Morning all. I have to start with an apology because the end of season round-table Arsecast I recorded last night is, unfortunately, unbroadcastable. There’s an intermittent clicking/interference that wasn’t there when I was chatting with the chaps, but it’s there from the first seconds of the conversation right until the end.
It makes the recording basically unlistenable. Even if you try very hard, it’s impossible to ignore it and it becomes so irritating that you want to smash up your device and/or tear off your own ears, and I don’t want to be the cause of people doing that to themselves on a Friday morning. Apologies for the lack of podcast action this morning, and I don’t think it’s a conversation that we can replicate either, even if I get to the bottom of the sound issues.
It was over an hour of end of season chatter, so it’d be weird doing again. Apologies again to you, and to Andrew Allen, Tim Stillman and the Man from East Lower for wasting their time. I’ll try get everything sorted ahead of Monday’s Arsecast Extra.
Now, I have been threatening to write a piece about Mikel Arteta for a while. If you missed Tim’s column last night he touches on his departure, and that of Tomas Rosicky, so take a read at that too. So, if you remember the summer of 2011 you’ll recall it was not a happy time. Arsenal knew Cesc Fabregas was going to leave, and they knew that Samir Nasri had been tapped up all over the place and was unlikely to sign a new contract (he was in the final 12 months of his deal at that point).
It really depends on who you talk to you what the story of that period is, but whatever the behind the scenes machinations were, we didn’t deal with it as well as we should have. The Cesc thing was dragged out far too long, and his eventual sale to Barcelona didn’t go through until August 14th or 15th, despite nobody being under any illusions as to what the end game was.
To give that some context, we played the first game of the season on August 13th – a 0-0 draw with Newcastle – with that situation still unresolved. The Nasri thing dragged on a little longer. There was a strange atmosphere at the Liverpool game, a 2-0 defeat in which Frimpong got sent off and got a standing ovation for it, and the Frenchman played in that game. That was August 2oth and on August 24th he joined Man City.
So, rather than strengthen our squad for the start of the season, we ended up shorn of our captain, best player and creative heartbeat of the team, and also Samir Nasri. We scraped through a Champions League qualifier against Udinese (Szczesny saving a penalty if I remember), but basically our midfield was gone. We then went to Old Trafford that day and got spanked 8-2 in humiliating fashion.
Master of understatement as ever, Arsene Wenger said:
We are short in midfield at the moment and that is where we want to strengthen.
And ultimately we were masters of our own downfall. We let the squad get to the point where it was uncompetitive and players like Fabregas, Nasri and later van Persie actively agitated to leave – and I know for a fact at least one of them would have stayed if he felt his ambitions could have been realised at Arsenal. But we also did it in a hugely self-destructive way.
Rather than deal with things quickly and efficiently, then use the money to rebuild, we left ourselves in a situation where, with just days to go ahead of the transfer window closing, our squad was in abysmal shape. Players came in, that trolley dash brought Mertesacker, Park Chu Young, Andre Santos and Yossi Benayoun on loan, and on the final day rumours about Mikel Arteta joining us from surfaced.
It was on, it was off, it was too late, there was just enough time. And when at the 11th hour Arsenal’s offer to him was suddenly lowered, he still signed. There wasn’t even time for a medical, and 12 months later senior players at the club, who appreciated how important Arteta was, insisted that his terms were improved and he signed a better contract.
He scored his first goal in a 4-3 defeat to Blackburn, a game which illustrated how the team’s flaws and weaknesses would manifest themselves throughout the season. Still, he played 38 games for us in that first campaign, scoring 6 goals. He’d been asked to play in a deeper lying midfield role, very different to the attacking, creative position he had at Everton, and he had to contend with a variety of midfield partners throughout the season. He provided assurance and stability, and that season, as we remember, finished with a 3-2 win over West Brom that saw Arsene Wenger cling to Pat Rice in terror because our Champions League hopes were dependent on winning that day.
That summer, van Persie went to Man Utd; Alex Song, after his training ground bust-up with Steve Bould, was shipped off to Barcelona, and Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla arrived. Arteta was made vice-captain and played 43 times, scoring 6 goals, crucial, pressure penalties at Wigan away, West Brom away, and Norwich at home in particular.
His partnership with Aaron Ramsey in the second half of that season brought stability to a midfield that again hadn’t quite functioned properly, with Jack Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain and others used in there. He became an important part of helping Cazorla settle into English football well, and his dressing room influence grew. The players respected him.
Cazorla said:
He is a reference player in the dressing room. He has helped me a lot. Mikel has been key in my adaptation because he has always helped me.
2013/14 brought another 43 appearances and an FA Cup final, the club’s first trophy since 2004. He lifted the cup with club captain Thomas Vermaelen, a great gesture as the Belgian didn’t play that day, and one that was replicated the following year when he and Mertesacker did the deed on those Wembley steps after beating Villa 4-0.
Arteta hadn’t played since November, a persistent calf injury had kept him out of action, and sadly, that was the beginning of the end. When he spoke last week in uncompromising terms about his own ability to contribute, you got a measure of the man. Very few players would be that brutally honest about themselves in that way. Even last April, when there was talk of a new deal being offered, he said:
My only aim is to get back fit and try to perform on the pitch. As long as I do that I am sure that I will continue with this club, with the relationship I have with the club and the respect I have from everybody here. If I don’t do that then I am not going to be here because I don’t want to be somewhere where I cannot perform at my best and give what I think I can give.
Obviously he and Arsene Wenger felt he still had a role to play this season, unfortunately that turned out not to be the case. The fitness issues plagued him and on the odd occasion when he did play, he was unable to perform anywhere near his best. It’s a shame, because critics will dismiss him too easily for what he’s not, rather than appreciating the control and balance he gave our midfield – something we’ve missed this season without question.
When you look back at the state we were in when he arrived, the job he and Mertesacker did in helping stabilise what was close to becoming a sinking ship was hugely important for this football club. That they’ve both captained the side to FA Cup success is no less than either of them deserve.His intelligence and experience was absolutely crucial, and I do think people realise what a contribution Arteta made.
That was evident in the reception he got last week when he played for the final time. There was an understanding that while he wasn’t a player who would go down as one of the all-time legends, he was a hard-working, honest guy who was always 100% professional and who gave his best every time he pulled on the shirt.
If it was emotional, it was because he connected with the club and vice versa. He was proud to be captain, and he took that responsibility very seriously, on and off the pitch (unlike some others). It meant a lot to him. Last week he said:
I feel very honoured to play for this club and captain this place. I will never forget it. This club is class.
And that class was shown in the send-off that he got from the fans who appreciated what he’d done in his five years here. We have a tendency as football fans to always view things in the context of others. This team is not as good as the Invincibles, that player is not as good as Bergkamp/Vieira/Henry, and when you do that it automatically creates a measure of disappointment.
Sometimes you have to look at things on their own merits, and in the context of this recent era, Mikel Arteta’s contribution was significant. Good luck to him wherever he ends up.
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Right, I know I said there was no podcast, and there still isn’t, but this was going to be the bit after the music today, and I’m not going to waste it (coz it took me ages to put together!). A small bit of audio pleasure for you this morning, I hope.
More from me tomorrow.
