Mikel Arteta is surely experiencing the worst moment since he came to the Arsenal bench. A situation that, at the same time, is perhaps the most delicate moment as a technician, since the Gunner group is being his first great experience since the band. Being Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City, he made the leap to Arsenal, where he was received with open arms, having been a player for five seasons.
It all started in a positive, romantic, majestic way. The arrival of the Basque coach gave Arsenal pure oxygen, a special aura that almost automatically recharged the illusions of the dressing room and the fans. An aimless project, without clear ideas, that in just months managed to become FA Cup champion (eliminating Manchester City in the Semifinals and defeating Chelsea in the Final) and the Community Shield. All this added to victories against important teams in the league context.
A beautiful story that, like everything in football, has changed. A worrying change in dynamics. Not because of his negative results, far from that initial splendor since Arteta's arrival on the bench, but the situation is beginning to be worrying in sporting terms. The eternal and long-lived shadow of Arsène Wenger once again flies over the imposing Emirates Stadium.
Wenger left the team on May 6, 2018. Since then, three coaches have passed through the bench. First it was Unai Emery, later (after Emery's dismissal, as interim) it was Freddie Ljunberg's turn and, finally, after the Swede's temporary period, Mikel Arteta arrived. Undoubtedly, in this period of longing for the French master (despite the fact that his last years did not receive the popular clamor of the fans) the Donostia coach has been the one who has achieved the best results, but the winds have changed and the dynamics have worsened in terms too serious.
Arsenal Graphic
Arsenal worries. From the fifteenth position, he is far, far away from fighting for the expected objectives. Expectations have been dethroned, shattered, they are on the ground. Far from fighting for Europe, the North London team is four points from relegation. An alarming and worrying situation, which still does not threaten with historical consequences for the rest of the calendar, but which confirms the decline of the team since they were crowned champions in the early 2000s.
A downward dynamic that has continued in recent years:
- 2015/16 season: was second.
- 2016/17 season: was fifth and was out of the Champions League for the first time in 19 years.
- 2017/18 season: was sixth on Wenger's goodbye.
- 2018/19 season: it was fifth.
- 2019/20 season: it was eighth.
- Present season 2020/21: 4 points from relegation after 14 games played.
The data is devastating. With the exception of the 2018/19 season (which slightly improved from the previous year, going from sixth to fifth position) the sporting decline is evident. And alarming.
The figure of Arsène Wenger had in favor of Arsenal one of its first problems. The team stopped really fighting for the title and at the Emirates Stadium they began to have to settle for their now classic position to play in the Champions League. It was the first obstacle that the French coach had to overcome. But now, seeing that situation, more than one would sign with closed eyes to return to those years when they played every season in the Champions League.
The performance in Europe was not powerful, but they were present, the club secured money in economic terms for the coffers, the Arsenal brand was present on a continental level and, to a certain extent, it was a positive context. However, the negative dynamic was written, and the scene took another great moral blow when in 2017 it was left out of the Champions League for the first time in 19 years.
Things got worse last season. The team had gone from always playing in the European Cup to directly not playing the Europa League. The scene was already getting too serious and concern set off the first alarms. It is true that last year it would end the team out of Europe via the league, but the cup win at Wembley managed to put out the sporting and psychological fires. Arsenal would play the Europa League and they won an FA Cup that, added to the Community Shield 2020, installed a more relaxed, exciting atmosphere and everything seemed to be going smoothly.
But the 2020/21 academic year arrived and the situation has worsened until all the alarms go off. Player performance has dropped. The team does not transmit positive feelings. The philosophy of the 'Arteta effect' has disappeared. And worst of all, what has ended up installing the first fear: the heat of the lower area.
Downward dynamics is a reality. A worrisome and alarming reality that, when put into context, analyzing its downward path, confirms that it is not a coincidence, that it has overtones of dynamics, on the way that seems to be written. In the Gunner area of North London they trust that everything will improve significantly in the coming weeks and that the fear of a hypothetical decrease will only remain an anecdote and a comment for some future conversations. But reality worries and the figure of Mikel Arteta begins to be highly questioned.