Do Arsenal fans believe Mikel Arteta will win a Premier League title for them?
What do they consider his greatest strength? And what is his biggest weakness?
December 20 marks five years since Arteta’s appointment as Arsenal manager. It has been a hugely eventful period, one that has seen Arteta win an FA Cup, restore Arsenal to the Champions League and narrowly miss out to Manchester City in two gruelling title races.
In the week of the fifth anniversary of Arteta’s appointment, The Athletic posed a series of questions about his reign. More than 3,000 readers responded — here are the results.
Your overall Arteta verdict
The general sentiment around Arteta’s time as Arsenal manager is overwhelmingly positive, with a massive 89 per cent agreeing he has exceeded expectations.
This seems appropriate: when Arteta was hired, Arsenal were in 10th place in the Premier League. Since then, they have improved year-on-year, re-establishing themselves as a Champions League qualifier and Premier League title contender.
That said, the largest group of fans stopped short of declaring Arteta’s time in charge a resounding success. Presumably the route to changing that is to lift one of the two major trophies.
Interestingly, when we combine the two most popular options from our question about how Arteta’s tenure has influenced how fans feel about Arsenal, we can say that 90 per cent of supporters are more positive about the club since Arteta’s arrival.
That’s illustrative of the tremendous change Arteta has effected since returning as manager.
The standout moment
Arsenal’s win over Manchester City in October 2023 won this category with over 37 per cent of the vote. The 1-0 victory was Arsenal’s first league win over City since 2015, and cemented their status as plausible challengers for Premier League supremacy.
The Premier League is clearly at the forefront of Arsenal fans’ minds — the win over City edges out Arteta’s FA Cup final victory over London rivals Chelsea.
In third place was Arsenal’s 3-1 win over the same London rivals in December 2020. That was a pivotal moment in Arteta’s Arsenal reign, ending a seven-game winless streak, and his decision to introduce Emile Smith Rowe as a No 10 unlocked a new attacking dimension in the team.
The key players
It’s a landslide victory for Martin Odegaard with over 80 per cent of the vote for best signing, and it’s difficult to imagine too many arguments against the result. The fact Odegaard was installed as club captain within 12 months of joining permanently speaks to his impact.
Centre-half Gabriel is the runner-up. His partnership with William Saliba (signed before Arteta took charge) has provided the defensive foundation for Arsenal’s improvement.
Declan Rice received just 3.9 per cent of the vote. Despite his huge price tag, it’s still a little surprising to see him receive so few votes — perhaps indicative of his form dropping off a little this season.
Odegaard doesn’t top the poll as most important player as Arsenal have another star, one produced in their own academy, who is perhaps the defining player of the Arteta era: Bukayo Saka.
When Arteta took over, Saka was filling in as a makeshift left-back. Over the subsequent five years, he has developed into one of the best right-sided attackers in world football.
Saliba takes third place behind Odegaard. His impact since returning from three successive loan spells has been transformative.
Arteta’s strengths and weaknesses
As a disciple of Pep Guardiola, Arteta is often framed as a highly tactical coach. It is interesting then that what Arsenal fans prize most is not his tactical or technical understanding of the game, but his personality.
His ‘mentality’ wins the vote with 37.1 per cent, followed by his vision (25.8 per cent). Then comes tactics, closely followed by conviction and decision-making.
When it comes to Arteta’s biggest weakness, the Arsenal fans are evenly split between an overemphasis on defence in recruitment, conservative tactics and poor use of substitutions.
This is presumably partly explained by the timing of this survey: the poll was taken in the days following Arsenal’s underwhelming 0-0 draw at home to Everton.
However, it would be wrong to dismiss this survey as entirely reactionary: these issues have been consistent themes of discussion among Arsenal fans over the past five years.
It is easy to forget this period also represents Arteta’s first five years as a manager. Perhaps it’s no surprise that there are still areas for improvement.
Arteta’s role – and the future
Despite any remaining reservations over Arteta, more than three-quarters of the Arsenal fans we polled are happy with the degree of control he exerts over football matters.
Earlier in 2024, The Athletic outlined how Arteta’s influence is now felt in practically every sporting department of the club.
It will be interesting to see how the appointment of a sporting director in the near future — whether internal or external — grows or diminishes Arteta’s authority over football matters.
On the trophy front, perhaps Arsenal fans are more sensible and patient than some would have you believe. In mainstream coverage, there is a strong developing narrative suggesting Arteta has to win something this season. The majority of fans we surveyed, however, seem to recognise that progress is more nuanced than that.
Arteta has already won a trophy — albeit nearly five years ago. What he really needs — and what Arsenal fans want — is to land a Premier League or Champions League. And the supporters seem very confident they’ll get at least one of those.
In fact, a whopping 83.4 per cent of Arsenal fans believe Arteta will win a Premier League title as Arsenal manager.
That confidence is understandable: looking at the age of the squad, the club appear capable of mounting a consistent challenge for several years.
With Manchester City’s extraordinary cycle of dominance showing signs of ending, Arsenal and Arteta are certainly among those best positioned to capitalise.
And finally, a look into the crystal ball: how much more will we see of Arteta in the Arsenal dugout?
In September, he signed a new contract until 2027. Few Arsenal fans see him leaving before then, with the largest group believing he will be at the helm for another three or four years.
Just nine per cent of Arsenal fans see him lasting for another decade, so only a fraction of Arsenal supporters anticipate another Arsene Wenger-esque long reign.
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
