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Arsenal icon predicts when Mikel Arteta could be sacked

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal
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With Arsenal on the brink of no European football for next season, Perry Groves expects Mikel Arteta’s future hangs in the balance.

Former Arsenal winger Perry Groves reckons Mikel Arteta is ‘one game away’ from getting fired as the club’s manager.

A Europa League semi-final defeat at the hands of former manager Unai Emery and his Villarreal side has left Arsenal on the brink of failing to qualify for Europe in any competition for the first time in 25 years.

While Arteta reportedly retains the support of the club’s board, the results don’t lie. Arsenal are currently set for their lowest league finish since 1994/95 down in ninth-place and have struggled to deliver results even at the Emirates.

Now Groves believes another home defeat at the hands of relegation strugglers West Brom on Sunday will spell the end of Arteta.

“It’s not untenable at the moment, but it can be very quick. He’s lucky that there are no crowds,” he told talkSPORT.

“If there was a crowd in on Sunday against West Brom, even if it was 4,000, that would be pretty vitriolic.

“He’s now one game away because if he gets beaten by West Brom, then I think he’ll go.

“The thing that worries me is that he’s got worse, and he’s overcoaching. When he first went in their he tried to make his mark and won the FA Cup, which no one saw coming.

“He then had the goodwill of the Arsenal fans. I think there’s a manager in there, but he’s not getting enough help from the coaching staff.

“That doesn’t inspire me either.”

Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri is the current favorite to succeed Arteta as the next Gunners boss.

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