Exactly a year ago, Arsenal appointed former club captain and the ten assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Mikel Arteta as their head coach, a designation from which he has been elevated to the post of first-team manager within a year of his employment at the London club. In terms of penning down his time at Arsenal, this would have been an easy piece if some of the recency bias you find on social media was instilled within me. However, inspite of the horrendous run of form that Arsenal have been incurred this season Arteta has seen reasonable success at the club with two trophies, in form of a FA Cup and Community Shield, and a great run of form in the latter stages of last season.
Time and again, both Arsenal and Mikel Arteta himself has termed his job at Arsenal as a “long-term project”, which would see the club going through a period of transition and naturally few hiccups on their way. However, winning just five points of available thirty and losing 8 of their last 12 matches in the Premier League would have got any manager sacked at a club of Arsenal’s stature. However, Mikel Arteta hasn’t only survived the tough period, yet, but has also not found himself into any immediate pressure of sacking. Such a vote of confidence to the manager speaks volumes of what the decision-makers at the club think of the Spaniard and also what he has been able to achieve off the pitch in his now year-long stint.
While the time still looks to be on the side of the former Everton man, things can change quickly if he’s unable to halt his side’s poor form. Mikel Arteta gave Arsenal fans a lot of belief and more importantly a promise for brighter days in his early days at the club. While he has been unable to fulfil the expectation the fans had of him, though many still trust him to deliver even if it is with a delay.
