About a year and a half ago, Arsenal had their worst start to a Premier League season ever. They lost their first three games by a combined score of 0-9, including an embarrassing opening defeat to newly promoted Brentford, and two losses to ‘big six’ rivals Chelsea (0-2) and Manchester City (0-5). Many fans were clamouring for Mikel Arteta to be sacked, and Arsenal to reset with a new manager and fresh players.
This was hardly the first time Arsenal fans pledged their allegiance to the “Arteta Out” campaign, a push for the Spaniard to be relieved of his duties. For years, Arteta had been under fire for a lack of results. Despite this, a patient Arsenal organization withheld a decision, and now fast forward a year and a half later Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal sit atop the Premier League table halfway through the season. How did we get here?
For North American sports fans, ‘Trust the Process’ usually refers to one thing: the mid-2010s Philadelphia 76ers, Sam Hinkie, and years of tanking and drafting to build a better team. Canadian sports fans would argue that this process and philosophy was essentially ended when Kawhi Leonard sent the 76ers packing in the 2019 NBA playoffs with his iconic buzzer-beating, series-winning shot. Since then, sports have scoffed at the idea of a process—why not just win now?
In North London, however, there is a much more lucrative storm brewing that revolves around such a ‘process’. Since Mikel Arteta took over Arsenal in December 2019, the historic club who was before undergoing their worst period in history, now leads a title charge just three seasons later. They have officially reached the halfway point of the season and are on pace to be just the second ‘centurion’ (team that eclipses 100 points) in Premier League history.
Mikel’s Vision
Mikel Arteta was hired in December 2019 to manage Arsenal, replacing Unai Emery after just one and a half seasons. Hired for his experience coaching under Pep Guardiola, Arteta was welcomed back into the club after serving four years for them as a player, becoming something of a cult hero. At Arsenal, Mikel had plenty on his agenda before he thought the club could return to their historic ways.
Arteta has always desired to play a brand of football similar to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Without delving into all of the details, he envisioned a team that could play fluid football in an ever-shifting 4-3-3 formation, which would transition to five attackers loading the half spaces, and a suffocating press when off the ball. He aimed to be able to play from the back, with a goalkeeper and defenders who are comfortable on the ball, use skillful forwards to drive the attack, and have a single conductor orchestrating the entire show.
Interestingly, the squad he inherited was far from that. With aging players, inflated contracts, and poor transfer business, Arteta’s first job was unloading dead weight. This saw departures of players such as David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Mesut Özil, and many others, not to the dismay of fans at the time.
After stripping the squad down to just a few young players, whom he would build his team around—such as Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli—Arteta focused on bringing in quality talents that matched his philosophy. They avoided big name transfers, spent a humble amount of money, and brought in players such as Thomas Partey, Martin Ødegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Gabriel Jesus, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and many others.
To say this was a smooth process would be a lie. Over Arteta’s first two and a half seasons, Arsenal suffered greatly. First, an embarrassing Europa League exit at the hands of Olympiacos upset the fans. Another dejecting exit from the Europa League came the year after, losing in the semi-finals to Villareal. Back-to-back eighth place finishes, a club low, had every fan and pundit questioning Arteta’s philosophy and the Arsenal board’s decision to keep him. The only thing Arteta could hold onto was an FA Cup win in his inaugural season. Even at the end of the 2021–22 season, Arteta’s squad agonizingly missed out on Champions League football in the final few weeks.
Pundits and fans alike were wondering when Arteta’s time was up. Many thought he was in over his head, a fraud who only looked good because he coached with Pep, or simply put, not good enough. The Arsenal board, namely Edu, believed in him. More than that, the players believed in him. Granit Xhaka, a player who was almost forced out of the club in 2019 after poor performances and choice decisions, such as taking his shirt off and walking into the tunnel after being subbed off, stayed at the club solely because of Mikel’s vision. Despite all of the fire that was thrown his way, Arteta stuck to his guns. Most people wanted Arteta out. But most people were wrong.
