Mikel Arteta - A Line In The Sand

Dancing to Arteta's groove

Sometimes a strange shift happens, the atmosphere changes imperceptibly, like a window opening or a distant bass line kicking off, the tension in the room changes and a primeval pulse flashes through the senses. Suddenly, you’re awake and alive and ready to go. You’ve experienced this feeling. You know it. That buzz of a carnal crush. The dawning of new love. That eager attention born when true charisma brushes past.

I’ve known a few people in my life who hold this power, this ability to engulf others in warm fellowship without even trying, just by being. They have a power, a bewitching spell-casting allure. We want to be with them, to be them, to be loved by them. In the wrong hand’s this enchanting power is lethal and conjures up only terrible things. In the right hands there is no end to the possibilities, the potential, the promise. Mikel Arteta is one of these magnetic people, with his intense blue-eyed stare, and his twinkling smile. In Arteta’s hands Arsenal is going places, oh such wonderful places.

Today, across the football world, there are eyes glued on him, envious eyes, flirting eyes. But, yesterday, mmm, not so much. Not everyone divined the quality of Arteta’s spellbinding powers from the beginning, not everyone had that Guardiolian attention to detail to see through the commotion and recognise the rare wizardry. There was too much noise in the Arsenal fanbase, too much turbulent anguish. It took some while for the Arteta bass line to become audible. It turns out that some leaders take a moment, breath a deep breath, and then slowly and surely wait for people to catch up.

When he first arrived he seemed a little odd, undoubtedly smart, certainly astute. He had a can’t-quite-put-your-finger-on-it something, a sharp unnerving quality. He certainly had leading man looks, as easily cast as the quintessential villain as the romantic foil for Penelope Cruz, but as a premier league manager in an unsettled club with massive expectations, how far will that get you? Having played second fiddle to the football’s greatest arch-tinkering over-thinker would only buy so much time as the new number one. Surely he needed a longer C.V., a little more water under the bridge to man-manage delicately ego’ed superstars.

At the time these doubts were definiteness in disguise. This inexperienced new manager had surely been handed, if not a poisoned, then certainly a foul tasting chalice. He had definitely bitten off more than most could chew. And the anticipation of the oh so delicious taste of oncoming schadenfreude was overpowering the media’s appetite.

But what these ravenous doubters hadn’t reckoned on was the dogged, single-minded, ruthless and steely nature of Mikel Arteta’s determination. It turned out the man is a phenomenon, a sensation, a man deeply committed to his ideals, to his players and to the beautiful game. A man with 360 degree sight where nothing escaped his eye. There were no castles the air built of delusions and dreams. There were no foolish lines in the sand for the sake of it, instead, he was doing everything for the sake of everyone.

How Arteta has managed to transform Arsenal thus far, whilst still growing and maturing on the job, is truly jaw-dropping. This man has wrapped his arms around a nervy and spooked football club and then, in the glare of a baying media and doubtful fans, he sat the whole club down on the psychiatrists couch and had a serious word. He gave solace, he engaged with a frayed self-esteem, he brought healing to the culture, he restored the camaraderie and recharged the fighting mentality of the players, the club and the fans, all of which have been dysfunctional for longer than the lifespan of most mammals. And he’s done it in his very first job as manager. Burn your C.V’s people, they are a worthless currency, charisma is the only measure of potential in the Artetaverse.

Arteta’s bulletproof know-how has triumphantly conquered an echoing covid landscape with its empty stadiums and precarious team sheets. He’s out-manoeuvred petulant superstars with a non-negotiable stance that makes the tax office seem open-minded to delinquency in comparison. He’s held on white-knuckled during the insane oscillation between Arsenals worst ever start of a season to Arsenal best ever start to a season. And through all of it he’s held fast to a mantra that was first ridiculed and now sung from the rafters. Yes, Super Mik Arteta, you do know exactly what we need, in The Process we trust!

But my favourite aspect of the Artetaverse is his humanness, his straight shootingness, his ability to see and understand players as feeling humans driven not by statistics or money or their media manufactured facades, but by their emotional architecture, by their hearts, just like him, just like you. His approach to his players is an extension of this deep intuition and its what makes him the most interesting manager in the Premier league.

Because Arteta remembers that football isn't a business. Yes, there’s stupendous amounts of money sloshing around it, but football for fans is fundamentally a passion. I'm not a customer, I'm a fan with emotional investment. Arteta knows this and he's worked on and off the pitch to create that oh so difficult thing to nurture, that feeling, that connection, that pride.

And it’s catchy. Watch opposition fans around the dugout sneaking glances at Arteta throughout every match, they can’t keep their eyes off him, they’re drawn to him. OK, observing Arteta on the touch line is like watching a teenager engrossed in a horror film, he’s on the edge, he’s panicking, he’s sweating and he’s projecting disaster but man oh man is he ever alive. Although Arteta is merely as performative as other manager’s can be, with Arteta there’s an authenticity thats just beautiful. Critics of Arteta’s antics seem to be criticising the baring of the inner soul, they seem frightened of genuine humanness, they seem terrified of the enigmatic confusion of life itself.

Of course Arteta is also a savvy operator. He’s not only an emotional therapist or the human embodiment of a roller-coaster scream. Arteta is as composed and deliberate in interviews as he is preposterous and frenzied on the touch line. He emanates tolerant irritation during these necessary pre and post-match rituals, staring intently with the air of man who knows the secrets but sure as hell ain't telling them to you. He sees the media framed “debate” for the hurricane of click-bait bullshit that it is and he patiently performs the ritualistic dance until can get back to what makes the Artetaverse shine - focusing on Arsenal winning football matches.

In the end, this brand new first time manager has banished that strange Arsenal tension where evil angels have whispered tales of imposter syndrome and fear into the ears of team after team for over a decade. He’s erased that uncomfortable dusting of panic in the far back of the collective Arsenal mind. He’s handled the heavy lifting cultural tasks off the pitch and he's coached the winning tactical skills on the pitch. And best of all, he’s given us back that certain something to believe in. He’s asked us to put our hopes and dreams on the line and for the first time in years we are readily handing over the goods. He needs time. We all need time. But the bass line is playing loud and clear right now and the Arsenal Family is dancing to Arteta’s groove.

Have a great day and come on you Gunners, share the joy and subscribe to Arsenal Wonderland