Mikel Arteta is one of the best managers in Europe now as he turns Arsenal into a force in English football.
The Gunners have been better every season since he became their manager at the end of 2019.
However, it has not been a straightforward journey for the former midfielder and there were times when his team did so badly that he was on the brink of losing his job.
But Arsenal remained patient and it is paying off as he could lead them to win the Premier League and Europa League this term.
Speaking about how he has survived the sack so far, Arteta tells ESPN, when asked if he would have lost his job if he did not win the FA Cup early on: “I don’t know. Looking back, obviously, a lot of things have happened.
“To start your managerial career with no experience at any level and face straight away that success and then having two years of COVID, with all the challenges that we have internally at the club, externally at the club, probably I am lucky to be sitting here today looking back with how it could have developed.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Arteta has been a fine manager and proves that patience does pay sometimes.
The ex-Arsenal captain learned from one of the best in the business Pep Guardiola, so he had know-how even before he moved to the club.
But it could have been an easy decision for the club to sack him when we were underperforming, so they deserve credit for sticking by him.
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The Arteta story seems like fiction. Many of our fickle fans had written him off and judged him as being unsuitable for Arsenal’s managerial job. Some of us including my old pal Jon Fox felt we needed to give him time. Admittedly at one time we seemed to be swimming against the tide! However thanks to some of our vocal supporters, in particular Jon and a few others myself included, we managed to keep our rational supporters focused on the right course. Our fight has now paid off. Bravo all our galant realists!
You forgot jon also wanted him gone ,no matter what he tells you ,I remember his words as do so many more .
I can probably name 3 people on here that truly were behind him and their support never wavered,jon wasn’t one of them .
If the “Gunners had been better every season since he became manager in 2019” why would there have been any thought of sacking him?
The rewriting of MA’s time until this season, is becoming nonsensical!!
We finished 8th twice, 5th once, got knocked out of the fa cup in the 4th and 3rd rounds, saw european football taken away for the first time in two decades, saw the club bottom of the PL and there are many more instances where MA’s squad were breaking records that were of the negative persuasion.
He himself admits that, so a crass statement that we have been better every season since he arrived, diminishes what he has ACTUALLY achieved this season!!
It has been spellbinding, both on and off the pitch and we, as a fanbase, need to recognise that, not by trying to rewrite history, but by acknowledging the magnificent turnaround.
He was a lucky man not to be sacked, but we are now reaping the benefit of the faith our owners and MA’s own “coming of age” with regards to being a top class motivational manager – long may it continue!!
Having just read David’s comments and DK’s rebuttal, therein lies, exactly, what I’m talking about.
Selective memory does not help anyone and I was one who doubted MA during those times I mentioned in my post – Now I’m a happily converted Gooner.
I read the headline and sorry but couldn’t be arsed to read the article after that.
O. T. White not in England squad.
Am one of the fans who never believed in Arteta. Just as Ken 1945 rightly stated, he was breaking every available records that were of negative persuasion. He was truly lucky not to be sacked. However, don’t you think that constructive criticisms of some of made him sit up and improve?
Not at all, he was hired on a long (ish) term plan, backed by the constantly harangued Kroenkes, they stuck with him and now it’s paying off. If they didn’t agree to his plan and vision at the interview he would not have taken the job. Lucky? No, he had a plan or a ‘process’ that most on here took the ‘rise’ out of.
That’s exactly my take GB although I can’t say I was happy at times with Kroenke in the early years.
I presumed, like you that Arteta put out a strong case for himself at the interview stage which impressed them. Clearly the Edu/Arteta/Kroenke partnership has evolved on trust
GB, so do you agree that The Arsenal have improved every season since he arrived, as was the claim in the article?
As for the long term plan or process, wouldn’t it have been a good thing to let the supporters know what that was and have, at the very least, some way of measuring that process?
Perhaps then, we might have understood why finishing 8th etc etc was such a good thing.
No Ken they didn’t improve every season, as you have pointed out, (many times) but sometimes you have to go backwards to be able to move forward. Having said that, I was certainly worried in the early times when we were nearer bottom than top but tried to stick with him. Re your second point, I thought he constantly referred to his ‘process’ which caused a lot of derision on here (and other blogs) but thought it was quite clear what that was when he dumped a lot of the old guard and bringing in the younger ones. Yes there were mistakes along the way, bu5 surely you agree we are certainly getting there now?
That is what I wanted to see from a fellow Gooner, we haven’t improved every season, so why try and make out it happened?
Like nearly everyone else, you were “worried” where MA was taking us (apart from the odd one or two), so there is not a lot of difference in our thoughts.