Where We Are Now
It seems Arteta has finally assembled a team to his liking. Aaron Ramsdale, despite being relegated in back-to-back seasons, was signed and now is one of the top keepers in the league. Their back line took time to come to fruition, but Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel, and Zinchenko seem to work perfectly together. Partey, Ødegaard, and a revitalized Granit Xhaka make the three-man midfield, and the young front line of Martinelli, Saka, and Gabriel Jesus work wonders. Arteta has what he’s wanted his entire tenure; a backline that can play with the ball at their feet, dynamic forwards who can beat their man and press when they don’t have the ball, and a tricky Norwegian running the show.
Despite being the youngest team in the Premier League, with an average age of 24 years, they play some of the most aesthetically pleasing football in the world (Ford, 2023). And more importantly, they just cannot stop winning. Arsenal now sits atop the Premier League halfway through the season. They are five points clear with a game in hand, and have just beaten Manchester United, Tottenham away and sixth place Brighton. They’ve also beaten struggling Chelsea (away) and Liverpool, with only 3 drops in points all season.
One could argue they’ve been the better team in every game they’ve played. They are flying. Despite being predicted by both experts and casuals to be a team that would only be fighting for top four, Arsenal is bullying the league, having yet to seriously falter all season. Arsenal is winning games they used to lose or draw, and other than two fixtures against title contenders Manchester City, they seem to have one hand and a warrior’s grip on the trophy.
What Does This All Mean?
It seems those who trusted Arteta were right all along. Tim Cahill, in his 2020 Sky Sports punditry with Roy Keane, said “the key thing is Arsenal are progressing because there’s an identity, there’s a formula to the way they play” and that “they’ve lost a few games, but they know why they’ve lost. They’re learning and progressing” (Swan, 2023).
Cahill has been proven correct. It seems despite losing at first, Arteta was implementing something in his squad that would have much longer-lasting effects. Arteta learned, built on what he had, and is now undoubtedly one of the best managers in the world. Mikel Arteta had a philosophy and a vision all along, and all he needed was three years to build a monster of a team, with potential through the roof.
In a sport such as football, where big clubs are expected to ‘win now’ all of the time, many struggling clubs hire seasoned managers with loaded trophy cabinets in hopes to turn over a quick profit, investing hundreds of millions of dollars into a quick rebuild. We’ve seen this in the past, with Manchester United, hiring David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, and Jose Mourinho, all in hopes of winning immediately. We see it now with clubs like Juventus and Tottenham. For big clubs, with owners who have little care over the means, all that matters is the ends, and most importantly, how quickly money can be made.
But Mikel Arteta’s young Gunners have proven that is not the only formula. In some cases, especially in the ones of those who do not have instant investors to purchase any player the club wants, it’s better to hire a manager that has a vision. This manager needs trust from his players and board, and maybe then they can turn a team from winners into losers. We’ve now seen this come to life with Mikel Arteta. When he received time, above all else, he turned the ship around at Arsenal and as a result they’ve come to life. Sometimes, a team can’t win now. Sometimes, it’s a lot better to simply trust the process.
Author: Ben Presta
Editor: Paul Egbeyemi
References
Arsenal FC - Club Profile. Transfermarkt. https://www.transfermarkt.us/fc-arsenal/startseite/verein/11.
Ford, W. (2023, January 16). Ranking the average age of Premier League XIs: Arsenal youngest and Liverpool 18th. Football365. https://www.football365.com/news/feature-ranking-average-age-premier-league-starting-xis.
Swan, R. (2023, January 17). Arsenal: What Tim Cahill and Roy Keane said about Mikel Arteta in 2020. GiveMeSport. https://www.givemesport.com/88105668-arsenal-what-tim-cahill-and-roy-keane-said-about-mikel-arteta-in-2020.