The stick and the carrot: the fateful test of Arteta and Arsenal in the game of the season - voila! sport

Sharon Davidovich's article about Mikel Arteta ahead of Manchester City - Arsenal (Sport1)

Arsenal were not supposed to be where they are now - at the top of the Premier League table, with a total of six league rounds remaining in the season.

God forbid, this is not a demonstrable disdain for the team or the qualities it presented this season, but a statement that was also said out loud many times by the team's manager, Mikel Arteta, who admitted that the position and the results that the Gunners presented this year are probably two years (at least) ahead of what they hoped for on the red side of North London show.

The main goal, especially after the end of the frustrating season last year in which the hated rival of all Tottenham jumped over Arsenal in a photo finish and booked the place in the Champions League - was to finish in the top 4 and return to the main stage in the continent with the place for the Champions League.

About winning, or even trying to compete for the championship title, no one spoke at the Emirates Stadium before the start of the current season, which began with a feeling of freshness in view of the new entrants to the club and especially the connection that grew stronger between the fans and the team, led by Arteta.

It is a connection that throughout the seasons of the young Spanish manager has oscillated between excitement and question marks as to his suitability for the job.

Who believed that he would come to the game with Manchester City from the first place?

Arteta (Photo: Reuters)

There is a very reasonable chance that Arsenal will end the season completely without titles;

They were knocked out of the League Cup by Brighton sometime in early November, the European tour was cut short after a pair of matches against Sporting Lisbon, and in the FA Cup - a factory in which Arsenal have consistently consoled themselves for many years - they were left out after losing to City last January.

But even if the Gunners finish the 2022/23 season without any title, the professional upgrade, the results and the optimistic mindset that has prevailed for many months in the club will be the greatest achievement of the Arteta era.

Some will say that the very fact that Arteta even started the year as Arsenal manager is a surprising fact;

The 43-year-old manager has so far experienced an emotional tenure that it is doubtful if senior and more experienced managers would have been able to deal with it properly.

Under his guidance, Arsenal did indeed win the FA Cup, but finished in the disappointing eighth place (twice) and many times the feeling that accompanied the residents of the Emirates was that the role was not only too big for Arteta, but that his very appointment and the trust given to him by the club's management may cost the team dearly in the long term, in view of the strengthening The rivalry between City and Liverpool and the assessment that the two clubs from the north-west of the kingdom are opening up an unattainable gap and are actually creating their own league.

More in Walla!

On the knees of history: towards the biggest game in the life of Gabriel Jesus

To the full article

Guardiola's assistant will beat him in the game this season?

Arteta and Pep in Manchester City (Photo: Reuters)

The great trust that Arsenal's leaders placed in Arteta was not only surprising in view of the sometimes disappointing results, but was a complete contrast to the norm that has taken root in English football, where the manager is on loan and is a loss or two away from possible dismissal.

The number of dismissals that reached a new record last season, in which 12 managers lost their jobs, only amplified the size of the uniqueness of the model according to which Arsenal conducted themselves towards their manager when they showed extraordinary patience during dark times.

Arteta the player was a captain, an exemplary leader and a revered figure among the residents of the Emirates.

As a player, although he was never given the same status as legends of the past such as Thierry Henry or Patrick Vieira, who were the mainstays of Arsenal in the unbeaten version that won the championship in the 2003/04 season, he received - and rightly - many points in the eyes of Arsenal fans in view of his consistent contribution over the years In them, under Wenger, it looked to become a dominant local force again, but in practice winning the championship remains a fantasy very far from actual fulfillment.

Arteta the manager, in the first head coaching position in his career, admits that the learning, the mistakes and the desire to improve, are what give him motivation and great faith in the project he leads at Arsenal.

He usually mentions and gives great credit to the coaches under whom he played and worked throughout his career, starting with David Moyes, Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola, experienced managers with sometimes completely different coaching views, who left a real mark on him and helped him shape his coaching style and no less important,

going to be hot

Saka and De Braun in the previous meeting (Photo: Reuters)

Arsenal will arrive tonight (22:00, Sport2) for this season's game against Manchester City, while in the background the senior commentators in England are already tending to crown City (again) as the one who will win the championship.

The timing is challenging and doubly so for the young gunners, who dropped points and ended in a draw in the last three league games and actually collapsed in the moments of truth, as the local media estimated several months ago.

Arsenal is not only built overwhelmingly from a young squad, but the main difficulty is the lack of experience of the players and their coach in championship battles.

Although City has won a lot of titles in the last decade, the term "satiation" simply does not exist in the lexicon of Pep Guardiola, who manages every summer to find the formula required to storm all the vacant titles.

The well-oiled and well-balanced machine of the Citizens was joined in the summer by Arling Holland, who redefines the concept of "dominance" and makes fun of every local and European defensive unit that tries to neutralize him.

And this is perhaps the main advantage (and perhaps, the only) that Arsenal and Arteta offer tonight for the frontal confrontation for an entire season - the fact that they did not really expect the manager and their young and lively staff to be in this position in the closing stages of the season.

Throughout the season, Arteta made sure to praise his players for the impressive consistency they displayed, but made sure to defend them publicly and avoided criticizing them harshly in the media, a different strategy from the policy presented by senior managers in the league in the past.

After last Friday's home draw against table-topping Southampton, Arteta agreed it was a disappointing result, but at the same time highlighted the character and determination his players showed in coming back from twice behind.

Some will say that this is a naive approach that the manager is conveying and is contrary to the results of the last few weeks where the Gunners let go of a promising away lead both against Liverpool in the red volcano at Anfield and in the London derby against West Ham, but the guiding line that Arteta leads - standing at the front,

"The relationship between us has of course changed since he left, I'm in Manchester, he's in London, we're both busy with our clubs and our intense work, each in his own way, but the friendship and great respect we have for each other will last forever," Guardiola shared at the press conference ahead of the meeting This evening when asked about the nature of his relationship with Arteta.

Two Premier League titles, two Community Shield Cups and one FA Cup, these are the multitude of titles the two landed at City during their time together on the lines at the Etihad, but tonight the empathy and immense respect will be put aside for 90 minutes.

The "specialist" Arteta will meet the "teacher" Guardiola for the third time this season, and after two losses so far this season in two different frameworks, he will try to do the unexpected and return south to London with the three points, in what may give the Gunners a huge advance on the possible way to land their first championship title after 19 years drought

• sport

• world football

• English League

Tags

• Mikel Arteta

• Arsenal

• Manchester city