Why Arsenal had take the gamble on hiring Mikel Arteta

Following Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Man City, Arsenal sit in 10th place in the Premier League, with just a solitary win in their last 12 games in all competitions. With a mere 22 points from the opening 17 games, the club have endured their worst start to a league campaign since the 1994/95 season, in which they ended the season in 12th place. Arsenal is a club on a downward spiral, spineless, directionless and leaderless on and off the pitch and are in danger of slipping further and further into mediocrity if this next managerial appointment doesn't work out.

The Pep Guardiola understudy became a 
clear favourite for the vacancy following
meetings with club officials after City's 3-0
win on Sunday.

When Arsenal were clearly looking to favour a cheaper alternative to the likes of Everton-bound Ancelotti and Allegri, Mikel Arteta had become the clear and obvious choice for the Arsenal job mainly due to his familiarity of the club after his five year spell at the Gunners at the end of his playing career. Arteta described his ideal managerial style back in an interview in 2014 in which he stated 'I want the football to be expressive, entertaining. I cannot have a concept of football where everything is based on the opposition. We have to dictate the game, we have to be the ones taking the initiative, and we have to entertain the people coming to watch us.' Having worked under Pep Guardiola, one of the best possession based, attacking coaches in world football, he'd have witnessed first hand some methods which he could use in order to integrate his philosophy into this squad and give them a clear identity which they've been lacking since Wenger left.

The former Arsenal Captain won back to
back FA Cups during his five year tenure
at the North London Club

His knowledge of not only the club, but also the Premier League made him the ideal candidate for the role. His familiarity with the people at the club helps the transitional phase massively, watching his welcoming video already showed how excited staff members were to have him back at the club. I expect to see him and Per Mertesacker working together a lot, especially on starting to tighten up the defence. It was vital for Arsenal to get someone in who knows this league, with a tough two weeks ahead with a trip to Everton and home games against Chelsea and Man United the standout matches and with there being such an importance on getting results early, the club couldn't afford to risk bringing in someone from abroad who was going to need to learn the language and culture of the club, country and league as well as having to bring their philosophy into the squad.

Mikel Arteta's work with Raheem Sterling has transformed
him into one of the leagues' most lethal finishers

During his time at Manchester City, Arteta has been highly credited as being the cause of Raheem's Sterling improvement. Before the 2017/18 season, the winger had never scored more than 11 goals in a season or even reach double figures in the league, however, under the mentorship of Arteta, in the last two and a half seasons, his goal tally has been as followed: 2017-18 - 18 league goals (23 all comps), 2018-19 - 17 league goals (25 all comps), 2019-20 - 9 league goals (18 all comps). Even Pep Guardiola praised the effect that the former midfielder had on the Englishman's improvement in the final third stating 'Mikel Arteta is working many, many hours and days after training specifically about the last action on the pitch - that control in the last moment to make the right movement in the final three or four metres.' With a misfiring Pepe, young players like Martinelli, Nelson, Saka, Smith-Rowe and even Willock and Guendouzi in midfield, if Arteta can replicate his one on one work with Sterling with this group of young players, the future's bright for Arsenal. 

Arteta being congratulated after masterminding City's
2nd goal vs Arsenal last season

Last season at the Emirates Stadium, City looked short of ideas whilst leading 1-0 and Arsenal had all the momentum and it seemed like an equaliser was imminent. However, Arteta had a moment of tactical genius and showed how well he can read the game and spot a weakness to exploit in his opponents. He noticed how when Arsenal were dropping back, they left so much space on the edge of the box which City were failing to utilise as they were just whipping crosses straight to Leno. Having noticed this, he instructed Mendy to cut the ball back into the space which led to a Bernardo Silva goal which saw City regain a foothold in the game before seeing a 2-0 victory out. His forward thinking, decisiveness and willing to adapt his tactics to take a risk to regain control of a game is something which Arsenal have lacked for the past few years. Too often the Gunners have sat back and been tactically naive which has cost them massively home and away, especially this season. Immediately in his welcoming video, you can see his desire to address the current problems, as he speaks with the analysis team about using camera and drones, showing that he already has things he wants to fix and work on and clearly admitting that their is issues with this squad as opposed to papering over cracks. 

The Spaniard has joined the club on a deal until 2023 and
promises to be ruthless and get the Gunners competing
once again

There will be arguments made by fans and pundits alike that a lack of experience will hold Arteta back however, his character and personality and knowledge of the club and league outweighs the fact that this is his first managerial job for me. Arsenal have already gone down the experience route with Emery, who had managed 719 games and won 10 trophies in his career before joining Arsenal, yet he failed to manage egos and show the tactical nouse to succeed at the club for a prolonged period. Arsenal need the freshness and the brutality that Mikel Arteta is promising to bring as players have held too much power under the previous manager and even towards the end of Wenger's reign. From his opening interview Arsenal fans have a reason to be positive that once again they will have a team that plays for the badge on the shirt instead of the name on the back. He said 'I don't want them hiding. I want my players to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy into the football club. Anyone who doesn't buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture.' It's about time Arsenal had a manager who is willing to be ruthless and not adhere to the demands of the big stars and instead focus on the bigger picture, the success of the football club. He may be a young manager, but similarly to Solskjaer at Man United and Lampard at Chelsea, these young managers are coming with a ruthlessness and are demanding respect and have no time for these players with massive ego's which is a welcome change for not only Arsenal but for football as a whole. 

Overall, Mikel Arteta has every chance to have success at Arsenal, it isn't going to happen overnight and this season will likely continue to be one riddled with inconsistency, however, if he's backed in January and more importantly in the summer and is backed if he wants to get rid of any players who have a bad attitude, then there's no doubt that Arteta can come in and get Arsenal competing again over time. Fans have to back him through whatever highs and lows come with the uncoachable defence he has to deal with for the rest of this season, however at the very least, he'll be able to at least give the club an identity again which fans have been crying out for in recent months and then he can be judged next season when hopefully he's been completely backed to rebuild a squad that's lacking a defensive spine right now.