Jens Lehmann has told talkSPORT that Arsene Wenger "deserves" to continue as Arsenal manager and has said "next season could be a completely different situation" for the club if they make some new signings in the summer.
Wenger, whose contract runs out at the end of the season, is under pressure following a 10-2 aggregate defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League round-of-16 and a failure to challenge for the Premier League title.
There were fan protests at Emirates Stadium ahead of Tuesday's 5-1 defeat against Bayern, but Lehmann has backed Wenger to turn things around if he is given the opportunity.
"I think he has to stay now, because he's done so much for the club," the former goalkeeper, who won the Premier League, FA Cup and reached a Champions League final in four seasons with the club, said.
"People are talking about his age, if he still has something to give and if he can influence people and they want a new manager to come in to bring fresh air.
"But on the other hand it's very difficult to replace intelligence, and we all know he is a very intelligent man and manager and he's still got the fire.
"With all he's done for the club I think he deserves not to go on such a bad spell of results. He probably needs a bit more future with some new signings, and then next season could be a completely different situation."