A former Arsenal forward Nwankwo Kanu has identified what the team must do to end the season strongly.
The Gunners extended their unbeaten run to eight matches in all competitions on Sunday.
They are currently 10th in the Premier League with 34 points, seven points off the Champions League places, after a 4-0 flogging of Newcastle.
And Kanu said the team’s coach is on the right track, assuring that Champions League place is sure for Arsenal if they keep up the tempo under Coach Mikel Arteta.
Arteta, who played for the North London club between 2011 and 2016, replaced Unai Emery in December after Arsenal slipped to a run of seven matches without a win under the Spaniard – their worst run without a victory since 1992.
“So far so good, I don’t think he [Arteta] is doing badly. Everybody loves him and he is trying to organise the team and also impose his own system,” Kanu told Goal.
“It’s always difficult when a new manager comes in because you want them (the players) to follow you in whatever you want to do.
“Sometimes some players might not understand what you are doing, and if you are lucky, everybody will be in the same direction.”
Arsenal had draws in their last four league matches before the Newcastle’s win and Kanu believes the wins will keep coming.
“If you look at the games they have played so far, there have been a lot of draws which I think is making the team steady and when he gets things rights, the results will come,” he said.
“Whoever knows the Premier League knows that every team wants to win.
“Knowing where Arsenal are now and where they are coming from, a draw is better than losing games, however, the team must do better.”
The Gunners face Olympiacos on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League round of 32 tie.
Kanu at Arsenal
In February 1999, Kanu was signed by Arsenal for approximately £4.15 million.
He quickly became known for his goal scoring prowess from the bench, scoring important goals against Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa as a substitute.
He became very popular among the fans for his two-fingered salute which started in 1999 against Middlesbrough – something that he later explained was based on the team’s nickname, The Gunners.
In the 1999–2000 season he scored 17 times in 50 matches for the Gunners, including a hat-trick in fifteen minutes against Chelsea to turn a 2–0 deficit into a 3–2 victory.
Along with other famous players, such as Henry and Robert Pires, Kanu is a member of the “Invincibles”, the Arsenal side that finished the 2003–04 season of the Premier League undefeated.
He played 197 games for Arsenal, scoring 44 goals. In the summer of 2004, after his contract with Arsenal ended, he moved to West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer. In 2008, Kanu was voted 13th in the “Gunners’ Greatest 50 Players” poll.
