Mikel Arteta Admits Arsenal Are 'a Long Way' From Finished Article

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has urged everyone associated with the club to understand the Gunners still have a lot of work to do before they can be happy with their progress.

The optimism from a positive end to last season has disappeared this year, with Arsenal sitting down in 11th in the Premier League after four defeats in their opening eight games, with the latest 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Aston Villa still fresh in the memory.

After that game, Arteta insisted Arsenal weren't the team they were 'supposed to be', and he has since confessed there's a lot to be done to ensure the Gunners don't fall to a similar result in the future.

"We're a long way, I'm afraid," he told the club's official website. "It's part of a process. The results have to be immediate, and the challenge we have with the club we are representing is that we have to win as quickly as possible every game in every competition.

"So far we have played 14 games in all competitions this season, we won ten and lost four and the four of them have been in the Premier League, so it is a little bit imbalanced.

"There are a lot of things to do, short term and medium term, we have seen a lot of changes not only on the pitch but structurally as a club as well, it's been difficult, it's been a challenging time in the last three or four months, a lot of things have happened."

Arteta went on to call for calm from supporters, but did admit that it is his duty to find a way to halt the Gunners' inconsistent run of form

"We have to settle and everyone has to realise where we are now, but I see the future as really bright," he continued. "I am a really positive person and I tend to learn much more when things don't go well and we have a defeat like we had the other day that really hurt after the performance we had at Old Trafford. 

"We have to understand why it happened, be really critical first of all with myself and try to understand the players better, and give them more solutions to win more football matches."

Next up for Arsenal is a tricky trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United on Sunday, before which midfielder Mohamed Elneny will undergo a fresh COVID-19 test after testing positive for the virus on international duty.

For more from ​Tom Gott, follow him on ​Twitter!