Back in the old days, when Mikel Arteta was an Arsenal player and the team had suffered one of those Arsenal defeats, maybe away from home in the Champions League, it was him and only him who would front up to the press and say what needed to be said.
Actually, that is not true. It was Arteta or Per Mertesacker, sometimes both but never anyone else from the squad. Arteta would be collared as he headed for the team bus, its engine revving impatiently, in the bowels of the stadium in, say, Milan or Dortmund, and he would burn with frustration.
They say that you learn more about a player in the low moments, about their character and leadership credentials, and that was certainly true of Arteta. Perhaps it was magnified because of the readiness of virtually everyone else to put their headphones on and keep their gaze dead ahead.
There were many times when Arteta talked about mentality, how the Arsenal team of that era (2011-16) were lacking, how they needed to be harder, to give more. You suspected that he sometimes wanted to go further because he was such a professional; so demanding of himself and, by extension, others.
Spool forward to last Saturday when the Arsenal team that Arteta manages slumped to a shock 1-0 Premier League defeat at Everton. It came hard on the heels of the FA Cup exit at Manchester City by the same scoreline and it was not just the result at Goodison Park but the manner of it.
Arsenal lost the physical battle and, towards the end, their emotional control too, conceding silly free-kicks and offering the impression that Everton were able to wind them up. It felt like one of those Arsenal defeats.
And yet even if that were true, there was essential context, which Arteta himself was keen to highlight. It was only Arsenal’s second reverse of the league season and the first – at Manchester United in September – was not because of a terrible display. Arsenal were pretty good that day, the fine details at the crucial moments eluding them.
Arteta reached for the proverbial carrot after the Everton game and not the big stick, telling the world that he could hardly love his players more. He said on Friday afternoon, as he prepared for Saturday’s visit of Brentford, that “outside [in public] I have never criticised the players”, which is not true. Remember his fury after Newcastle away at the end of last season when defeat spelled the end of top-four hopes? Or various other moments across his first two and a half seasons as the manager?
But that was then and this is now, a different time and tone, one in which Arteta’s league leaders have built up such reserves of credit that the old exasperation, the fighting talk, is not required. The environment is transformed, with Arteta not concerned that a blip could morph into something more troubling.
To him, it is not about worrying what might happen if his team were to concede first against Brentford because, if the performance is right, the result will follow. And Arteta knows that it will be right, even going so far as to guarantee a “great” one. This is what champion confidence looks like.
“It’s a very different role, for sure,” Arteta said, as he reflected on how he was as an Arsenal player compared with now. “But probably the purpose and the intention is the same. My reaction to the players [after Everton] was what I told you guys … about how much we love them and admire what they have been doing.
“It’s just to help them in the lows. They were disappointed, which was necessary because we are here to win. But the whole week in training, the way they responded … there are zero questions from me that they are going to give absolutely their best to win.”
Arteta was asked whether the lessons he learned as a player had informed the week that he has had. “Yes,” he replied. “And also dealing with groups of people. The environment in football at the highest level is very complex because there are a lot of people involved with different roles, with different cultures, different ways of thinking. So to align everybody is not easy but to be fair with this group it is quite easy.”
What has been so noticeable this season is the support and patience of the Emirates Stadium crowd. Previously edgy, notoriously so – rarely far from boiling point – they have rallied round, for example, when the team have gone behind. In the last home game there were bellowed cries of “Ars-en-al” when Manchester United took an early lead. Arteta’s team were level shortly after and the belief from the stands was a factor in the 3-2 win.
“We prepare in the best possible way mentally for every game … it doesn’t mean this is the toughest game of the season, it’s probably the easiest because the players don’t need much,” Arteta said. “They are really looking forward to it, I can sense that, and we are going to have our fans full of energy, enthusiasm and passion.
“We know we are playing really well and you can win or lose games but you have to do certain things and it’s clear we are here to win. They were different matches we lost against City and Everton but losing brings a lot of opportunities to look at other things and see the reaction of the team. It has been superb. We are going to put in a great performance in front of our crowd.”
After Brentford, Arsenal entertain City at the Emirates on Wednesday night – a seismic clash in terms of the title race. But no one at the club is looking beyond Thomas Frank’s team, who are full of confidence after five wins and four draws in nine league matches. They could present a similar challenge to that of Everton.
Arteta is in the thick of it, revelling in the excitement, putting everything he has into the mix, especially energy. “I am an energy giver, I don’t like energy suckers,” he said. “I just like to give and I like people who give energy in different ways. Sometimes it’s with body language, tone of voice, hugs. It’s people looking for solutions, not excuses.”
