We are in the Mikel Arteta at Arsenal endgame; the process has failed

John Nicholson
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

Whatever you think about Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, the game against Chelsea (you can read 16 Conclusions here) was typical in that it was almost good enough but not quite.

Chances missed when they should have scored. A lead given away. Four games without a win for Arsenal. Two points out of 12 and a European loss, a European win and victory over the might of Preston, 20th in the Championship, in the League Cup since the beginning of October and nine points off the top.

It’s not the worst you’ve ever seen but neither could it be said to be that good. And that’s the problem. That isn’t usually the sign of title winners, more usually a manager in the job since 2019 who would be called overrated or inadequate.

By any of the admittedly bonkers standards applied to managers in his position these days, he must be in the final stretch of his tenure, the phase when he loses a few games, draws a few like on Sunday and wins a few. The wins give fans of his something to cling to, even as losses and draws mount up and it crawls on never being quite good enough, never being quite bad enough.

Then comes the phase where he’s knocked out of the Champions League. Add in an embarrassing cup exit and a top-six league position. If he wanted to exit now, his reputation would probably be intact to a sufficient degree to get him a gig in the Bundesliga, but he won’t. It’ll get dragged out until the spring when all hope is statistically lost and he’s reaching for the hair-dye again.

Now I know you think he’s great, or maybe you don’t, but regardless, all these jobs end in serial failure and unless you redraw the parameters of success (which is a popular thing to do in this social media age), Arsenal are not successful and he’s had plenty of time and 10 transfer windows to rectify that. Only Chelsea and Manchester United have spent more.

You might think it’s despicable that anyone should talk like this and I actually agree, it is, but who said anything about the Premier League or even football generally making any sense or having any respect for managers? How long are you prepared to put up with just that increasingly distant FA Cup win? Even another cup win would, at this stage, seem inadequate. It shouldn’t, but it will.

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It’s not that he’s been rubbish, quite the opposite, but how much longer can you keep almost winning something but not actually winning, before you accept it’s not going to happen and look for another direction? The small, extra push so long hoped for under Arteta could be in someone else’s gift. He’s all but conclusively proved it’s not in his.

It’s not that Arteta has done much wrong by normal standards, but being part of the also-rans, season after season, was never part of the plan five years ago. Winning fewer trophies than Manchester United in recent years is not a good look and you can’t dress it up as though it is, though some might try.

I’d like to see him stay and for support and disillusion to settle in amongst fans. Grumbling discontent about a much-vaunted manager’s faux competence is one of football’s oldest traditions. But as we know Football Is A Business Now and that business plan did not say there’d be four years of nothing. Perhaps just being top four is enough? If so, carry on. You might be on the right path. But how long do you wait to find out?

Fashion also shouldn’t, but does, matter. Arteta is that most old-fashioned of things – that which has recently been most fashionable. Fans want more than strangely blotchy, orange-coloured defenders, especially when it’s repeatedly not successful in winning trophies and titles. It’s great having a solid defence, but isn’t it better to get ahead of the curve? Better not to wait for serious decline. Perhaps you enjoy the stability, I can appreciate that. Holding on to nurse for fear of something worse is always an option and is embraced by many, in all walks of life.

It seems likely the league title is already in doubt but surely he must win it this time. There’s never been a better time if City’s Rodri-less collapse continues. They must win a trophy. But will they?

There was much promise, some good times, but it has come to nothing. At times like these, there is only one thing a club can do, and that’s sack the manager and start again afresh. They will draw it out, but the end is coming and the new Thomas Frank era approaches.

Arteta has spent a lot of money. It’s no good saying Arsenal can’t beat City, or that he had to do much surgery to the squad; they’ve spent about 750 million euros to put themselves in a position to win, how much more? There’s good reason to suggest that is, at least in part, down to Mickey A. He might have transformed the club during his tenure but to what end? He tried his best and almost succeeded but he failed. Close, but Pep got the cigar. It’s a cruel business.

In fact, they have offered a very poor return on that investment and all the big money spent on tickets. Foreplay is fun, but at some point you need a good f*ck. You can’t spend so much and not deliver, unless it’s good for finances to keep him, which I guess it might be.

Five years is an eternity in football. Most who stay in position so long do so by winning things regularly, not simply by wearing a roll-neck jumper pretending to be a Spanish existentialist or a Marcel Marceau tribute act, acting like he’s trying to thrash his way out of a paper bag on the touchline.

His contract was extended to 2027 in September. He will surely not see that out. Three more years of this hanging on and hoping? Really?

It’s to Arteta’s credit that he’s managed to bullsh*t his way through this with endless talk of faith and delusions of mythical projects leading everyone up the mountain and has managed to convince a section of the fanbase that this is all heading to a successful destination, as though it is an unfolding plan. But of course it isn’t. He hasn’t a clue what he’s doing beyond the short term. He’s not a genius, self-evidently. Not that he needs to be.

It’s to be commended that the club has had patience with him and perhaps a testament to the power of the black polo-neck sweater and hair dye.

In a different world, he’d be allowed to have two or three unspectacular seasons but patience is in short supply in the modern game and he’s benefited from more than his fair share already.

You can hang on for this to come right for as long as your patience allows, but it’s only going one way and I realise that annoys many, and it should if you are happy with the current state of affairs, but change is gonna come. Sooner or later. Get used to it. It’s inevitable.