When Mikel Arteta took over Arsenal Football Club, I genuinely thought it was the lowest point that I’d consciously witnessed the team in my 28 years on this Earth. I know that for many older and wiser than me there have been lower points at the club, many in fact, but in this modern era languishing in the bottom half of the table when Unai Emery’s successor was eventually appointed it was a place where envisaging a way back to the top four, let alone the league’s summit, in just over three years was difficult to imagine..
Yet, in the third year since the appointment of the Spaniard, that is exactly where the club resides. Arsenal winning the league remains some way off, though, even with the five-point buffer at Christmas.
Manchester City are favourites and an injury to Gabriel Jesus threatens to curtail hopes of a season-long title race. Although, taking a step back from the potential permutations of the season and looking at the club on December 20, 2019 compared to today: Arteta’s philosophy, values and style are stamped all over it.
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The 'process', as Arteta likes to describe his tenure at Arsenal, has not been smooth, not by a long shot. Two eighth-place finishes, the first of which was heavily impacted by the poor start to the season under Emery and being knocked out of the Europa League in the semi-final by the very man he replaced drew many, myself included, into a space where the idea that seeing Arteta continue was simply not the right choice at the time - how naive we were.
Being wrong is all part of immersing yourself in the sport of football. I for one am so happy that Arteta remained with the club and that perhaps my premature position on him in that moment was fuelled by a blind frustration that things weren't going as well as I'd have hoped as quickly as I'd hoped.
What Arteta set out to achieve at Arsenal wasn’t simply to just use what he inherited and try to take it back to where the club needed to go, he recognised that to get this club back to the elite level everything had to change. Personnel, principles and the way in which the club was perceived by both those inside and the millions watching, supporting and criticising from the outside included, and that would take time and some failures first.
To visualise this best I like to imagine a graph whereby Arsenal had been declining toward the end of Arsene Wenger's time with the club, still going backwards under Emery, despite a deceiving fifth-placed finish in 2018/19, and when Arteta took over to expect that descending line to immediately turn upward into a V-shape and on to success was never realistic. Instead, the graph was more U-shaped and before turning upward Arteta had to slow that decline first. He then had to adjust the course with strategies to promote long-term improvements to take us where we find ourselves now.
Just two players remain in the Arsenal starting XI today compared to the side Arteta first chose when he oversaw a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth. Bukayo Saka played left-back, and Granit Xhaka played deepest in the midfield alongside Lucas Torreira.
Fast-forward just three summer transfer windows and the dreams of Arsenal fans are arguably taking place with seven new faces which cost the owners in excess of £250million. Add to that the integration and development of Gabriel Martinelli and the long-awaited inclusion of William Saliba - Arteta alongside the likes of now sporting director Edu have constructed a team to compete.
Arteta, despite his infancy in the role, has helped convince league winners and Champions League participants like Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard to commit to his process. In fairness, forgetting Arteta’s inexperience for a second, Arsenal had finished eighth twice and fifth once, yet his lure for players stands as evidence of the pulling power he has and the club’s vision for the future.
Perhaps most impressive of all, though, is the repair work done between the club and its supporters. The club has some of the most passionate and committed fans in the world but certainly, despite their unwavering attachment, they're never afraid to voice their opposition and displeasure when something they disagree with takes place and this had cultivated a split group with battle lines drawn.
Prior to Arteta’s arrival, and throughout the first half of his career, the division remained and the severed connection lingering on from the end of Arsene Wenger’s tenure had not been eradicated. Yet, the 2021/22 season and the first third of this current campaign saw a tremendous transformation.
Ticket sales have become a problem because of demand and the club is looking to develop ways to enable better access. The atmosphere inside the Emirates Stadium, something previously mocked by rivals, now stands as one of the best in the country.
Arteta has made the the stadium a fortress for Arsenal, and they remain unbeaten there in the league this season. The Spaniard was behind the integration of Louis Dunford’s 'The Angel' into the pre-match build-up with thousands adopting the 'north London forever' chant as something of a club anthem.
Own goals and mistakes are met with overriding support to will on a response rather than bemoaning groans. The players feel it too and Arteta can certainly take credit in helping once-pantomime villain Xhaka utterly shift his perception from someone stripped of the captaincy to a leader and undroppable figure.
Arteta is not perfect and is still developing and learning as a coach. Considering he is indeed only three years into the job this is hardly a ground-breaking piece of analysis, but worries that Arsenal couldn’t afford a coach to be 'learning on the job' are certainly now buried in the pit of misspoken assumptions prior to and during his time in charge.
What comes next for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta is what can hopefully be seen as further progression. One thing Arteta has never seen happen is the club move backwards.
Of course, the higher up the table you go, a singular step backward might not represent the sizeable drop that fifth to eighth or fourth to fifth represents. But when Arteta came in with the club sitting in 11th place, every season since has been a step toward where the club is now.
This season presents great promise and the upcoming January transfer window might be the most important market for Arteta to navigate in his managerial career so far. Although a title might not happen this season, there are few who do not see the club on a pathway back toward winning one. Perhaps in the next three years.
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