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After a disappointing exit from the Europa League, Arsenal fans seem to have come to a crossroads with the enigma Mikel Arteta. Many who've backed him from the start are beginning to reconsider while those who never trusted him are becoming more vocal than ever. Either way, the Arsenal fanbase is in turmoil and it all centers around the performance of the rookie manager.
Under the tenure of the Spaniard, the club has firmly established itself as a mid-table club while failing to win the Europa League. Arteta’s stock couldn’t be any lower with many fans, but there are still a select few that are trusting the process. Let me tell you why you should join them.
Here are five reasons why Mikel Arteta is still the right man for Arsenal.
#5 Faith in young players
When Arsène Wenger left in 2018, the Frenchman begged his successor and the fans to adhere to the values of the club. One of those values is to breed young players into the team, something Mikel Arteta has done superbly.
Under his watch, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith-Rowe & Gabriel Martinelli have all flourished. This season, these three youngsters have played a combined 4130 minutes, a staggering number for players in their age group.
It’s not just the fact he’s given them minutes that’s impressive, it’s the way he’s handled expectations of them and improved them through his hands-on coaching.
Add to the list the encouraging performances of Kieran Tierney (23) & Gabriel Magalhaes (23) and you can see a good track record with the younger members of the squad.
#4 Tightened up Arsenal defence
Before Mikel Arteta came in, Arsenal were leaking goals left, right and centre. Regardless of which back four were deployed, the Gunners looked like a mess at the back.
The Spaniard came in and identified that as the team’s biggest weakness and addressed it beautifully. All of a sudden, the team can defend in an organized low-block as well as protect their goal from set-pieces.
In fact, his impact was almost instant. In the first half of the 2019/20 campaign, under Emery, Arsenal conceded 19 goals in 13 games at a rate of 1.46 compared to 21 goals in 21 games with Arteta equating to 1.
If that’s not enough, in Emery’s first full season as manager the Gunners leaked 51 goals. This season Arsenal have only let in 37 with a couple of games to go. The defenders that were once deemed ‘uncoachable’ have now been coached.
#3 Improved record vs the Big 6
Under Arsène Wenger and Unai Emery, one of the most damming criticisms of the team was that they weren’t competitive in big games. Season after season, Arsenal fans would watch their team get battered by teams supposedly on their level.
6-0 to Chelsea, 8-2 to Manchester United, 5-1 to Liverpool & 6-3 to Manchester City are a few that come to mind. In the 19 games vs the Big 6 pre-Arteta, Arsenal had won just three. However, under the Spaniard’s reign, Arsenal are unbeaten in 12/21 of those encounters.
In just 18 months, Arteta has claimed wins over Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs and United. Just to add insult to injury, Arteta is completely unbeaten vs Ole Gunnar Solskjaer & Thomas Tuchel. The Gunners are no longer a joke in big games and can hold their own against anyone on their day.
#2 “Put your medals on the table”
Ask any fan on the planet what they enjoy most about football and they’ll tell you winning trophies. In his first eight months at the club, Mikel Arteta did what Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t do in five years, win trophies. The prestigious FA Cup and the season’s curtain-raiser Community Shield would all make their way to the Emirates.
On the way to lifting these trophies, Arteta would have to beat Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool, an incredible feat for a first-time manager. Despite being in the middle of a major rebuild, Arteta has still managed to put silverware on the table, something not many other managers can relate to.
#1 Time is needed for a rebuild
As the old cliché says, Rome wasn’t built in a day. No great empire or footballing dynasty happened overnight, and Arsenal fans must realize that Mikel Arteta doesn’t have a magic wand that will fix everything. The club has been out of the Champions League for five years, this didn’t just start under this current regime. Of course, a Europa League triumph would have been great but that would have just papered over the cracks as this squad isn’t UCL worthy.
Arteta himself said a few months ago that he needed five or six more players to implement his philosophy, and this summer window he’ll go some way to laying down that foundation. If he’s still failing by December this year, then we can have serious talks about his job. However, until he’s given time to build the squad he wants, Arsenal fans must be patient and trust the process.
