How Arsenal’s first win under Mikel Arteta shows he is the right man

Arsenal’s quality performance against Man Utd was long overdue and Mikel Arteta deserves full praise.

Their performance was one of the best we have seen in a while and I have to admit that I was one of those critics who didn’t initially support the club’s choice of making Mikel Arteta their new manager.

I thought we weren’t being smart to let Everton land Carlo Ancelotti while we end up with a newbie manager.
However, I have had to swallow my thoughts after watching our first three games under Arteta.

Against Bournemouth, we saw a new mindset and for the first time players were willing to run and they were hungrier.

Against Chelsea, I thought we deserved something from that game and the Blues didn’t deserve to walk away with all three points.

However, when we faced Manchester United, I was expecting a proper game against one of the most in-form sides in the division and I got it.

Arteta managed to employ a tactic that nullified Manchester United’s willing runners and overran their midfield.
For me, the last two games have shown that Arteta is a manager that does his homework and is a match for any manager tactically.

He has also managed to get everyone on the team on board in just a few weeks. In the months ahead, I believe that it can only get better. As things stand today it is clear that Arsenal has got the right man.

Things will only get better from now on.

26 Comments

  1. I have no doubt Arteta is the right man, been hearing people say it could be a new manager bounce, maybe but it does not feel that way to me.

    The only fear I had was whether he would be able to control players like Ozil and Aubameyang taking into consideration the former played with him but those fears are now gone as he has obviously awaken Ozil again at least for now…

    All he needs now is total financial support so he could achieve great things with us.

    Who else thinks Henry or even Vieira wouldnt have been able to do what Arteta has done, in a very short time???

  2. He has won 1 game out of 3 and you think he is the choosing one.LOL.If I remember rightly most people on this site thought Emery was the man when he went on the 20 game unbeaten but after a bad run everybody wanted him out.Lets hope history doesn’t repeat it self

    1. Agree that the reaction is a bit OTT. Let the guy work with the team until the end of the season, and then we can make proper judgement.

    2. You still don’t get it???

      It is not about the win perse, but the performance, the organisation, chances created, and most importantly, good football.

      Despite the loss against Chelsea, everyone still applauded the team, that’s what people are happy about.

      And as for the 22 game unbeaten run under Emery, the general consensus was most the wins were lucky and laboured, we got really lucky.

      In conclusion, people wants to see good football and results to match, we have missed this since Wenger’s last two seasons, and we became so miserable under Emery that i hated football altogether, but in just three games, there is a clear difference, hence the excitement…I believe in Arteta…Coyg!!!

      1. Exactly this.
        During the unbeaten run many of us were saying we would crash when our luck ran out (for a while the opposition strikers seemed to all be conspiring to waste chances against us).

        Under Arteta we play better and tactics are on another level. New manager bounce? Sure, but much more than that.
        Google: “The secrets behind Mikel Arteta’s new look Arsenal” and see the analysis to see how this is different to Solskjaer’s initial bounce.

  3. Highbury44, the one difference between UE and MA, is the attitude.

    Why do we keep looking backwards for comparisions and blame? This is Mikel Arteta’s time and who cares what UE, AW or even GG did right or wrong?

    In just three games, the toxic atmosphere at the club, with the players and the fans has disappeared, mourinho is already in freefall and we just stuffed manure…onwards and upwards.

    1. Exactly!

      I remember my brother telling me Klopp’s effect was visibly seen in his first game in charge after about 3 training sessions, of course I argued it, but having witnessed the Arteta effect, I now clearly understand and believe him.

      Arteta is really good, a lot of top managers endorsed him….Pep said he already behaves like a manager and we can see that ourselves, even our own players are waxing lyrical about him, what how else are we gonna convince people???

    2. Well I still blame Phil Kelso and George Morell for those long ago failures. Ken, I can just imagine all those Gooner kiddies who read this saying “Who?” And Chapman HAS to be blamed for the Walsall defeat. I suppose he did alright otherwise though!

      1. I’m hardly a Gooner kiddie but I have no idea who Phil and George are/were. I first started going with my mum and dad occasionally in the mid/late 60’s when Fingers Furnell was in goal. We always stood at the clock end and I remember going one time when George Best scored the equaliser in a 2-2 draw. Grrr! Happy days!

