Mikel Arteta. The divisive Manger of Arsenal Football Club by Ben Dungate
Let us first take an objective look at the club in general. Things appear harmonious at least on the surface, with players of a certain mindset being chosen specifically by the manager. These players seem to be largely agreeable lads that tow the line; those who do not find themselves cast aside (see Ainsley Maitland-Niles), or those who fail to meet certain binary standards that the manager has selected as being his preferred characteristics (see Mesut Ozil).
Rightly or wrongly this has returned Arsenal to the higher echelons of the Premier League once more and returned a level of optimism to the supporter base. The team also seems to inhabit some of the finer styles of those successful sides that came before it. Last season we played with the creativity and freedom seen under Arsene Wenger, and this season we have demonstrated a defensive solidity that would have George Graham glowing with pride.
So why is Mikel Arteta so damn divisive…
From an entirely subjective standpoint I can freely admit that I never rated Arteta much as a player and that opinion very much skewed my view on him as a manager. I have never understood this apparent synonymous nature he has with the club. When I think of Arteta I think of him as a decent midfielder for Everton who we brought in on a budget to fill the gap left by Fabregas. Not an enviable task for any player admittedly.
Personal opinions aside, I will readily accept that Mikel Arteta appears to be a real student of the game; his intensity is there for all to see and the way he has tried to combine an attractive, free-flowing, possession-based style of attack, with defensive solidity is commendable. Whether he is simply copying Pep or not is irrelevant in my opinion, I think he is a fine coach and is at least trying to have the team play in a way that is successful and entertaining.
So why is Mikel Arteta so damn divisive…
How can a manager that has sought to combine the defensive stability seen under George Graham with the offensive flair seen under Wenger, and done so reasonably successfully, irk so many of us supporters? For me, it comes down to his reluctance to rotate his players and effectively use his squad. Not only with the players he selects but the positions he chooses for them and his overall inflexibility and stubbornness.
It is this same stubbornness that irritated so many supporters during Arsene’s reign. He had his principles with how the game should be played, and seemed completely unwilling to modify or adapt. Or perhaps he was just unable to. Arteta has demonstrated that he is able to adapt, because of the difference in style of play between this season and last, where we have moved from a more open and attacking style, to one that is a bit slower and more pragmatic.
Mikel’s persistent inflexibility in his team selection will lead to us losing good players and those players that are constantly selected burning out. It cannot be just coincidence that has seen us stumble at the same point in the season for 3 years in a row. And there’s no need for it! He bought a lot of these players, so he should trust them. At very least give them enough game time so that when they are called upon they aren’t so rusty they don’t offer anything to the team.
And there are some good players available to him. We may not have the attacking options that Liverpool have, or the defensive and midfield depth pf Man City, but he has good players at his disposal that he just doesn’t use. There is no reason, that we can see at least, that should prevent Smith Rowe, Partey, Vieira, Nketiah, etc., getting more minutes than they do. He just has to trust them and use them effectively. But he doesn’t, and shows no signs of doing so.
And that, for me, is why Mikel Arteta is so damn divisive.
Ben Dungate
Enjoyable and mostly a wise piece too by BEN. One stand out misconception hit my keen eye though. And that is about rotation. Ben himself states but fails to give the due stress to the fact that wehave not the depth that City has and seemingly that Liverpool, with all their injiries whil still in therace also have.
Youcannot, Ben, rotate adequately UNLESS, which we do not,we have an almpstsequal standard of bench to our regular picks That to me mind is BEYOND OBVIOUS and is WHY MA has chosen not to rotate much at all.
Of course, in an ideal world with a rich in depthof quality bench to use, MA WOULD rotate more.
But the facts show Nketiah is second rate at the level we need. Nelson is ineffective ands nowhere near even a jaded half fully fit SAKA. Partey is not match fit, plainy, or he would have playedby now JEUS IS IN AND OUT BUT LARGELY UNPRODUCTIVE. Viera is not up to the job ; he was a daft and wrong buy and needs to be sold ASAP. We patently still need a far stronger bench But that takes real money. I accepot MA has made costly buying financiail mistakes and agreed ludicrous salaries averge players.
But that is then and this is now.
