It’s safe to say that Arsenal made an inspired decision when they hired Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners fired Unai Emery 11 months ago and took a punt on Arteta, their former midfielder.
The Spaniard, who played for Arsenal for four years, was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City but had never been manager or head coach of a senior side before.
In spite of his inexperience, Arteta led the North Londoners to FA Cup glory in his first half-a-season in charge at the Emirates Stadium.
He has also masterminded competitive wins over Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Premier League champions Liverpool.
And Armand Traore, who played at left-back for Arsenal during Arsene Wenger’s reign, has told talkSPORT that he’s ‘so impressed’ by the rookie coach – and claims he is building ‘something great’ in North London.
He said: “I’m so impressed with what Arteta is doing. If you look through the lines, you can see what they’re doing. I think they’re building something great. They’re definitely moving forward and I think the fans should just trust Arteta.”
Arteta has another test of his managerial mettle this weekend when Arsenal visit Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
But few would be surprised if the apprentice gets one over on the master – again – and that is perhaps the biggest indication of all that the club’s hierarchy made a brilliant appointment.
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