Mikel Arteta, in his short managerial career has won both the FA Cup and Premier League, and narrowly missed out on the Champions League, losing on penalties to an established PSG team.
Arteta as a player was a Spanish composer, probably under appreciated and under the radar, he was another Spanish midfielder with a fiery temper, but calming presence on the ball. If it wasn’t for the fine talent of the Spanish midfielders of that generation, Arteta would have been regarded much higher. His football intelligence has now spilled into his managerial career. He coached alongside Pep Guardiola, learning his craft and has since inherited an Arsenal team devoid of confidence, with fan channels tearing apart support and players careers for a few social media clicks, and he has built the gunners into a formidable force.
Arteta brought the Arsenal back, showed early signs of powerful leadership, instilled discipline and won trust of his squad, removed anyone who didn’t buy in to the process, and is now reaping the rewards.
The media and fan channels and rival fans labelled the Spanish boss as a joke, always second, always the bridesmaid. Arteta didn’t let that stop him though and now, no matter what, is a Premier League winner as a manager despite large parts of the football community willing him to fail.
Where Arteta is most impressive, is his ability to find midfield talent. Look at the current crop of Arsenal midfielders, and they have all been artistically crafted around traits that Arteta himself possesses. Then, added to with areas that Arteta lacked, creating one of the most balanced, disciplined, powerful and creative midfields the Premier League has seen in recent years.
Arteta’s most obvious and similar current midfield counterpart is Martin Zubimendi. The Spanish holding midfielder operates in lots of the same spaces Arteta did, with a calming presence, good passing capabilities and composure, and a willingness to defend. In his first Premier League season, Zubimendi hasn’t shone brightly as a loud and dominating figure, much like Arteta wasn’t. He has shown his class though and despite some challenges should keep progressing and bey a key part of Arsenal’s midfield for seasons to come.
The next comparative midfielder is Norweigan Martin Odegaard. Though not signed by Arteta, he’s clearly a favourite, club captain and progressed as part of the Spanish system at Real Madrid, similar to Arteta at Barcelona. Odegaard commands respect and brings control, but offers more creative flair than Arteta ever did. Both have the ability to control the game, albeit in different areas of the midfield.
Declan Rice is probably someone Mikel Arteta absolutely loves, he has the physical attributes that Arteta lacked, and the mental attributes of a winner that Arteta is trying to instil in his players. Technically, Arteta probably still possesses better levels of calm and composure, but Rice makes up for that in his shear athleticism, the Englishman has a relentlessnes that makes him one of England’s greatest midfielders. Something which Arteta undoubtedly brings out in him.
One thing many fans dislike about Arteta is his animosity on the touchline, but is important to remember here that, that is who he is and that is how he drives his team on to greatness. He cares, he plays every pass, wins every tackle, he is agressive and he positively orcherstrates his side’s performance with his passion and hunger on the touchline.
He is undoubtedly a fantastic coach, and one of the best recent examples of that is the progression of Miles Lewis-Skelly. Left back Lewis Skelly was left out of Arsenal’s defence for a long while, with fears of his Arsenal departure looming. He then appeared in midfield, and was a breath of fresh air for an Arsenal midfield who looked tired and needed a refresh. Then, after his resurgence, the midfielder spoke about how this had been the plan all along and how his move into midfield had been worked on over the previous months. An excellent coaching example, and now Lewis-Skelly could progress to be another great midfield crafteed by Arteta. He has great physical attributes, a steely determination and passion, and also levels of composure that lots of the young Arsenal players coming through seem to possess.
Here are four examples of how Arteta has crafted a midfield on his traits, his understanding and his coaching ability, of course a midfield maestro has managed to build a squad with a world class midfield. The individuals may not be the very best, but with three Premier League seconds, a title win, a Champions League final and semi final in recent seasons, the Arsenal midfield undoubtedly operate as a world class unit. All thanks to the creation by Mikel the Artist.
The things we learned 