IS ARTETA THE RIGHT MAN?

Mikel Arteta was appointed on the 20th of December 2019 from the assistant head coach role at Manchester City following the sacking of Unai Emery. There was certainly no denying that there was a buzz around Arsenal Football Club after this appointment. Seemingly in a dire position where it looked like the situation was getting drastically worse every game there was no refuting that a change needed to be made. However, a question that was mulled over is whether Mikel Arteta has what it takes to get Arsenal out of said position. A man who despite having been part of the setup had never been in charge as a manager of a game before. Through a small sample size of games and what we have seen from the Arsenal head coach I’m going to try to explain why I think he is the exact man to take us forward.

THE XHAKA QUESTION

On the 27th of October 2019 under Unai Emery Arsenal drew 2-2 to Crystal Palace at the Emirates. Despite that, the most contentious event that happened was that Granit Xhaka swore at fans after being seen to stroll off the pitch and receiving jeers from supporters when Arsenal were looking for a winner. He was subsequently stripped of the captaincy and dead set on leaving in this January transfer window to miraculously being happy here for the time being and putting in solid performances. So what changed? It seems like we can give all the credit to Arteta and his mindset. Giving all the players a clean slate to prove themselves under him, Xhaka has certainly been one to impress. Encapsulated with his performance at centre back against Chelsea after David Luiz had received a red card at Stamford Bridge only 25 minutes into the game. However, there is more to this story as specifically in the case of Granit Xhaka it would take more than a clean slate to convince him to stay in the fold and perform under Mikel. It’s clear to see that Arteta values Xhaka due to him playing in every game so far bar one(2-1 loss to Chelsea at the Emirates) and even that was due to illness and not a tactical approach.

Arteta said, “I wanted him to hear from me my opinion on him, and that I was ready to support him and that I was ready to push the club to be supportive of him too, because I thought he could be a really, really good player for us and he could enjoy in this football club playing under me.”

Granit Xhaka is a player who has divided opinion within the Arsenal fanbase since he arrived in 2016. Few denied his ability but he was labelled inconsistent. This isn’t necessarily the end of the world but it seems as though it has taken four managers to not only get him performing more consistently but to make fan opinion on him do a 180 after his professionalism was in question. This an incredible feat especially in an age of football where there is no room for mistakes, fans want that instant success and are also able to make themselves well heard over social media which can often dishearten players and ruin morale as seen first hand with Granit. Even though there is no way of knowing what may happen in the summer, credit must be given to Mikel for giving a player who seemed so close to leaving an opportunity to prove himself again.

PLAYER RELATIONSHIPS

Something must be said on reactions to his appointment, pundits like Paul Merson arguing that the board were ‘clueless’ to appoint Mikel due to the fact that he didn’t have any managerial experience. However, on the other hand Mikel has had some ringing endorsements. The current player who has been at the club the longest Mesut Özil saying “welcome back to the @Arsenal family” on Instagram says a great deal as he didn’t even upload anything after Unai Emery’s sacking due to the tense relationship that they had whilst he was manager at the club. Even Aaron Ramsey who left the club on a free transfer to Juventus responded to the appointment by saying “fantastic appointment by Arsenal. Always knew Mikel would go on to be a top manager. Good luck my friend but I’m sure you wont need it” on Instagram also. This shows very clearly that his links with Arsenal have allowed him to settle much quicker than other potential appointments would have. Not only has that been good for fans to reconnect with a man who once played and captained Arsenal but also the players all of whom seemingly are willing to give time and buy into his philosophy.

RESULTS

Despite having 4 draws, 2 wins and 1 loss in his first 7 games in charge and being sat in 10th place, the general consensus around the club currently is not one of deep set panic. I think this is extremely important to note because most people have written off this season and are giving him the chance to settle in, build his philosophy and create his own team with the players he wants. This is a luxury that is not really afforded that much in modern football due to the need of that instant success I mentioned earlier. Not only that but he has really given the club a new feeling due to his mentality which couldn’t be better epitomised than on Tuesday vs Chelsea and his reaction to going a man down in the 25th minute of the game. The general response in this case would have been to sub the most inexperienced attacking player in order to replace your sent off defender. This would have been most likely the 18 year old Gabriel Martinelli who has impressed with his performances since being given a chance in the squad. However Arteta went against his instinct, held back on the Holding substitution as he “didn’t want to send that message” to the team, despite that being a thought in his mind. This mindset definitely paid off as it essentially gave the attackers a chance to salvage the game and Martinelli to able to run 67 yards to slide it past Kepa with composure far beyond his years. Arsenal conceded twice with 10 men for 64 minutes yet were still able to salvage to team who are doing extremely well under Frank Lampard who is in a similar position due to having played for Chelsea most of his career. There must be something said to the fact that this kind of performance is really ‘the Arsenal way’. For years this club has been labelled as soft and lacking ‘cojones’ as Troy Deeney so eloquently put it. However as much as it may have hurt to hear, he wasn’t exactly wrong. Arsenal in the past few years have struggled deeply with being able to face a setback and be able to come out victorious and the fight in general just has not been there like you would expect from a team with such players in it. To compare this result and the change in mentality, it is juxtaposed to a very defensive approach taken by Unai Emery in his tenure. An example of this is when Arsenal lost 3-2 to Crystal Palace on Sunday 23rd of April 2019 whilst challenging for top 4 with an Elneny-Guendouzi pivot. Most fans predicted with previous results and set up would be very defensive but also not creative performance which they were correct about. So when adding perspective to disappointing results it is in fact encouraging to see that despite results there has been progress.

My conclusion on Mikel Arteta’s start as Arsenal Manager is that there is no denying that results have not been the best and especially seeing how well we have started games. However when applying context in the way in which he has been able to bring into the fold even the most ostracised players like Granit Xhaka there is no way that you couldn’t be excited for the future as an Arsenal fan. Seeing how Mikel has changed the clubs mentality and fans enjoyment of going to Arsenal so quickly there is no doubt in my mind that he is the right man for the job despite being here for such little time. The signs and foundation that he is putting into place have reassured not only me but even some of the harshest critics of Arsenal in recent years with the displays he has been at the helm of providing, so far so good it seems.

A great quote to summarise the positions that Arsenal fans should be taking right now is that of John Wooden who an American Basketball player and coach who said, “good things take time, as they should. We shouldn’t expect good things to happen overnight. Actually, getting something too easily or too soon can cheapen the outcome.”

MIKEL ARTETA(PHOTO VIA FOOTBALL.LONDON)