Mikel Arteta’s man-management skills have been spoken about in glowing terms before now.
The Arsenal boss appeared to be a major reason why Declan Rice joined the club from London rivals, West Ham United, for example.
“I think in the last four weeks alone I’ve grown so much,” Rice was quoted as saying by TNT Sports (h/t Daily Mail) not long after joining.
“I’ve learned so much about football that I hadn’t really seen before. I was blown away by him.”
With the Gunners being top of the Premier League table at present and appearing to be the most consistent side in the division at the moment, it’s clear that the Spaniard has what it takes to motivate an elite group of players.
It’s also his support that kept Granit Xhaka at the club when it seemed likely he would leave.
“The club showed me little respect even though I was the captain. It was clear they wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible, apart from one person: Mikel Arteta,” Xhaka said to The Athletic (subscription required).
“When I met him for the first time, my bags were already packed and I was about to hop on a plane. With my heart and soul, I had already left the club. I said to him, ‘The solution is for me to go’. Mikel told me he wanted me to stay.
“[…] I could not imagine myself playing for Arsenal again. I said to him, ‘I just want to be somewhere where the fans don’t boo me’. But he was so convincing. For the first time in my life, I took a decision without talking to my family first. I got up and said, ‘OK, I’ll stay’. We embraced and, from that day on, I returned to training and it was like nothing ever happened.”
Of course, there will be those players such as Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that might not speak about Arteta in such glowing terms, however, the manager’s record over the past couple of seasons can’t be questioned.
In order to be amongst the best ruthless decisions need to be made and a manager needs to be strong and steadfast in the face of adversity.
That Xhaka clearly holds no grudges against Arteta speaks volumes for the man that he is and if he’s able to bring success back to the Emirates Stadium, he’ll be lauded by the Gunners faithful for years.