Arsenal legend Ian Wright has urged the club's board to back Mikel Arteta in the January transfer window to save the season.
The Gunners lost the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final 2-0 at home to Newcastle, their first defeat on home soil since April. Alexander Isak opened the scoring amid reports he is a long-term target for Arsenal, before Anthony Gordon doubled the visitors' lead early in the second half.
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli both lacked guilt in the defeat, leaving the Gunners with a mountain to climb in the second round at St James' Park. The second leg takes place on February 5 and Wright hopes Arsenal will have extra firepower in their ranks by then.
“You have to look at the board now,” the former Gunners striker told ITV. “I don't know what you're doing, but you gotta try, and so on.”
Wright added: “He [Arteta] needs help. I know it is very difficult to get something in this period of January, but he needs something else because if it continues like this it will be very difficult to score. We don't score with the corners, we don't score with the chances we create, something has to change. Something has to be done.
Arsenal opted not to make any signings last January and went without trophies for the second season in a row. The lack of a natural goalscorer like Isak is becoming increasingly apparent as Arteta's side falters.
The Gunners drew 1-1 with Brighton on Saturday, dropping more points in the Premier League title race. Arsenal have a huge run of games in hand, starting with Manchester United at home in the FA Cup on Sunday, before hosting north London rivals Tottenham next Wednesday.
Arteta will be hoping for a much-improved performance, telling Sky Sports after the defeat: “That was the biggest difference [being clinical] in the game. In every other respect we were the better team. They scored two goals and that was the honor that they managed to win the match in this way.
“When we missed the chances and conceded the goal, it was always difficult, but the team responded. We created a lot of situations, but it's true, they defended the penalty area very well. We can do better with our decisions. We had a one-on-one chance with the 'keeper and in the semi-final you have to be clinical.'
Eddie Howe, meanwhile, said: “I think we've ridden our luck at times and I think Martin [Dubravka] played very well and made some very good saves. I thought for the most part the set played, we got the little details right. “Our mentality to defend our goal with the blocked shots, the heroic defenses we've seen in the last 20 to 30 minutes is great for us going forward.”
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