Mikel Arteta has managed to turn the pundits who were criticising him into big believers of the rebuilding process by putting the club under a large scope of praise that has recently been unprecedented.
Arsenal currently sit fifth in the league and just three points away from the Champions League places, which seemed a far fetch at the start of the season.
Due to injury and illness-related issues, the Gunners had a terrible start to the 2021/22 campaign which saw them bottom of the league after the first three games, putting Arteta under a huge amount of pressure.
However, the club went on an amazing run of form and climbed the league table which has resulted in heaps of praise for the Arsenal manager.
During the first game of the season, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was very critical of Arteta’s team and defensive structure as he said: “Weak, bullied, men against boys again and again. New season, same old story.”
This was an unfair assessment at the time, due to the fact that Arteta was unable to field four of his regular defenders in the backline.
However, Arsenal have since gone on a 10-match unbeaten run with the defence playing a pivotal part in the change around in fortunes for the club.
The north London side also managed to keep seven clean sheets in this impressive run and that has led to Carragher changing his tune about the success under Arteta.
Carragher said: “First and foremost, he is seen as a modern coach who understands how the game is evolving rather than someone steeped in the Arsenal tradition.
“That is more important than any emotional attachment to a former player because Arteta is constantly being judged solely on the quality of his work as opposed to Solskjaer who – and I mean this with the greatest respect – has been given more time than others would have been given results and performances because he is loved so much by the supporters.”
Arteta being a major reason for the change at Arsenal was also a notion supported by fellow pundit and former England international, Rio Ferdinand.
“They are seeing Arteta’s trying to implement a philosophy of a certain DNA and bringing in a certain type of recruitment," Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.
“Now we have started to see some consistency with results, that energy changes, and I felt the good energy when I walked in the training ground [London Colney].”
This highlights the initial success of the rebuilding process so far this season, as Rio Ferdinand is certainly correct with the positive change in the atmosphere surrounding Arsenal.
It is important for Arteta to maintain consistency and continue to recruit the right players to achieve the necessary results for his side to be considered one of the best in the country once again.
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