This summer we urgently need to remove, for whateve they will fetch ,ALL our deadwood and perenially injured player that are a waste of money inwages and take up a place that a better player ought to fill.
Until, that can be done though , rotation will be strictly limited by sheer pragmatism.
The ONE glaring mistake in not playing a player who ought to be played far more IMO is ESR.
On one hand, he’s made us very competitive and we have challenged for the title in two consecutive seasons. On the other hand, the only reason we haven’t won the title is because of his questionable decisions like favouritism and overplaying players. Some focus on the first part and celebrate him, others on the latter and blame him for the near misses. Both groups are justified
there are [at least] two other reason we haven’t won the title [yet with 5 games to go];
1) are you really caning Arteta for not winning the PL from 2020 to 2022? with the squad and culture he inherited = nonsense
2) last season [2022/23] we burst out and surprised all including our own ‘fans’, we out-performed to finish second
3) Man City are the best team of all PL time and hugely experienced at finishing strong when it matters
to quote you “the only reason we have not won the title” is Arteta
i retort with “the only reason we are in the title contest” is Arteta
Your two last statements summarize my point. Arteta is the reason we are in the title contest and also the reason we haven’t won it.
Couldn’t agree more.
We have three capable players on the bench and their numbers show that they have had almost as good minutes as how good they are. Trossard, Gorginho and Tomiyasu/ Kiwor.
The rest are not good enough unless you play them in the Carling and or FA cup. There’s no game for below average player in the league nowadays.
I think Jon Fox has covered it well.
When I think of ManC every one of their players is a household name or at the very least, almost every one. The financial clout they had years ago to bring in the best and the ability of Guardiola has put them in the most enviable position and to be able to maintain that position is without equal right now. Our bench is improving but not quite there yet.
When the first 11 almost picks itself (plus a few) then injury issues do come into play, especially when they are to key players. I get the impression that Arteta is cautious over those returning from injury especially if the results have been favourable (as in why change a winning team?).
That is an area where he needs to improve. They are mostly his players or ones that have been promoted too well financially ( wrongly imo) as Nketiah and Nelson are not really good and Vieira may never work out . Rotation is great if what you are rotating is up to scratch
Sue serious, logical thinking minds often DO think alike.
regrettably, and as much as Arsenal ‘supporters’ would like to think not, our ‘fan’ base is no different to any other
it seems in comprehensible that there is an ‘Arteta out’ brigade at Arsenal
i have many friends who support other teams, including several Spurs fans, and collectively their jaws drop to the ground at such nonsense calls
the nearest equivalent is ‘Emery out’, and I say that with evidence as having lived in the Midlands this is what my Villa mates say is just for the ‘nut jobs’
absolute non-sense by the regrettable unavoidable few – embarrassing really
Ben brought up great points about rotation, and how Arteta burns out players for the end run every year.
We have depth, players that can play, but not the quality that City has.
For example, Jesus can play on the wing for Saka to rest him; Jesus is not a scorer, but can certainly cover for him against some of the lesser clubs in the PL.
Same goes for ESR covering for Odegaard, Jorghino in midfield, Tomiyasu at RB and CB, and Kiwior at LB. Not to mention Trossard playing anywhere across the front 3.
I don’t want to hear about lacking depth and lacking options, we are talking rotating and covering, not replacing for extended periods.
Lastly, for those not good enough, who is responsible for that? Who extended Nketiah and Nelson? Who wasted 34 million on Vieira who is 5th best winger, and 6th best midfielder?
Who has not brought in a RW in 5 years to rotate with Saka?
Players won’t play if they are not good enough, but how do you expect them to improve if the manager never plays them?
ESR got MOTM last time he played, but hasn’t gotten a sniff since. He has been fit for a while, but Arteta seems to not select him to play.
If people want better quality in depth, then Arteta has to get rid of the players he brought in.
Jesus and Zinchenko have taken us as far as they can, time they are moved on.
Nketiah was never the quality we needed, and why extend Nelson if you are not going to play him?
Man management, especially rotation, continues to be a shortcoming of Arteta, but he may yet learn and improve in this area.
