“This is what we want to create” – Arteta sets sights on Arsenal dynasty
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are now chasing “something much bigger” after ending the club’s 22-year wait for the Premier League title, and believes the early signs from within suggest everyone is pulling in the same direction as they target more silverware.
The Gunners underlined those ambitions on Sunday, sweeping aside Manchester City 3-0 in Cardiff to lift the Community Shield, the fifth trophy of Arteta’s reign. While the curtain-raiser was a welcome way to begin the season, it is the Premier League, the Champions League and the other major honours that dominate the manager’s thinking.
“We created a foundation, we won it, but now it’s something much bigger that we want to achieve as a club,” Arteta told Men in Blazers.
“Obviously the energy that everybody has, it’s like, I want to do it again, I want to go through that emotion again. It’s almost like something that gets installed as your base and it’s like, I really want to live that again.
“We need to start from day one, and we need to realise that it’s going to be something that’s going to demand a lot from everybody, but we have the ability to do it, and we can go through that again.”
Asked whether Arsenal could build a dynasty, something the club has not managed since retaining the league title in the 1930s, Arteta made no attempt to downplay the ambition.
“This is what we want to create right now. And it has to be the ambition, and it is the ambition from the owners of this football club, from everybody on the board, every staff member and ultimately from the players.
“Then you have to show that with facts, and with actions. When the staff wants to come early, and the staff is putting more hours in during the summer to see, OK, where can we go next? When the board and the ownership are showing the level of commitment that they are showing, and the players start to come [back] early from their holidays and start to go to Marbella [for a warm weather training camp] and they are already in good shape, they are all good signs.”
Arteta also revealed he spent much of the summer reflecting on his own role, mapping out where he believes Arsenal can improve and the kind of leadership required to keep driving the club forward.
“I spent a lot of hours during the summer writing about where we want to take this football club, how we’re going to do that and especially what it’s going to demand from one of the leaders in the organisation to do that. [I asked] What kind of version of Mikel is going to be needed? And the first one is having even more enthusiasm about what is ahead.
“The level of energy, how I’m going to connect better with the players and the staff, and what is required in every department to give the best possibility or probability to the players to perform at the highest level. What are the conversations that have to be taken with ownership? What do we expect from our supporters as well, at home and away? So, it’s a lot to do.
“I feel motivation,” he added. “I feel hunger to do my best, to transmit my emotion, my passion, my ideas in the best possible way and to make sure that everybody enjoys the journey. Because ultimately that’s what is going to help us to achieve what we want.”
Arteta’s words echo comments he made in the immediate aftermath of Arsenal’s title triumph in May, when he warned that standing still was never going to be enough.
“We will have to start making some very important decisions if we want to reach another level.” he said at the time. “We are going to have to show that ambition because we are more than capable of doing it, but it is going to demand us to be very ambitious, very fast and very smart.”
Three days before the new Premier League season gets underway against Coventry, his squad still feels like a painting awaiting it’s final brushstrokes. Bruno Guimaraes looks an outstanding addition to the midfield and Christos Tzolis has made an encouraging start following his move from Club Brugge. However, Arsenal’s pursuit of an elite forward has yet to bear fruit after ambitious attempts to sign Vinicius Junior and Julian Alvarez fell short.
There are also issues to resolve at the back. William Saliba faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines, while Jurrien Timber is still working his way back from groin surgery, leaving Arteta short of two of his most trusted lieutenants.
Even so, the manager remains confident the collective is strong enough to absorb those setbacks.
“Hopefully [the effect is] nothing, because the system is so strong that it can handle, like it did last year, the year before, five or six injuries and the team performed.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to create, a system that is not dependable of an individual or two or three, that still can produce what the game requires to win consistently.”
With nine Premier League clubs starting the campaign under new management, including Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United [sort of], Chelsea and Sp*rs, there has been plenty of debate about who will emerge as Arsenal’s biggest rivals this season.
“Ourselves,” was Arteta’s immediate answer. “When I see the margins still that we have to improve and be better. I think it’s a must.
“That’s how we prepare and evolve our club, our team, our squad. Looking after the things that we control and we want to do because unfortunately I cannot make decisions to influence negatively what other clubs can do.”
On the importance of maintaining standards, he continued: “The margin has to be daily in the habits, and the way that we behave, and the actions that we take. Because if we do that, it’s going to elevate daily everybody around the place. And that’s the biggest margin that we have.
“Be a little bit better every single day, so when we come to May, we’ll be much better.”
All in all, cracking stuff from the boss. There’ll be plenty of twists and turns between now and May, but if you’re looking for something to stoke the excitement before the season gets underway, this’ll do nicely. Roll on Friday.
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