Arteta’s here for the long-haul whether we like it or not (Opinion)

It is my understanding that some fans are still not sold on Mikel Arteta being the man to take Arsenal forward, but I believe he is here to stay regardless of what the fans want. Guest post by Sarah Rohan

Hi all!

Thinking about the future of our current manager I think he will be here for the long haul. Sorry to the remining Mikel haters! Are you mad?

I’m not wholly agreeing with the decision just yet. I’m still 50/50 on the situation to be honest, but I’m just stating that I believe he will be with us for the foreseeable future; beyond the end of his 2023 contract at least.

Pep Guardiola’s protégé joined us in the middle of the 2019/2020 season. It’s been choppy waters since…

On the upside we won two cups in quick succession in the first 18 months of his managerial career. On the downside, in the August of 2021 we was bottom three with our team in a mess and a lot of people calling for him to get the axe.

Where many other clubs would’ve sent him packing, our club has a tendency to give managers more time to turn things around. That same year we saw the sacking of two other club legends Frank Lampard at Chelsea and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Utd. Even the legends didn’t cut the mustard with their beloved clubs. Arteta proved to be the last man standing with regards to the trio, and it is currently paying off.

This summer we brought in players that have changed the dynamic of our first team. Unfortunately our team improved as opposed to our squad, as we’ve seen of late in our cup game against Nottingham Forest, the second string are well below par…

We need back-up players, we need players that we can rotate and mix things up. We need players that want to compete and fight for their places. We need players like last night; Even when down to 10 men because of the culprit Xhaka (I say no more!), they gave their all and showed true grit to keep the game level.

Are the next two transfer windows going to be key for the club and our manager? Most definitely. We now have a depleted squad with Covid, injuries, players at AFCON and players out on loan.. I think Arteta needs to bring in at least three players ASAP to keep us in top four contention. I think this will be make or break for the Spaniard regarding the support he will get from the fans seeing him go forward.

Sorry to those not keen on him. I still believe even if we drop out of the top five, Arteta will still be trusted to take us forward by the board (even against the supporters wishes). Like it’s been said time and time again, “trust the process”. Now our manager even having a mediocre season of ups and downs will still, they say we still need to trust the process. New players have brought in, so these things can’t happen overnight. Well something needs to happen overnight as we have two important games that could define the rest of the season!

Surely there is something about Arteta that has made him the man to take us forward? He’s made our team mentality stronger. Like I’ve said in a previous post, we no longer give up when we are losing, our heads don’t drop and we carry on. This is a huge plus from previous seasons.

Arteta has also changed the defensive play in our game. When was the last time in recent seasons when our defence was this strong and consistent? I honestly can’t recall! Probably because I cant see past Bellerin, Mustafi and David Luiz playing for us!

Our players are playing out of their skin and seem to love Arteta’s way. Saka has said he is a tactical genius and can outsmart any opposition manager, which I can see glimmers of. Working under Pep must’ve rubbed off on him in some way.

So after managing 112 games, we’ve won 60, drawn 21 and lost 31. We’ve won a couple of cups, changed the teams playing style, brought in some great players, and probably more importantly gave some of the worst players the shove.

It hasn’t been all plain-siling however with some strange tactics in the beginning, bizarre selections in games and some mind boggling substitutions in important games, but I guess that is to be expected from a manager who is still finding his feet in a new role.

Whether we like it or not, Arteta is here to stay! Sorry!

Enjoy the game Sunday Gunners. If it goes ahead of course…