It’s not so much the lack of rotation but his lack of imagination in the way he uses his forwards in particular.Saka and Martinelli are tied to the flanks come hell or high water when they surely must be given license to interchange with a view to disrupting the opposition’s defensive plan/shape..For example against a high line defence like that used by Spurs, we need a really quick player to hit them on the break .So why not play him loose through the middle rather than in his usual LW role where much of his efforts are carrying out defensive duties.In the same way move Saka to the left where at least he will be able to cross more accurately with his good foot.Has Jesus ever started on the RW where he made a name for himself with Brazil.In essence there is scope for Arteta to make us less predictable without a huge rotation but he seems incapable of showing the enterprise which could have brought success against Villa in particular.Finally my biggest disappointment with Arteta this season is his failure to recognise the talent of ESR who is up there with Martinelli and Saka in terms of ability imo.
You summed it up, Grandad.
Grandad
Excellent points you made and expressed in your opinion.
If I dare hazard a guess I would say because Arteta is a “system” manager and plays a system rather than playing to the strengths of his players.
That’s why we still continue searching for a striker, our 4th arguably 5th if you count Havertz (Auba, Laca, Jesus, Havertz).
Also why Arteta thought Havertz may work in midfield, but he has been average to poor when played there, but Havertz has been far better as a striker for us.
The “system” calls for wingers to play wide and cut inside, not cross from the sidelines. Fullbacks to invert as extra midfielders, not overlap and provide width and help for the wingers.
All a bit predictable in my opinion, that’s why we struggle
Here’s another angle on the question asked.
Is MA divisive, not because of what he’s done, but because he’s judged completely differently to AW and UE?
We still have fans, after nigh on five years, complaining about the situation of the club when he took over.
Getting knocked out of the domestic cups was seen as a good thing, because we had a stretched first eleven and could now concentrate on the PL and CL.
Then, when we got knocked out of the CL by Bayern, it was partly because of our history that was AW and UE’s legacy.
If we fail to win the PL it’s because MA needed a five year project.
The division, in my view, was by the fans themselves and the style of football in the first three years – that’s been resolved in my opinion and anyone who can’t see the progress being made, are very shortsighted!!
However, we do need to hold MA accountable for his mistakes, just as AW and UE were!!
👍 Given his previous record and record since his sacking, Unai Emery was not given the same amount of managerial Iand financial support or time as Mikel Arteta, in my opinion. In fact due to following Arsene Wenger he was continually undermined and disparaged.
I don’t judge Arteta any different to any other manager. We are not West Ham or Villa (happy to get European football) we are Arsenal a top club, that spends the money and should be winning trophies. Arteta is judged by me the same as any other before him. Big teams get top 4, big managers get big trophies. If a manager wins a trophy, he is judged on that by everyone. If he doesn’t, he is no different to 90% of football managers. You are special or you ain’t.
I admired Wenger, but I wanted him gone when it was clear the job was getting too big for him. The same applies here.
I don’t agree, Arteta is dvisive at all.
The problem is a number of fans, who have been against Arteta from the start, are divisive in stubbornly upholding their wrong judgement. Instead of admitting they were, and are, completely wrong.
The process and the results of it are there for all to see, but some will not admit it.
There is the dividing factor.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in the way Arteta chooses his team. He is the one with the knowledge, whereas we fans really are armchair managers. So if some think ESR should play more, Havertz shouldn’t have been bought, Ramsdale should be playing or whatever you will see on here, it really is nothing but personal opinions from us armchair managers.
And if you look closely, there isn’t anything like agreement on who should be playing more and when, between those who think Arteta aren’t doing it the right way.
All they are agreeing on, is Arteta is wrong. Quite funny really.
Oh, I forgot. The writer says we are stumbling.
Out the last 14 PL games we have won 12, drawn 1 and lost 1. Where is the stumble??
The reality is, we are on one of the best runs in our PL history.
Write a piece on St. Tottering’s day that’s coming on Saturday. A simple win or draw for Arsenal Tottenham won’t catch Arsenal thos season.
Let’s only worry about beating Spurs to maintain Arsenal’s challenge for the EPL.
Spurs will be already fired up because it is a North London Derby, they are playing in front of their home fans. Postecoglou always wants to win and Spurs owe Arsenal, because they couldn’t beat Aston Villa at home to help Spurs in their push for a Champions League place.