Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal football club has dedicated the club’s FA Cup victory to the club’s fans who he said have been “so supportive”. The 38-year-old Spanish tactician triumph over Frank Lampard’s led Chelsea team to win Arsenal’s fourteenth FA Cup title, which makes Arsenal the most successful club in the tournament.
The FA Cup Victory has given Arsenal the opportunity to play in next season’s Europa League despite finishing 8th on the league table. It also goes a long way to show the impact Mikel Arteta has had on the team since he succeeded the former manager of the club, Unai Emery in December 2019.
Prior to the arrival of Mikel Arteta who was an assistant coach at Manchester City under the tutelage of his countryman Pep Guardiola, the Arsenal team was a shadow of its former self in all ramifications. The Gunners were on the verge of having the worst season in their history in the outgoing season after suffering seven consecutive losses under Emery.
Besides their awful performance on the pitch, the locker room was in a title mess as the players continuously clash within themselves. Unai Emery was almost losing control of the players and everything seemed to be out of control for him until the Arsenal’s board had to let him go.
He left the club in the bottom half of the Premier League table and the person who was given the responsibility of turning the fortunes of the club around was Arteta who played at the club from 2011 to 2016, helping them to win two FA Cup and two Community Shield before he left for Manchester City.
The Supporters of the club who were at this point, unhappy and uncertain how badly the club will end the season which has already started terribly for them, were a bit skeptical of what the young tactician will bring to the table.
The impact of Mikel Arteta at Arsenal
Luckily for the club’s supporters, Arteta’s arrival brought a totally different spirit to the club as they began to win games and improved on the Premier League table. Not only that they were doing relatively well in the league, but they were also progressing unbelievably in the journey to the FA Cup final.
This turn around on the pitch was an off-shoot of what Mikel Arteta was able to do with the players psychology in the locker room. That togetherness and coordination on and off the pitch which Arsenal was known for became evident under Arteta in less than 7 months as the manager of the North London club.
At the end of the Premier League season, Mikel Arteta was able to push the team from the bottom half to the 8th spot on the league table. Though this was the worst finish for Arsenal in recent times, he gave the fans a lot of hope going forward.
Their belief in what Arteta can do was confirmed on 18 July 2020 when the 38-year-old manager led the team to knock out Pep Guardiola’s led Manchester City from the FA Cup in the semi-final stage of the tournament. This gave Arsenal a record 20th FA Cup final appearance.
On Saturday, 1 August 2020, Arteta proved that he is committed to returning Arsenal to their glory days by defeating Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup final, making it the third time Arsenal did so against Chelsea since 2002.
“Thank you everyone for being so supportive”, Mikel Arteta wrote on his Instagram page after the victory. “We knew that there were expectations and this trophy is for you.
“There is still a long way to go of improving on many things, but I’m very proud of the players, who have been fantastic and the staff, who also worked very hard. Again, thank you so much for the support and belief.”
The FA Cup victory has returned Arsenal to European football. They have automatically qualified for next season’s Europa League courtesy of the victory.
The win over Chelsea is Mikel Arteta’s 15th win since he started managing Arsenal in December. He has led Arsenal to 27 matches in all competitions, winning 15, drawing 6 and losing 6. Certainly, all eyes will be on him during the 2020-2021 season to see what he can do with the team going forward.
