Arsenal: 5 factors to save Mikel Arteta's job and the season

Arsenal: 5 factors to save Mikel Arteta’s job and the season

Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta gestures from the sidelines during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates Stadium in London on May 9, 2021. - - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by Richard Heathcote / POOL / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by RICHARD HEATHCOTE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) /

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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – AUGUST 28: Ainsley Maitland-Niles of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal at Etihad Stadium on August 28, 2021 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images) /

4. Manage the Squad Members Whose Futures Are Uncertain

Shkodran Mustafi, Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi are just a few of the players Arteta was desperate to shift on as he tried to transition to a newer, healthier culture by burning bridges behind him.

While the vast majority, if not all, of the supposed ‘bad eggs’ who hung around London Colney not partaking in the club’s nosediving form have been moved on, Arteta may have presented himself with a fresh batch of unhappy assets.

Hale Enders Eddie Nketiah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles have never come across as anything other than kind young men who’ve shown love for Arsenal in the years they’ve been there. Nothing suggests they’re going to revolt.

However, Maitland-Niles’ Instagram fiasco and Nketiah’s future being handled so poorly over the past nine months may present a situation where two players who’ve been at the club a while are left restless. There are always unhappy players in a 25-man squad. Only 11 start games, after all.

Yet it’s the circumstances of their use, or lack thereof, that can spark an unwanted atmosphere. Groans about the handling of your future will resonate with others and as we’ve seen with Arteta, he can be quite a marmite figure.

While he’s still here, for now, there is even Sead Kolasinac to consider in all of this. Not everyone is Mohamed Elneny, sadly, and managing the personalities of players who either don’t want to be there or that he doesn’t want to be there is a key demand.

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