Mikel Arteta is now the forth longest serving manager in the Premier League after Brendan Rodgers and Graham Potter were fired on Sunday, 2nd Of April 2023.
The Spaniard has been Arsenal’s head coach for three years and three months since he replaced Unai Emery at the Emirates in 2019.
In this period, he had managed two eight-placed finishes to begin with, mounting pressure on Arteta despite an FA Cup triumph during this period.
Last season, the race to the top 4 showed how Arteta has grown with the team and this season, his team is topping the league with Champions League football guaranteed.
Mikel Arteta’s team is now eight points clear off the nearest rival – Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title.
The ride has not been smooth though as the head coach and its staff but they have been able to bounce back from the set backs several times.
Arteta said earlier this season that “With me [the board] were really supportive, but at the end you have to win football matches because you know that if the run continues that it is unsustainable.”
“I knew I had to win against Norwich and win against Burnley [last year], and then everything helps and the environment starts to get better, everybody is more confident and you can keep going. We depend on results, unfortunately.”
“I always just focused on how to turn things around, how to make the team play better, to be more efficient, get players back because we had 11 players out of the squad in that period so we needed players back as quick as possible as well.
“When you have a close relationship with managers which I had – in Spain, some in Italy, some here – of course you get in touch, sometimes they give you support like we all do when someone is going through a difficult [period]. Maybe not on the phone, but just at least a nice text of support.”
The whole process have shown how unified the owners of Arsenal and the team has been in making that journey back to the top, and the processes are paying off.
City rivals Chelsea dismissed manager Graham Potter late on Sunday despite the enormous money that was spent in securing him from Brighton.
The Blues are currently struggling in the Premier League sitting in the bottom half of the EPL table after a messy year on and off the pitch.
Potter however was backed several time by the board and even made references to Arteta’s initail struggles at Arsenal.
He said: “You can’t stop the questions and while the results are like they are, I accept them. It’s part of the job. We were talking before the game about watching All or Nothing and Arsenal, two years into Mikel’s reign he’s close to getting the sack and people are wanting him out and it’s a disaster. And now things have changed a little bit, and that’s just the way it is.”
“If you look at Jurgen’s situation [Klopp at Liverpool], they haven’t got results and all of a sudden people want him out, that’s just the nature of football. Obviously I haven’t done enough at this club to have too much good faith, and I also accept that.”
The Gunners had a clear plan and strategic decisions, especially in the transfer market, which helped them build a squad to compete in the long run.
While Potter’s backing was compared to that of Arteta, the reality is that Arteta was supported as the right option and not all clubs have that patience.
Arsenal’s board made sure that everything was done well right from the pitch, and even behind the scenes, which helped the team immensely.
Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta Amatriain who was born on 26th March 1982, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player.
He is currently the manager of Premier League club Arsenal and with his team, they are topping the 2022/23 EPL table.
Arteta as a manager, is known for his tactical innovation and his comprehensive football philosophy which is paying up in his new position.
The Spaniard retired from active football in 2017, then he was appointed as an assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
He returned to Arsenal in 2019 as head coach and won the FA Cup in his first year; his title was changed to manager in September 2020 and he has been with the club since then.