  4. I do think we need to calm down a bit here. Yes we can have hope and yes the players are saying the right things. One win, his first, against utd, at home on new years day, tells us nothing. Football is fickle and we just need to put everything thing into perspective and move on to the next game. For me, the last pairing i would put together would be Papa and Luiz and people were shipping papa out of this club two days ago. Xhaka and Torreira taking this club to new heights, dont think so. AMN at right back and kola left back as being the way forward, not everyones choice. Ozil, lacca, pepe and auba as our attack for the future, lets wait and see on that one. Just accept a welcome win against an average utd team and let look forward to the next game and see what happens in the league.

    1. Great and sensible perspective, amongst all the hype on one good perf against a moderate United team. I am most hopeful for the future now we have Arteta, but we still have loads of proven subpar players who need moving out. To argue otherwise based on just yesterday is not wise nor sensible

      1. Jon, im looking for January as a whole and then we will get an idea of the level we can sustain. After then we can probably start setting targets for this season, that should be attainable.

        1. The thing that is most encouraging is that except for that horrific mistake by Leno, we would have probably had 2 clean sheets against Chelsea and United in 3 days.

          Not very important for the league where highscoring teams typically do better due to less draws, but vital for the Europa.
          I now think we do have a chance this year and unless Chelsea continue their drop in form, we should use our 1st team for Europa League from the last 16 onwards.

  5. I am a very optimistic person and I understand the reason behind the exciting buzz around. I just hope that we are not getting ahead of ourselves and we should not raise the hope too high

  6. I also admit to being a sceptic before the appointment. But the way he has got the team playing already, I think he deserves a lot of credit and full backing.
    However, less than 2 weeks and only 3 games is hardly enough to know for sure.
    Management/coaching is a complex matter with many requirements and time will tell.
    But for now, I am certainly optimistic.

    1. Absolutely gutted for him, i like his attitude and like him as a player. Lets hope he get over his injury 100% and comes back next season to fight for his place.

    2. ACL takes 12 months to recover back to full fitness. He will be back in Dec 2020 when we will unveil him as the best centre back since sliced bread 🤦🏻‍♂️

  7. When we look at the bad luck we have had with two of our brighest young defenders it’s as if the world is against The Arsenal:

    Holding out, realistically, for a season and a half…Chambers with the same scenario…and that’s without Bellerin and Tierney, the back four some of us wanted to see play together and, maybe, be the backbone for the future.

    To think that some fans blamed our old regime for such injuries and their long term recovery time!!!

    As for united being a mediocre team, here we go again…putting ourselves downonce more.
    They aree still above us, beat city at the etihad, along with other excellent results, but we just go defensive yet again.

    1. It is now you Ken who choose to bring up the old regime Ken. Odd considering how you generally jump on me when I mention it as I rarely do these days. Some of us cannot forget it seems and you are among them. That apart, your post is a fine one, so why NOW choose to unneccessarily defend Wenger once again? I HAVE SEEN LITTLE DIRECT MENTION OF HIM OF LATE. That was always going to be the case as time goes by. Same reason why GG is virtually never mentioned these days. Let sleeping dogs lie eh? I RESOLVE TO LOOK ONLY FORWARD FROM NOW ON, AS WE HAVE AT LAST A TRUE PROFESSIONAL RUNNING THE TEAM, AFTER THE LAST WASTED 18 MONTHS. One who speaks good English too, which always held UE back massively and was IMO the key communication problem he faced, from which all his other problems stemmed.

      On a far more relevant theme now, it is thrilling to see how Arteta has made even useless defenders able to defend; ones who have been almost universally condemned as useless, not merely by Gooners but by widely respected paper journos and pundits alike. I call this a near miracle and shows how a proper coach with great attention to minor, as well as major details, can massively improve players. Just as he did at City so brilliantly. I pray that the regime rely totally on his judgement of who to bring in and who to sell/or keep. He knows FAR more than those running day todays club business and surely no Gooner at all now doubts exactly that! MA has utterly changed everything around the club in a MERE FORTNIGHT or so and this is way beyond all reasonable expections!

        1. Lads, that wasn’t a “snipe” at Wenger…if you both remember our old backroom medical staff were accused of everything from witchcraft to cannibalism whenever our players got injured…probably you instigated it Jon anyway!!!!!!

          So if I say the hot dogs today aren’t as good as they were under the old regime, I’m defending AW again???

          Come on, don’t be so defensive, you know the hot dogs are not as good as they were and the fact that Arsene had control over everything at the club (so we are told) proves, beyond a doubt, that Arsene’s hot dog taste was/is better than Mikels…

          AND REGGIE, I take further offence to your remarks about the Boer war, Jon and I were just sixteen at the time and we were not silly old fools at that episode in our lives – isn’t that correct Jon?
          Has the goodwill to all already broken down? I blame Arsene Wenger of course.

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