It truly is amazing what an elite level coach can achieve with time, a smart project and efficient transfers - just ask Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. Scrutiny and sack calls were launched at the 41-year-old during numerous poor runs of form in the early stages of his managerial tenure, but the patience shown to keep him in situ is certainly now paying off.
The Gunners find themselves locked in a tense Premier League title battle with serial winners Manchester City, headed up by Pep Guardiola, Arteta's former employer. Prior to his arrival at Emirates Stadium, Arteta was Guardiola's assistant for a number of years before making the decision to enter the hot seat himself in December 2019.
Criticism has followed ever since, despite Arteta delivering an FA Cup and Community Shield, with Arsenal falling just short of some major goals. However, to a certain extent, that looks set to end with the Gunners taking a huge leap forward in their project progress this season.
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Regardless of whether or not the title returns to Manchester in May, the team Arteta has built will certainly be back. The players at his disposal such as Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are far from their peak and another smartly orchestrated transfer window will undoubtedly see Arsenal bridge the squad depth gap to Man City that was so glaringly exposed in their 4-1 defeat last Wednesday.
In search of their first win in four, Arsenal face London rivals Chelsea on Tuesday evening. Interim head coach Frank Lampard is also experiencing a tough spell as he is winless from his first five games in temporary charge. After being sacked by Chelsea in January 2021, Lampard understands the tumultuous nature of Premier League management and therefore sent a clear message to Arteta when he was first appointed.
Although he had not yet been relieved of his duties at the time of Arteta's arrival, Lampard's verdict on the Arsenal boss has been clearly proven to be correct three-and-a-half years on.
Following his arrival, Lampard, via Express said: "He’s worked with one of the greatest coaches, if not the greatest, for a couple of years at Man City and he was always an intelligent player so I don’t buy the whole inexperience thing.
"You don’t know until you take the chance with somebody, and who’s to say that a manager is better or worse because they’re in their first year or their 50th year of management? There are challenges daily and I’m sure he would have seen that at City but he would have observed it more and obviously been a big support for Guardiola.
"Now it’s his turn to make those decisions himself but from the years he’s had working with Guardiola at a huge club who have been successful, I think it puts him in great stead. He was a very good player, very intelligent and very technical.
"He seemed to be a leader, not in a fist-pumping way but a leader in whatever team he was playing in so it looks like he could be well-suited for management. I do wish him well on a personal level because when you see a fresh manager come into a job like that, I can understand the strains and the pressures of it."
Having seen the strides Arsenal have taken to get back into the conversation of winning major trophies, Chelsea must follow the blueprint laid out in north London. The proposed arrival of Mauricio Pochettino could go some way to sorting that, as the Argentine led a successful project at Tottenham that he could repeat at Stamford Bridge if shown patience and given time.
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