Ian Wright believes Arsenal's appointment of Mikel Arteta is a "risk" but has called on fans to throw their backing behind the new manager.
The Gunners unveiled Arteta as Unai Emery's successor on Friday, with the Spaniard watching this weekend's goalless draw with Everton from the stands at Goodison Park.
Arteta arrives at the Emirates Stadium with no managerial experience, having previously served as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City.
But while Wright acknowledges that his former club have taken a gamble, he believes Arteta has the tools to succeed in north London.
“I can’t help but feel very excited about this appointment,” he said on his YouTube channel. “It’s one that I personally wanted to happen maybe a year ago.
“Some of the comments, you just think to yourself some of our fans, what’s wrong with you lot man? Chill out man, talking about his experience.
“But we’re here now and what we need to do, and as much as people are saying it’s a risk, of course it’s a risk but as fans and as owners and everybody, we just need to back him, we’ve got to go in.
“It’s a risk of course, it’s a risk we have to go all in, we have to put all the chips on it. The people upstairs, from owners to fans to everybody.
“We’ve got to go in and support Mikel with everything he does, whether that’s in the transfer market, whether that’s the players that’s going to go out.
“That’s going to happen, there’s a lot of players at Arsenal that we need to get rid of. You know that and I know that.
"When Mikel comes in, he’ll probably know that when he’s watched them and he’s played against them. Even the other day he would have said ‘Right, I’m getting rid of him, him, him and him’. The fact is that we’ve got to back him in that particular instance.”
Arsenal travel to Bournemouth on Boxing Day, before hosting Chelsea next weekend.
READ MORE
The 100 best footballer players in the world: The full list revealed
Arseblog: Why Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal appointment might actually work
No, Liverpool’s new signing Takumi Minamino has not just been bought for ‘shirt sales’
