Mikel Arteta’s two years as Arsenal Manager could only be described as partly good, partly bad; sometimes Arsenal plays like they are the best team in the premier league, sometimes they don’t perform on the pitch at all and lose to teams you least expect them to lose.
Arteta’s two years as the Arsenal manager is nothing short of a rollercoaster ride that might become a best-selling book if written, and Amazon Prime is pouncing upon this idea with their new show ‘All or Nothing,’ featuring Arsenal and Arteta’s reign as head coach of Arsenal.
When Arteta took over, Arsenal were 10th in the premier league midway into the 2019-2020 season with interim manager Freddie Ljungberg.
Arsenal were going through a rough patch under Ljungberg as he only won once in his five-game stint. Mikel Arteta’s appointment looked like a solid appointment on paper. He learned for three years under the wings of one of the best coaches of this era, Pep Guardiola.
Arteta and Arsenal seemed like the perfect fit. He had the stamp of approval of his brilliance as a coach from Guardiola and understood Arsenal as a club, having played there for over 150 matches.
At the time of his appointment, Arsenal were just a shadow of their glory days; the team was lacking vision. But Arteta’s appointment rejuvenated Arsenal that season as they won the FA Cup for a record 14th time.
Still, they only managed to finish 8th in the league but qualified for Uefa Europa League through their FA Cup triumph.
2020-2021 season was the first entire season under Arteta and fans were excited about the outcome. But Arsenal and Arteta disappointed them massively.
While the expectations were running high, Arteta failed in terms of results and his treatment of Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil also didn’t sit right with fans.
Arteta sometimes looked clueless on the dugout; injuries also didn’t help Arteta’s cause as they missed several key players like Partey, Pepe for most of that season.
Club signings didn’t help the team. Some even questioned Arteta’s transfer decisions as players like Willian and Cedric Soares were awful in the latter part of the season.
Arsenal were pretty terrible throughout the 2020-2021 season as the team looked like they didn’t know what to do on the pitch and most of the blame rightly falls on Arteta.
Arsenal were knocked out from the semifinals of the Uefa Europa League by the eventual champions Villareal FC and finished the league eighth place once again, not qualifying for European competition for the first time in 26 years.
Arsenal had a dreadful start to the 2020-2021 season as they lost three consecutive games to newly promoted side Brentford FC, European champions Chelsea FC, And league champions Manchester City.
Chelsea and Manchester City were much more robust and tactically superior than his arsenal side. It would be unfair to judge Arteta and Arsenal by those matches.
Arsenal slowly made inroads by pinching three points against Norwich and Burnley. The most crucial victory, which probably helped Arsenal pick up some momentum, was their 3-1 victory against their bitter North London rivals Spurs.
Arsenal started improving slowly and soon picked as Arteta switched his tactics from his favoured 4-2-3-1 to more of a 4-4-1-1 after two consecutive draws against Brighton and Crystal Palace.
It worked like a treat as they beat Aston Villa and Leicester City. New signings like Takehiro Tomiyasu, Martin Odegaard and Aaron Ramsdale solidified their position in the starting eleven.
And the save made by Ramsdale in the Leicester game from a Maddison free-kick might eventually be voted as the save of the year.
But as is the common trend with Arteta’s Arsenal, this success was short-lived as Arsenal succumbed against Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United.
This was like the accurate picture of Arteta’s Arsenal. The moment they look like gaining some momentum, they manage to lose matches.
They then won 4 consecutive games against Southampton, West Ham, Leeds United in the league and most recently, against Sunderland in the League cup playing some sleek football.
The first goal against Southampton scored by Lacazatte is a testament that Arteta can make Arsenal play beautifully. But questions remain as, why he hasn’t delivered more consistently and Arsenal fans are still hugely divided about him.
While results have not always come under Arteta, players from Arsenal academy like Emil Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli are getting more chances to play under him.
They are not disappointing their manager on the field. Signings Like Ben White, Tomiyasu, Odegaard and Gabriel are turning out to be a good value for money and have helped stabilise the team.
Youngsters like Patino, Balogun are coming into the ranks slowly under Arteta. For the first time in almost two years, Arsenal are finally in the top four in the league.
Modern football is a result-driven sport and in a club like Arsenal, it is of the highest importance. Arteta has to deliver results if he wants to stay in his job.
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