Manager Mikel Arteta: The true leader of Arsenal.

Manager Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal players have dispelled the fear of finishing second to win the Premier League title in 2025/2026, and the Spanish strategist deserves to be celebrated.

Coach Mikel Arteta: The dream of winning gold has come true.

Manager Mikel Arteta took over at Arsenal on December 20, 2019. At that time, Arsenal were struggling to stabilize their form and maintain competitiveness as they entered the "post-Arsene Wenger" era.

Upon his appointment with what was then a four-year contract, Mikel Arteta stated firmly: “I want everyone to take responsibility for their work and I want everyone to generate energy and contribute enthusiasm to the team. Anyone who doesn’t believe in this, has a negative impact, or doesn’t do well enough in this environment should leave early.”

Illustrative image. Photo: ChatGPT

In fact, Mikel Arteta is not a completely unfamiliar face at Arsenal. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the Spanish strategist, born in 1982, is a familiar figure to the " Gunners." As a player, Mikel Arteta spent five years with Arsenal (2011-2016), making a very good impression as an outstanding midfielder who had been trained at Barcelona's renowned La Masia academy.

After ending his career at Arsenal, Mikel began pursuing a new path to becoming a coach. At that time, exactly a decade ago, Mikel Arteta had three options: work at the Arsenal Academy, join the PSG coaching staff, or become an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Ultimately, on July 3, 2016, Mikel Arteta was appointed as Pep Guardiola's assistant.

With three years in this role, Mikel Arteta accumulated a wealth of experience. This was a crucial factor in his being entrusted with the position of Arsenal's manager in 2019. At the age of 37 at that time, Mikel Arteta was expected by the Arsenal board to breathe new life into the team, and he truly dedicated himself to his demanding job.

With a focus on moving forward and never looking back, Mikel Arteta began building Arsenal with a football identity based on his philosophy. His first season, 2019/2020, was relatively successful, as Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to win the FA Cup. This achievement made him the first person to win the FA Cup both as a player and as a manager with Arsenal.

But the 2020/2021 season was a real nightmare for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. The team started quite well with the FA Community Shield title, but then suffered a slump and finished 8th in the Premier League, failing to qualify for European competition for the first time in 25 consecutive years.

Having become familiar with the job and understood what needed to be done, Mikel Arteta made a bold decision: from the 2021/2022 season onwards, his Arsenal team would no longer focus on beautiful football but prioritize efficiency above all else. Arteta's Arsenal gradually shifted to a rougher style of play, and their number one goal was to conquer the Premier League title, a trophy they hadn't won since the 2003/2004 season, when the generation of legends Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, ​​Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires, and others achieved it with an unbeaten season.

Ironically for both Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, in three consecutive seasons (2022/2023, 2023/2024, and 2024/2025), they finished second in the Premier League with the same scenario: a strong start, maintaining consistency in the middle of the season, then stumbling during the acceleration phase, and finally running out of steam when a strong sprint to the finish line was needed.

On Vietnamese football forums, the saying "Autumn dreams of winning six trophies, Winter four, Spring begins to give up, Summer ends empty-handed" is well-known. This perfectly describes Arsenal's performance, and naturally, manager Mikel Arteta bears significant responsibility. Many experts and fans criticize Arteta, saying that while he is talented, he lacks the spirit of a champion. Arsenal and Arteta are both trapped by their own ambitions; they possess considerable talent but seem to lack the resilience to overcome challenges and claim the championship.

In the 2025/2026 season, Mikel Arteta remains steadfast in his principles. Arsenal continues to play a style where winning matches is more important than playing beautifully, constantly seeking goals from corners and willing to play defensively even against weaker opponents. Arsenal, during crucial stages of the Premier League, has at times made a series of mistakes. When the Gunners lost 1-2 to Man City on April 19th, the fear of finishing second for the fourth consecutive time in the Premier League became a real concern.

But this time, Mikel Arteta and Arsenal were no longer unlucky, or rather, they didn't succumb to weakness. Those "ruthless" but extremely valuable 1-0 victories helped Arsenal fulfill the necessary conditions, and they officially clinched the Premier League title one game early, as the sufficient condition was met with Manchester City dropping points.

The jinx of finishing second has been broken, and Mikel Arteta has elevated his status at Arsenal to a new level. He is even on the verge of making history, becoming the first manager to lead Arsenal to a Champions League victory. If Mikel Arteta leads Arsenal to victory over PSG in the Champions League final in Budapest on May 30th, it would be no surprise if he were hailed as a legend by the club's fans. Simply put, if he achieves the necessary glory, Mikel Arteta deserves the praise, after a very long period of enduring seemingly endless heartbreak.

Source: https://danviet.vn/hlv-mikel-arteta-vi-tuong-dich-thuc-cua-phao-thu-d1429143.html