Gary Neville has praised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for his tactical changes to protect his defence.
The Spaniard left his role as assistant manager at Manchester City before Christmas to succeed Unai Emery, who was sacked by Arsenal following a poor start to the season.
Although the Gunners conceded twice against Everton at the weekend, Arteta has slowly begun to fix his side’s problems at the back.
And Neville believes the Spaniard deserves credit for his different approach.
"Arsenal have threatened to be better under Mikel Arteta, with a lot of draws and perhaps they haven’t got the victories they would have wanted," the former England international said in the Metro.
"There have been improvements in defence, up until Sunday, where they reverted to type with some really sloppy play. Everton could have scored three or four goals in that last 10 or 15 minutes.
"We always expect a bounce from new managers. You can spot the differences in Arsenal since Arteta took over.
"Arteta is trying to build from a base whereby his team have been shambolic defensively all season, trying to correct that. You have to try and stop the conceding of goals initially.
"Arsenal are well away from getting to the top, top level, and we can’t expect too many changes overnight, just small steps in the right direction.
"It’s key to get the right players in the right positions, and cover up the weaknesses, which is what Arteta is trying to do; play a system that covers for the fact his centre-backs still struggle defensively and his goalkeeper as well at times."
