"My ambition is to win the league, not to go to the Champions League. My ambition is to be competitive, to fight to win," said Antonio Conte in February of 2022. Not Mikel Arteta, who some might have thought owned these words based on the context of the clubs a little more than a year on. How things can change so rapidly.
Arteta has outlasted yet another Premier League manager and now witnessed Tottenham Hotspur sack the next in their long line of failures in the managerial position. Some might point to getting top four last season as a success but the Gunners' north London rivals need a trophy and the historically ambitious Italian joins the list of coaches unable to push them in this direction.
So why has the Arsenal manager succeeded at a club that Conte managed to beat into fourth place with his club now in a title fight where the former Juventus, Inter Milan and Italy coach failed? There are numerous reasons but the primary certainly looks toward recruitment.
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Arteta has been meticulous and worked closely with now sporting director Edu Gaspar to ensure the club get the right players in and that money is spent wisely. Whereas Antonio Conte at Spurs has called for more money and more windows to achieve success despite a huge outlay of more than £170million in the summer.
"I spoke about the transfer market, that we needed more transfer markets to reach a good level. We know this.
"At the same time, we want to be competitive, to try to do everything."
This is rather baffling then to see someone like Djed Spence brought in for around £20million and then not used by Conte. Compare that to Mikel Arteta and every signing made plays a part, even if some eventually do not work out like Willian, Nuno Tavares or Albert Sambi Lokonga, they get their shot.
Talking ahead of the Premier League restart after the World Cup Arteta outlined the transfer approach of the club preluding what would be a pivotal January window. Importantly, the Spaniard mentioned the need for players that are certain to improve the group.
"Can we afford not getting the player that we want?" Arteta said
"That is my question. We can afford to get a striker for sure if we want one, I don’t know if he plays in League Two, in League Five, in Spain, in Portugal, in Africa. We can get a striker I can guarantee you that. But what we cannot afford to do is get a player here that is not for us. This is what we cannot afford, that is for sure.
"We don’t need a body, we need players that make the team better. I think personalities that have the mentality that we want to win. And we have to focus on that. We have to be very strict with what we have done and the policy we have had to make the team successful."
Compare this to Tottenham’s case and "club signings" like Djed Spence and Arnaut Danjuma and even the massive outlay of Richarlison have proven not to have improved things. Spurs are now in danger of falling out of the Champions League qualification places with a host of teams hunting them down.
For many, Conte is considered among the best coaches in the world but where he and Arteta have further deviated in their paths at their respective clubs is the ability to maximise the output of their star players. Although Harry Kane has continued to fire like the frustrating (from an Arsenal perspective) phenomenon that he is, so many others have fallen off.
Son Heung-min being the prime candidate. The South Korean has scored in just four Premier League matches this season and he isn’t alone.
Conte’s highly lauded signing Dejan Kulusevski has one goal and one assist in his previous 11 league games. The list continues with Cristian Romero facing questions for his mistakes in the backline this season.
Arteta has efficiently brought the best from his young stars whilst Conte continued to complain about attitudes and transfers. Ultimately areas that he as a coach needed to take control of and set clear principles and procedures to do what his Spanish counterpart has achieved.
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