After a lot of trial and error, Arteta finally cracked the secret of dominating the Premier League this season. The Spanish tactician has transformed Arsenal from “league pretenders” to title contenders in the blink of an eye.
Even though it was viewed as a risk at the time due to his lack of first-team coaching experience, Arsenal taking Arteta from his assistant coaching position at Manchester City has never felt more right. There have been numerous disclosures as to why Arteta is such a good teacher, but I’m sure hearing Barcelona coach Xavi talk about what may have garnered Arteta such success is all any Gooner would like to hear today. Xavi was asked if Arteta’s success at Arsenal surprised him in his most recent news conference, and his response was exquisite, to say the least.
“He’s not surprised me because he had the best references [having worked with Guardiola] and because if you have played as a central midfielder at Barca, you already have a head start— you have the map of your pitch in your head,” Xavi explained to The Times.
“And because Pepe Reina is a close friend of his and has always spoken very well of him. I had a feeling that Arteta would do very well, but it was just a feeling.”
Despite the fact that all of Arsenal’s success is the result of a collective effort, Arteta gets full credit for transforming Arsenal into this unstoppable force that has dismantled nearly every Premier League club they have faced this season. 19 years later, Arsenal is about to win the Premier League title; if this happens, this Arsenal squad could go on to be one of the greatest teams in Arsenal’s history.
Eventually, winning the Premier League will not be enough; Arsenal has a good chance of participating in the Champions League next season, which must also be won (I am getting carried away here, but why not dream), and who better to lead Arsenal to Champions League supremacy than Arteta, which is something that Guardiola has not done since his Barcelona days…
COYG
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
WATCH – Our Irish friends from the Arsenal Supporters Club DublinArsenal have made another podcast discussing our superb comeback against Aston Villa- It’s a great listen!
WATCH EVERY ONE of Mikel Arteta’s and Jonas Eidevall’s Full Press conferences by subscribing to our YouTube Channel – JustArsenalVids
