There has been a lot of discussion about whether Mikel Arteta is the right coach for Arsenal or not, and I think that he is the right coach for Arsenal. I outline a lot of the context surrounding Arsenal’s position (through data & events that have happened) & providing 2 of my biggest criticisms of the coach, I set to give my defence of Mikel Arteta
Circumstance:
The COVID era has resulted in a change in the pace of the PL that hasn’t been seen before, with the graphic above showing that there is less pressure per 90 & regains per 90 in 2020/21 compared to 2018/19 (With Leeds United being the obvious exception to this. This drop in intensity provides context to Arsenal’s current problems as adapting to a lower intensity game would benefit managers like Moyes/Ancelotti & to a lesser extent, Mourinho who thrived in a time where football was slower (fewer pressures etc) but Arteta had to adapt to this game as most of his managerial career/managerial training was in a game where high-intensity matches was the norm.
Arsenal have done somewhat well in Cup Competitions since Mikel Arteta joined the club. That’s explained through there being more Pressures/Regains in knockout games compared to league games, which is a positive as the increase in the intensity of league games next season (as there will be less frequent league games) show that Arsenal will be ready for next season with Mikel Arteta at the helm.
The fixture pileup this season is another explanation for Arsenal’s poor form this season, which explains why there has been a drop in intensity & Arsenal not having a squad equipped for 2/3 games a week (as I will show in the next figure.) Mikel Arteta hasn’t done the perfect job at Arsenal, but contextualizing the problems will make it easier to understand why the club are better off keeping him instead of replacing him.
Arsenal’s Hierarchical problems:
Any manager coming into the Arsenal side will walk into a club that has had high staff turnover at the top of its footballing hierarchy since 2018 with 5 different leadership structures in that time frame (excluding the integration of Richard Garlick from this summer.)
In regards to Mikel Arteta, he will be able to ‘build a dynasty’ at Arsenal once he is given the platform to do so. This platform will only be obtained once Arsenal have coherence at the very top in terms of who is calling the shots. Mikel Arteta has been able to build a good relationship with those at the top of the Arsenal hierarchy which in turn makes it more convenient for Arsenal to keep him as manager.
It’s important to note that the only way for a club to be strong at the top is by having the same manager at the helm for a long time or have the same men at the top for a long time. Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid & PSG have had the same men in charge for the last decade (Marina, Rummenigge, Perez & Al-Khelaifi) which gives them a stable platform to withstand problems that come from their staff turnovers.
Deep rooted issues within the Arsenal Squad:
Arsenal’s squad is heavily imbalanced & the lack of depth in key areas make it difficult for success to be sustained by any manager that joins the club. Arsenal had 0 registered #10’s playing until boxing day when they were 15th in the Premier League, they’ve had to excessively rely on Kieran Tierney at LB due to poor squad building & lack of structure.
To pin this fully on the manager is not the way forward especially as It’s as a result of cyclical squad building (over 5 years) and it spans for 6 different regimes (Wenger included.)
To put the Squad Building into context, this is how disjointed the Arsenal first team is with signings that were completed under multiple management structures. Arteta has been dealt a bad hand with the squad he has been given & the way to get around this is by persisting with the manager by signing, keeping & selling who he wants to sign, keep & sell.
Improvement post-Boxing Day:
Arsenal post-Boxing Day spell is what’s used to defend Mikel Arteta’s stint at Arsenal so far, and It’s a good defence to have out there. Arsenal were atrocious before the 26th of December. Since then They’ve been 4th in the Premier League, collecting 1.77 points per game, enough to get them 67 points over a 38 game season (they would finish 3rd in 2019/20, with the pandemic in mind.) That run of form in the 18 game stretch bodes well for Arsenal as it shows that their current personnel can get them in the top 6 if squad balance is maintained & not tinkered with which is done by signing a backup LB, an extra CB being bought back & guaranteeing 2/3 #10’s for the start of the Premier League season.
Mikel Arteta has shown himself to be a good problem solver, especially with his handling of the Kieran Tierney injury problem. He realised that having Cedric Soares deputise at LB provides an issue for Arsenal as his tendency is to turn around when on the ball instead of progressing play forward, he was able to get in a new system (with Granit Xhaka as the LB/LCB) and Arsenal have been more promising since then.
Criticism of Arteta:
Arsenal’s poor performances from September-December, even with the context applied is difficult to justify. When Arsenal were in the crisis, they needed some reinvention to push them in the right path earlier, or for a systemic change that would give his team hopes that they could be on the path for something good. Persistence with the 3-4-3 whilst failing to set up his team to be that bit more lethal is partially why Arsenal are between 9th/10th place & not challenging for the Champions League spots that are open for any club to take. I get that Arsenal were hard done by refereeing decisions, but relying on fine margins for 5-10 game stretches is a negative for Mikel Arteta.
Another criticism that Is fair to levy at the coach is his bias towards underperforming players, especially in positions where you’re stacked for players in, just like his bias towards Willian when Arsenal had Nico Pepe, or Reiss Nelson ready to come in & replace him at any given moment.
Last Thoughts:
Mikel Arteta has shown himself to be the right coach for Arsenal through the decisions he has made & through how he has helped Arsenal through a crisis when the time was there. But, he hasn’t been perfect for Arsenal with his lack of willingness to test new formations/styles of play domestically & persistence with underperforming players provides legitimacy to the Arteta Out movement in my eyes. Arteta will most likely succeed at Arsenal & his minimizing past mistakes is further showing why this is the case.