Unai Emery will be given more time to turn things around at Arsenal despite Saturday’s draw with Southampton, according to reports.
The Gunners salvaged a point against Ralph Hasenhuttl’s strugglers, with Alexandre Lacazette’s goal in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time levelling the scores at 2-2.
Emery was already under pressure heading into the game at the Emirates Stadium, after his side fell nine points adrift of the top four after a 2-0 loss to Leicester before the international break.
Arsenal actually made up ground in the race for the Champions League qualification spots this weekend, with Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester City narrowing the gap to eight points.
Nevertheless, a disappointing performance and result against Southampton did little to help the under-fire Spaniard.
But according to the Independent, the Arsenal hierarchy are still unwilling to pull the plug on the former Sevilla boss.
They are still hopeful that Emery will be able to improve the situation at the Emirates, as the north London outfit seek a return to the Champions League.
However, the board did meet to discuss the situation during the recent international break and acknowledge that they could be forced to take a difficult decision if results do not improve.
Arsenal hope that a series of winnable matches against Norwich, Brighton and West Ham will boost their top-four chances.
And the powers that be will reassess Emery’s position after that trip to the London Stadium on 5 December.
The club have not yet begun to draw up a shortlist of candidates to succeed the 48-year-old, but other names have been mentioned in case Arsenal need to make a change in the dugout.
Assistant manager Freddie Ljungberg would be favourite to take charge on a caretaker basis, while Patrick Vieira, Mikel Arteta, Max Allegri and Julian Nagelsmann have all been spoken of as contenders for the full-time role.
READ MORE
Long read: The making of Jose Mourinho – how did he go from 'the translator' to 'the Special One’?
Ranked! Which Premier League team has the easiest fixtures up to New Year?
Freed from Maurizio Sarri, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic are becoming Chelsea's low-key success stories
