Thank you Mikel Arteta: The Man Who Made Arsenal Champions Again

In partnership with

Just Arsenal News

·20 May 2026

Thank you Mikel Arteta: The Man Who Made Arsenal Champions Again

Pep Guardiola used to notice that when Man City scored, there would be one opponent his assistant would not celebrate against. This was not just Mikel Arteta being respectful to a side he had played for. The Spaniard had captained Arsenal and was truly hurt by what he saw on the pitch and the stories he had heard. On his first day as manager, he promised to reach those previous standards again and that he would not tolerate anyone not following his principles. Even as our skipper, he used to take it upon himself to go above Mr Wenger and call out his peers if he saw standards slipping. Was he just a smart man telling a fanbase what they wanted to hear though?

Arteta rebuilt the standards at Arsenal

Sometimes in life, you have to go through adversity to reach the good times. Rock bottom for the Gunners was a second consecutive eighth-place finish, meaning zero European football in the red half of North London for the first time in a quarter of a century. Some owners would have sacked the boss, but instead Josh Kroenke, Edu, BFG and Arteta sat down and evaluated all departments of the club. The priority was to fix the defence, meaning Arsenal would slowly develop the habit of being able to fight and grind out wins if needed. Previous versions of the team would not have had the mentality to do that and would have been bullied. Gooners saw that players were fighting for the badge, and a connection between the two was rebuilt, with the Emirates the loudest it has been since it was built. It regressed at times this year, but that was only because of understandable anxiety. Yet as Arteta always reminded us, it was hard to compete with his mentor from the Etihad and their unlimited resources. The apprentice had learnt that top-level sport could be decided on the smallest details. Instead of concerning himself with matching his rivals, what could his squad do better than the rest? Is that not the idea of coaching?

OneFootball Videos

Arsenal’s mentality monsters became immortal

World-class delivery at set-pieces, check. The best set-piece coach in the world, check. Old-school defenders, check. A unit willing to get back into their shape, check. Because it is not always a style easy on the eye, our coaches have never got enough credit for how much hard work and practice that takes. Use corners as an example. We did not just rock up to a game once and happen to be good at it, we worked, and worked, and worked, and worked. The last thing Arteta had to prove was that he could get over the line. It would not have been a disgrace if he could not. Not everyone can. Yet on the biggest stage, with the lights shining bright, he fulfilled his promise. He took the club back to the top of English football. With that hurdle cleared, the next title race will feel a little less stressful. This week, he and his players became immortal. They have become legends. If they win nothing else, no one can take away their part in our proud history. They will live forever.

On behalf of everyone at JustArsenal, with a tear in my eye, thank you, Mikel Arteta.

Dan Smith _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ADMIN COMMENT

So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….

You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.

CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us through this link…