Arsenal: Mikel Arteta mastering the human side too

Tactically, Arsenal are astoundingly superior under Mikel Arteta than under Unai Emery. But the new head coach is not just a tactician. He is also mastering the human side of football management.

For those that worked with Mikel Arteta at Manchester City or kept a keen eye on what those were saying about his work, that Arsenal are tactically improved after just two weeks of his input is not surprising. Like his former boss, Arteta is a tactical master. He was always going to improve the ill-disciplined and undefined Gunners.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — After Everton, good luck Mikel Arteta

But doubts did persist about his man-management. He may have been a tremendous coach at City, working constructively on the training ground with individual players and units, but could he be a manager? There have been many great coaches who have the social, emotional and personal skills and understanding to be a successful manager.

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Arteta, however, has proven to be more than just a smart tactician. As evidenced by the players’ response to his work on the training ground and his words in the dressing room, he is also mastering the human side of the job too, which is equally as important.

The growing Granit Xhaka controversy could have blown up in Arteta’s face, just as it did for Unai Emery earlier this season. But amidst reports that the midfielder would be moving to Hertha Berlin, Arteta handled the potentially disastrous situation brilliantly, as he explained in a recent conversation:

"“I had a conversation with him [Granit Xhaka] and I wanted to understand his feelings. That’s first, and his reasoning why he was thinking it probably wasn’t the right place for him to continue his career. I gave him my opinion, my perspective, and I told him that I was ready to support him from the club perspective, and I wanted his team-mates to have his back to help him to change his mind. We need him.”"

As Arteta later confirmed, Xhaka is now expected to stay at the club until the end of the season.

Then there is what David Luiz said about his new manager in his post-match interview following the fabulous New Years Day win over Manchester United. According to Luiz, Arteta is a great coach and is making the Arsenal players happy again:

"“I think I said it last week that Mikel is a great coach. He knows football. He was a great player. He brings things where I believe in his philosophy and I think he can improve every single player. And in life when you are happy the results can be totally different. I think I always like to use the metaphor that if you sleep happy you can sleep for hours, but if you sleep sad, just for eight hours. So if you work with happiness and you work with believing in what you are doing it is totally different so I am happy with everybody but you need to understand our season is not there.”"

And what about the committed performances of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as a left-winger, tracking back into his own penalty area when he would much rather be hanging around at the other end? Or Ainsley Maitland-Niles adapting to a position that he always said he didn’t want to play? Or Mesut Ozil making more ball recoveries than any other player on the pitch in the United win? These are all instances of Arteta’s human instinct.

Arteta is a great tactician and a great coach, but that was understood before he arrived in north London. Now he is now proving that he is more than that. He is mastering the human side of management, and as the season and seasons unfold, that might be all the more important.