Arsenal deserve credit for unflappable Arteta decision

Everything’s coming up Arsenal. The north London revival continued its steady ascent with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Leicester on Sunday to move back into the top four in a grueling March schedule.

Sitting one point above Manchester United with three games in hand – two of which will take place before the end of the week – is nothing short of remarkable. Coincidentally, three games is all it took for Arsenal to be sat rock bottom of the Premier League table this season.

The worst start to a campaign in almost 70 years followed on from successive eighth place finishes in the table. For a club that spent over two decades under the guidance of the same man, the hardships of a transitional period would truly test the patience of the supporters.

Yet there needed to be signs of progression. Fans yearned for physical proof that the club was heading in the right direction as opposed to mere visceral emotions.

Arsenal deserve credit for unflappable stance on Mikel Arteta who could justifiably have been sacked earlier in his career

Last season there weren’t many.

From the highs of ending a 30-game winless run away from home against the Big Six, Arsenal embarked on a record breaking spell of seven matches without victory, with just eight points collected from 36 available across 12 league outings.

You could easily have justified Mikel Arteta being relieved of his duties. That November run isn’t alone in being basis for his sacking, yet despite the bellowing roars for his dismissal there would be no axe. One does wonder whether the club would have buckled under the toxicity if fans were there in stadia to witness the apparent demise of a once cherished institution.

Nevertheless, they didn’t. Thank heavens.

There is no conceivable way to look at this team, the harmony within the group, the tactical ingenuity, the stability, the future or the present, and say that Arsenal made a mistake not sacking Arteta. At points there were reasons galore, too many to count, and they resisted.

Loyalty is a dying concept in football. What Arsenal did was stay loyal to Arteta, who’s long-term vision will have been mapped out, despite having no binding reason to do so. The result of that belief, whether blind or brilliant, is what we see today.

This club is more united than it has been in years. A likeable and talented core of players is backed by a highly skilled coaching team whose trajectories are clear and headed in only one direction.

None of this would have been achievable without the club backing their man through the adversity and the outcry of anguish. Even those of us who invested emotionally in Arteta had began to lose faith in his ability to turn the situation around.

Opinions change. This season alone there have been views altered on a weekly basis, almost all for the better. And whatever one’s initial stance may have been on Arteta at the time, nobody can look back and wish the situation were handled differently.

Whether it results in Champions League football or not, you can’t help but smile at what is unfolding. Everything is good at the moment and there is no reason not to feel good about it.

Let’s be happy, because the players sure are.