If part of the process was letting go of the old guard, then he has done just that…. apart, of course, from the most maligned player of all in Granit Xhaka (believe they have just taken out the option of another season for him), so it just proves that MA does know what he’s doing and we should just enjoy the ride!!
As for agreeing with you that we are getting there, I refer you to my original post – can’t be clearer than that… he’s working miracles this season.
Henson I think you lack perception.
Many of us, even though many, including myself, had doubts about his long term suitability – JUST DOUBTS though and definitely NOT a daily calling for his sacking, as some like Dan kit and Reggie did for around two years- many of we more perceptive older fans,also saw clearly his ruthless intolerance of slackers like Ozil.
Auba too, having just signed his new contract, did an Ozil and immediately “retired” on full pay, even though nominally remaining a player.
I could not and still cannot abide slackers, as they cheat our club and we fans and I always loudly and consistently state I WANT THEM GONE.
To his immense credit, MA did so in both those idlers cases and also had the nous to rid us of that arrogant trouble maker, Guendouzi.
MA more than anyone KNEW, THAT UNTIL WE HAD A DRESSING ROOM FULL OF PEOPLE ALL GIVING THEIR UTMOST EACH AND EVERY GAME, we had not a hope in hell of being successful. Now he has precisely what he strove to achieve, since our dressing harmonious room spirit is the best by far it has been since the days of our Invincibles.
And he is right, my friends!
“I’ve now come to realise that Arteta is not the man to take us forward “
Your words jon
Precisely Dan. Actual doubts, as you outline above.
What I NEVER did, was what you, Reggie, drg8t etc and a very few others did, which was to loudly condemn him almost EVERY DAY for simply ages and constantly call for his head. I admitted I had doubts and said this only twice. But I also constantly suppported his welcome positve intolerance of slackers and frauds like OZIL AND ARROGANT TROUBLE MAKERS LIKE GUENDOUZI. ALSO AUBA when he signed that new contract and then basically gave up trying at all.
All three of those, YOU supported against Arteta! That is the REAL truth.
Doubts are natural and fine.
But to do as you and those others did, WAS WAY OUT OF ORDER and immensely daft, as events have proved.
Finally DAN, for you to upbraid me for merely having doubts and saying so, after all those hideous and long lasting calls for his head, shows a nerve and thick skinned hide that few others can match.
Fair play jon you have an answer (excuse )for everything you write 👍
@Henson
So you think Arteta was out there looking out for sensationalist over the Top cynical criticism from our fanbase when he was struggling with the majority dead beat squad / players he inherited?
I think he took heart from the board being firmly behind him, his never wavering young squad buying into his vision, and to top it off the majority of our fanbase that showed maturity , accepted that we had to give him a bit of time to dismantle the team and start from scratch. Most of our fans were more forward thinking / looking as compared to the small sensationalist group who wanted it all now or the world would end if Arteta was kept on for a minute longer.
I have noticed that on all the different Arsenal fans forums, the same people are now trying to dishonestly pretend or are sneakingly tryng to assure us that the over the top cynical criticism of Arteta was warranted and that it was constructive criticism. Smh
There is a difference between Cynical Criticism vs Constructive Criticism.
Most of it had turned into real personal grudges and cynicism instead of logical / rational balanced constructive criticism.
We lived through of it and it was draining trying to reason with such fans.
What I have realised in life is to be patient, be balanced, never make definitive statements about fluid situations..
Nothing personal at all ,we were being served up awful football the worst in my time as a supporter and records were being broken left right and centre (not the good kind .
You can say now that you saw something different but there was absolutely no evidence that we are progressing in the right direction and I can be quite honest in saying no fan on this planet wouldnt have had doubts and strong ones at that ,that he needed to go .
@Henson
And about the Negative Records that Arteta was breaking.
He has been breaking positive Records too and the same group that are always very ready and willing to magnify his Negative Records hardly ever put in as much effort to talk about his Positive Records.
They mostly go silent when he breaks his Positive Records. Or they will try to downplay them etc.. Just go back and have a look at the Negative Record articles that Arteta has broken since end of 2020 when he became the boogeyman for some. They have a lot of comments, traffic and engagement. Then compare the amount of comments on his supposed record breaking Positive articles. Less engagement.
But to this day we still get people listing off the Negatives in a blink of an eye, But but Arteta got us here and there for the first time in our history, he failed to reach this and that for the first time in our history, he failed to do this and that for the first time in history, he spent more than any Arsenal manager in history, he spent more than any mananger in Europe in this and that transfer window, got the lowest points of any arsenal manager in history, refused to sell Xhaka for the first time in club history etc, lol 😊.
But the same people will never list off his positive record breaking achievements with the same passion and commitment as they do when it comes to bigging up his Record breaking Negative achievements. 😊