Mikel Arteta believes Erik ten Hag should get more time at Manchester United

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes Manchester United counterpart Erik ten Hag is an excellent manager who deserves more time to get things right at Old Trafford.

United host the title-chasing Gunners on Sunday – the penultimate weekend of the Premier League season.

While Arteta keeps alive his hopes of delivering a first league title to north London in 20 years, United face a battle to even qualify for Europe after a 4-0 hammering at Crystal Palace on Monday night.

That result has increased the pressure on United boss Ten Hag, but Arteta believes the Dutchman needs support.

“I can only talk about what I think about him as a coach. He is an excellent coach. I admire his teams, both Ajax and United,” Arteta replied when asked about Ten Hag’s position.

“I know what he’s trying to do, I know how he does it, I know how hard it is to prepare against him, so I have a lot of respect for him.

“I hope so, he has time because we are colleagues and we know how difficult it is in this league and what the margins are and yes, I hope so because I think he is an excellent coach.

“If you want to win the Premier League and big trophies, you have to go to these grounds and impose yourself and beat them. That’s the journey we’re on and that’s certainly what we’ll try to do on Sunday.”

This is the second season in a row that Arsenal have entertained title hopes, eventually being usurped by Manchester City last year despite leading for much of the campaign.

But even victory at United and in their final home game of the season against Everton does not guarantee a first Premier League crown since Arsene Wenger’s unbeaten Invincibles in 2004.

Arteta, however, has long held the belief that his team is good enough to end this run.

“I started to get that feeling last season when we started to be very consistent and very ambitious,” he added.

“We saw that the standards were not dropping day by day. Obviously, as you start to add other pieces to the puzzle and the players start to get more experienced, start to get better and better, you’re going to create momentum.

“And there’s that feeling around the club that we can do it, that we’re good enough to do it. It was a journey.

“We are close to being able. With that trophy in my hands, I made it. It must be a reality. Right now, that’s what we’re looking at.”