Mikel Arteta has backed his young Arsenal squad to carry the club forwards next season — even if the Gunners fail to finish in the top four this term.
A dismal 2-0 defeat at Newcastle on Monday night raised questions over whether some of Arsenal’s squad were able to deal with the pressure of fighting for Champions League qualification.
But Arteta insists now is not the moment to lose faith in his players.
‘Next season they are going to be more mature,’ he said. ‘What we cannot say is that we are going to use academy players and do that and the moment something goes a little bit wrong, we’re not going to do anything with them.