Mikel Arteta was appointed in December 2019 and his tenure since has wildly split the Arsenal fan base with plenty of supporters very much on the Spaniard’s side, many remaining firmly on the fence more than two years later and others very much wishing for a change.
Despite the division, the Arsenal manager has seen plenty of Premier League coaches hired and fired since his appointment. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Frank Lampard, Nuno Espirito Santo, Carlo Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho have all been sacked whilst Arteta continues onwards with Arsenal despite two back-to-back eight placed finishes.
Now the Spaniard has added compatriot Rafa Benitez to the list of managers he has outlasted. Benitez was sacked by Everton after their 2-1 loss to Norwich City left them 16th in the table and just six points from the drop.
There were plenty of supporters who felt that Arsenal needed a manager with experience of winning major trophies and who are an established name in the game.
Both Ancelotti and Benitez took over an Everton side looking to propel themselves into Europe with the help of such coaches.
However, neither could take the Toffees to that next level. Meanwhile, Arteta won an FA Cup and followed it up with a very meagre campaign in 2020/21.
Despite this, the current season has experienced the continuation of the improvement of the club’s transfer strategy and in turn, the league results have seen a boost.
Arsenal are solidly in a race for Champions League qualification and have beaten fellow rivals West Ham United, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur in the first half of the campaign.
There have remained some issues regarding consistency and Benitez managed to beat Mikel Arteta in his sole meeting with the Gunners as Everton boss. A low point that Arsenal have since impressively responded to by recovering their form and fight.
The transfer strategy of Everton was based around heavy investment in proven talents such as Abdoulaye Doucoure, Lucas Digne, Allan and James Rodriguez.
This, combined with some younger talents like Ben Godfrey, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Demarai Gray, aimed to push them towards European qualification. However, the financial outlay has been massive.
In fact, according to Transfermarkt, Everton have spent £484.53 million since the summer of 2017. Nearly half a billion spent on players who have left them now trying to avoid relegation.
Arsenal spent more than any club in the summer and with their pursuit of Dusan Vlahovic this January, if successful, could do the same this winter. However, the acquisitions are all making a positive impact barring a couple of early errors that Arteta and his recruitment team, including technical director Edu, have learned from.
Should Arsenal achieve top four this season, Arteta will rightly be praised as having overachieved with his group considering the competition for the spots.
Everton meanwhile remains a chaotic mess of a club with their destination very much unknown and the vehicle designed to take them there stuck in reverse. The club needs to find a better driver and fast.
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