Frenchman William Gallas was a big critic of Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as he struggled last season. According to him, the appointment of Arteta was a mistake. William Gallas was largely proved right at the end of the season after Arteta failed to guide Arsenal to Europe for the first time in 25 years after his team finished in a disappointing eighth place in his first full season. Arteta and Arsenal had finished eighth in the previous season, but they were able to qualify for European football on that occasion after winning the FA Cup title.
William Gallas reiterated his position on Arteta at Arsenal ahead of the North London Derby clash with Tottenham Hotspur in September as he told Genting Bet that his inexperience is a major stumbling block. At the time, Arsenal had six points from five games and they were in the bottom half of the table after starting the current Premier League season with three straight losses without scoring a single goal.
Since his chat with Genting Bet, William Gallas have been proved wrong by Arteta and his players starting with the impressive 3-1 home win over Spurs with goals from Emile Smith-Rowe, skipper Pierre-EmerickAubameyang and Bukayo Saka in the first half, while Spurs scored their own goal in the second half through Son Heung-Min.
In their latest league game, Arsenal beat Newcastle United 2-0 at home on Saturday lunchtime to move level on points with West Ham United in the race for top four.
After losing the first three games in the Premier League this season, Arteta has been able to prove doubters such as William Gallas wrong by guiding his team to seven wins, two draws and one defeat from ten games to storm into contention for a place in the top four.