Robin van Persie has become the latest individual to hail Mikel Arteta as a manager, and the former Arsenal striker even claimed that he always knew that the Spaniard would be a good manager.
Arteta was named as Arsenal’s manager late last year after the Gunners got rid of Unai Emery following the club’s poor start to the season.
He was the assistant manager of Manchester City when he was approached to take over the reins at Arsenal.
There were many sceptics who thought that the club was making the wrong move and that they should have named a more experienced and proven individual as their manager.
The Spaniard has since proven his doubters wrong by managing his team to impressive wins over the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City and he ended the impressive half-season with an FA Cup win.
Van Persie has now revealed that he always knew his former teammate was destined to be a good manager.
‘He was a good player,’ Van Persie said of Arteta to Stats Perform News via Mail Online.
‘He was always fit, he connected play, he got his goals. He was good.
‘As a coach I do think he has the potential to become great. I said that even after watching the first couple of training sessions, or bits of it. The way he comes across in the media, the way he makes his team play. It’s very promising, very positive.’
The impressive thing about Mikel Arteta, apart from his communication skills, is his emphasis on character in the players he wants to play for him.
Character and mental strength have been missing in many Arsenal players for some time. Hopefully Arteta will be supported in the transfer window to bring in the players with character that he wants to drive Arsenal forward.