He played in 150 games for the Gunners during his stay in north London. He served as the club’s captain, and he lifted two FA Cups into the night air of Wembley Stadium for Arsenal.
Today, Mikel Arteta comes homes to Arsenal, and no matter if you think is was the correct decision or not, all Arsenal supporters worldwide need to get behind the 37-year-old Spaniard and wish him well.
During his introductory press conference today Arteta said:
“This is a huge honour. Arsenal is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game and that’s been made very clear to me in my discussions with Stan and Josh Kroenke, and the senior people from the club.
“We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we’ll do it. I’m realistic enough to know it won’t happen overnight but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy.”
“My first task will be to get to know the players better and get them playing the kind of fast flowing, attacking football that Arsenal supporters around the world want to see.”
Music to our ears…right?
Mikel will be in the stands on Saturday with Freddie leading the team on the field for the last time. Arsenal players will be trying to impress their new boss on Saturday, too, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on the outcome of the game.
The new head coach will then get a few days to analyze and train his troops before traveling to Bournemouth on December 26th.
Okay, the decision has been made and the future is now in the hands of our new manager Mikel Arteta. It’s not necessarily do or die time for the Gunners, but it sure feels that way!
COYG!
Cheers. Gunner1953
Nov 26 – Sporting CP (A)
Stat of the Day: Mikel Arteta will be managing his 250th game for Arsenal this weekend.
