When a club says goodbye to a much-loved and long-serving manager, it can often take some time to come to terms with the upheaval, leading to a negative impact on the pitch. It happened at Liverpool at the end of the Boot Room era. It happened at Manchester United when Sir Alex Ferguson retired. And it is seemingly now happening at Arsenal following the departure of Arsène Wenger.
When Wenger left the Emirates in 2018, he did so having revolutionised the club and after delivering an unprecedented era of success. The club chose to replace Wenger with Unai Emery who’d enjoyed great success with Sevilla and was rated as one of Europe’s best managers. In Emery’s first season in charge, he led the Gunners to a 5th place finish in the Premier League, and to the Europa League final where they were beaten 4-1 by Chelsea – despite going into the game as favourites according to https://www.sportwetten-test.org ahead of the game.
However, the following season didn’t start well for Arsenal, and by November, Emery was sacked to be replaced by former Gunners captain Mikel Arteta who’d been working as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City.
There was a lot of good will towards Arteta when he took charge at the Emirates thanks to his stellar efforts as player and club captain. And despite a below-par league finish – Arsenal’s final position of 8th was their worst since the 1994/95 season – he led them to the FA Cup final where they beat Chelsea 2-1 to lift the cup for a record-extending fourteenth time.
Most supporters will have been hoping that Arteta could build on this early success in the 2020/21 season, but so far, it’s not worked out that way. After a few poor seasons in the Premier League, the current campaign has been dreadful for the Gunners, with their form being inconsistent at best and at one stage, there was talk of the club being involved in a relegation battle.
The frustrating part for Arsenal fans is that on their day, their team can turn it on, as evidenced by their excellent 3-1 win at high-flying Leicester City last weekend. But when they’re bad they can stink the place out, their 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in November being a prime example.
Mikel Arteta may still have a little credit left in the bank with supporters, but that may not be the case with the board and owners. It is looking increasingly likely that Arsenal may finish the Premier League campaign in mid-table leaving the Europa League as their only avenue to success. But Arsenal won’t find that easy when you consider the clubs still left in the competition, yet Mikel Arteta’s future at the Emirates may depend on him finding a way to win it.
