Mikel Arteta has already taken charge of 100 Premier League games as Arsenal manager. How does his record compare to the start of the Gunners’ greatest manager of all time, Arsene Wenger?
Wenger was the man who originally brought Arteta to Arsenal, back in the summer of 2011. The midfielder proved to be an influential signing and would go on to make 150 appearances for the club under Wenger.
The Spaniard was named club captain and lifted the FA Cup twice before ending his playing career in 2016. He went straight into coaching, joining Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City and quickly making a name for himself. to be a promising tactical mind.
“He has all the qualities to do the job, yes, and I also think he is one of the favourites,” Wenger told beIN Sports in 2018, shortly after leaving his position as manager when Arteta was being touted as his successor.
“He was a leader, he has a good passion for the game and he knows the club well, he knows what is important in the club and he was the club captain. Why not?”
Arteta was interviewed for the vacancy but was passed over in favor of Unai Emery. He finally got the job in December 2019 following Emery’s firing.
It took time for the 40-year-old to impose his ideas and make the team play the football he wants, with a few bumps in the road, but things have steadily improved over the course of his 100 Premier League games in charge.
Last season, Arteta’s Gunners narrowly missed out on a top-four finish, but they are off to an amazing start to the 2022-23 campaign and look better than they have in years.
“It seems, yes, I think so, yes,” Wenger replied when asked if Arteta had regained the old spirit at Arsenal in March 2022.
“We still have a long way to go because we dominated in England for some time.
“All the ingredients are there, the club has invested a lot of money for the first time since we built the stadium.
“The team is stable now with his results, his leadership seems to be accepted by the players and there is a connection between him and the team.
“So overall, what you see from the outside is positive.”
It would be an incredible achievement if the current manager can emulate Wenger, who led Arsenal to three Premier League titles and quickly made an impact at Highbury when he arrived in 1996.
Here’s how Arteta’s first 100 games as Premier League manager compare to Wenger’s first 100:
Mikel Arteta
Won: 53
Drawn: 16
Lost: 31
Goals for: 162
Goals against: 111
Clean sheets: 34
Points per game: 1.75
Win rate: 53%
Loss rate: 31%
Goals per game: 1.62
Goals against per game: 1.11
A lot has changed since Mikel Arteta became Arsenal manager in 2019.
But can you name the XI he picked for his first game in charge?
The time to beat from the Planet Football office is 01:37…#AFC https://t.co/VPLOjk1n6t
— Planet Soccer (@planetfutebol) March 11, 2022
Arsene Wenger
Won: 54
Drawn: 30
Lost: 16
Goals for: 156
Goals against: 71
Clean sheets: 52
Points per game: 1.82
Win rate: 54%
Loss rate: 16%
Goals per game: 1.56
Goals against per game: 0.71
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