‘Amazing’ Arteta hailed by Arsenal loanee as ‘one of best coaches’

Pablo Mari has hailed Mikel Arteta as ‘one of the best coaches in the world’ despite having left the club in search of first-team football in January.

The Spanish defender joined from Flamengo on an initial loan deal shortly after Arteta joined the club as coach, and quickly earned himself a regular role in the side.

Injury during his first full season after the club made his loan permanent hampered his chances of a regular first-team role, before Gabriel Magalhaes and Ben White formed a near-instant collusion in defence this term, quickly demoting Rob Holding and Mari to settle as back-ups.

Despite having to push to leave in search of regular playing time in January, Mari is full of praise for what he has learned playing under Arteta, whilst hailing him as ‘one of the best’ at his job.

“I have to say he is one of the best coaches in the world because when he does the game plan…I never see it like this,” he told ESPN.

“How he finds solutions for us and makes it easy to play the game: I’ve never seen something like this. That means he is an amazing coach. To give you the tools to play a game more easily, that’s amazing because when you go to the pitch, you already have in your head the type of thing you have to do to play easy.

He added: “He gave me the tool that if I can take three or four seconds before the ball arrives to me, I am going to have this three or four seconds to think for the next action. \

“For me, this was the key because I have time [now]. He was the only coach to give me that tool and make football more easy.

“I play more easy and I can see another type of option that before I never saw because before, I never had time with the ball. So now at the moment, I put in my head another level because of [Arteta].”

What Arteta lacks in experience he appears to make up for in footballing knowledge and attention to detail, and I don’t doubt that he is getting more from our current crop of players than many others would be.

I get that some are still refusing to class us as favourites for a finish in the top four, and that is likely because our squad lacks a lot of experience, but this manager is surprising time and time again, and he will deserve immense credit if he does manage to push this side to secure a place in the Champions League.

Patrick

Just Arsenal Show – Dan Smith discusses Arsenal’s chances of finishing in the Top Four

Tags Mikel Arteta Pablo Mari

8 Comments

  1. that’s a 101 coaching technique that’s routinely used in all competitive sports and is usually introduced in one’s formative years…it’s a standard visualization exercise where the player is instructed to think about what they will do before they actually are required to act…the problem with using it in a more collective fashion is that it has tendency to remove the more creative aspects of the sport as it rewards players for being more predictive with their movement…this is the kind of micromanaging that has severely stifled our offensive capabilities…no wonder Mari is a bang average player

    1. Amen to that. I was thinking the exact same thing. Moreover, how many elite clubs has Mari had the chance to play in? He’s not played for better managers so one can forgive him for not knowing better.

    2. Player praises current manager, you find a way to make it into an attack on current manager. At least your predictable.

      “I have to say he is one of the best coaches in the world because when he does the game plan…I never see it like this,” he told ESPN.

      “How he finds solutions for us and makes it easy to play the game: I’ve never seen something like this. That means he is an amazing coach. To give you the tools to play a game more easily, that’s amazing because when you go to the pitch, you already have in your head the type of thing you have to do to play easy.

      He added: “He gave me the tool that if I can take three or four seconds before the ball arrives to me, I am going to have this three or four seconds to think for the next action. \

      “For me, this was the key because I have time [now]. He was the only coach to give me that tool and make football more easy.

      “I play more easy and I can see another type of option that before I never saw because before, I never had time with the ball. So now at the moment, I put in my head another level because of [Arteta].”

      This what your replying too. Your comment really doesn’t make any sense in the context of Mari’s comments. Clearly not standard also clearly mentions the game plan aspect to it not a simple visualization as you wrongly claim, Mari was at City for crying out loud. Guess it’s a sign of how desperate you negative voices are now that you have to make such ridiculous takes on things to try and keep up the attacks.

      1. Kudos @Angus.
        Some people are frustratingly eager to see Arteta fail.
        They cannot stand it when the gaffer receive the praise of any form, whoever it may come from.
        Their libido for his failure is super high at the moment.
        Such a shame.
        But I have bad news for them anyway. Thus; Mikel Arteta is taking us back to the top 4 if not 3 this season, he is building a much “meaner” and better squad that will take no prisoners in.
        The Emirates Stadium will become a fortress and the away fans will be eager and happy to travel for games because we are moving back to our glory days and cause teams to shudder.
        I aan see what is being cooked at London Colney and MA is going to be our second long-serving coach after Wenger.

      2. it was the same exact technique I used when coaching my daughter’s football team or my son’s basketball team, when they were 12 and 14 respectively…when you try to craft a plan, based on a collective model, you will invariably encourage very robotic or static movement, as players will oft-times move into the safest and most predictable spaces simply so that the perceived “objective” is achieved, like a self-fulfilling prophecy…it’s not like I personally came up with the notion that MA’s micromanaging approach has had a stifling effect on our offensive zone play, which is why we’re too easy to defend against…the only real value, at this level, of this coaching technique is if it helps to “slow” the game down, which is a common refrain when discussing a highly successful QB or a midfielder with world-class passing ability, who both must be able to read and process a variety of variables in a split second in order to best succeed

    3. This dude has got to be seeking attention Or something because his comment makes no sense in relation to Maris comment.
      How he left all THe juicy part of the comment and went straight to having 3 second on d ball is beyond me

  2. I would have thought that a pro,a former City player would have already known this.i used to play as 10,that was one of the first I was taught.before receiving the ball,look up and have a quick scan to see where your teammates are,so you can decide your next move before receiving the ball.

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