Mikel Arteta gave another hint at what’s to come from his management at Arsenal after the Gunners executed his game plan perfectly at Old Trafford to defeat Manchester United.
The Red Devils were never really in the match despite the slender 0-1 final result, and the performance from the visitors showed just how tactically astute the Spaniard has become.
In a short space of time – 39 games to be exact – Arteta has given the north Londoners back some kind of identity, and with the recent addition of Thomas Partey in midfield, some steel and physical presence just where they needed it most.
Former Arsenal captain, Tony Adams, has been full of praise for the job that Arteta is doing.
“It’s his first job, for God’s sake, he’s doing a remarkable, remarkable job,” he said to Stadium Astro, cited by the Daily Mail.
“He [Arteta] has got fantastic ability to work with this team.
“He puts hours into the training pitch. He’s his own man, if Ozil’s not in his thinking, he’s out, it’s as simple as that. I can’t speak highly enough of the guy.
“The words coming out [of the club], when I talk to my mate Steve Bould, who’s still in the club taking the Under-23s at the moment, he said to me: ‘This guy has got it all, he’s the governor.'”
Though the Gunners sit ninth in the Premier League table at present having lost three games already, they are only four points from Liverpool at the top of the table.
As the season progresses, it will be interesting, injuries permitting, to see just how far Arteta can take Arsenal.