we used Aubameyang for the counter-attack, with opposition full-backs that were too offensive.
“What I see now, when you see the Leicester game at the Emirates, they sat back a little bit, with not so much space for the full-backs to run into.
"I think people have seen how they play, then it comes to, how do you create the chances in a different way?”
