How Arteta made Arsenal title contenders

Welcome to The Athletic FC's YouTube channel, where best-in-class journalism meets video.

Arsenal are currently top of the league after beating second-place Liverpool and then thrashing West Ham, Burnley, Newcastle and Sheffield United. They've also qualified for the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years.

Mikel Arteta is making history at Arsenal, but how did they get to this point?

Joe Devine, JJ Bull and Jon Mackenzie are joined by James McNicholas to discuss how Arteta made Arsental title contenders.

This is The Athletic's Week in Football.

#arsenal #premierleague #arsenalfc

------------

Chapters:

00:00 Intro
00:39 James' key milestones for Arteta's Arsenal
06:29 Arsenal's evolution via recruitment
17:07 How Arsenal became the best defensive team in the world
26:43 How can Arsenal improve?
35:02 Do Arsenal need a new striker?

------------

Follow The Athletic FC:

Listen to The Atheltic Football Podcast:

------------

Music sourced from Epidemic Sound
Additional footage sourced from AP Newsroom

[joelstevens]

Sorry babe, tifo dropped a 42 minute video on Arteta's Arsenal Revolution

[imtm]

I just watched a 42 minutes video about my team like it was nothing, time flew by like crazy. The production value and level of discussion in this channel is incredible.

[jimbo_mcbingo]

i think one of the games that really solidified the idea that arteta was building something for me atleast was that 1-2 match against city in 21/22, the fact that we were for the most part keeping up with a city team that had consistently demolished us before showed that there was something there.

[ramialeksandersaini]

the 2-1 loss to city during the covid period was the beginning of great belief in the process. arteta caught the virus hence was absent. arsenal went riot throughout that match. city players couldn't believe their eyes. despite the loss, the fans were all in applause for the spirit the gunners showed in that match. it was then i knew the process will bang

[michaelarmer]

its almost like this could be made into a podcast

[gimmibox]

i giggled when joe stared at the camera right after jon said he's going to start talking about out of possession stuff

[NicolaasvanRijn]

This went straight into my veins. From a lifelong Arsenal supporter - thank you, lads.

[lyylski]

I'd like to point out that Lacazette especially wasn't a lazy defensive player. He pressed and linked up constantly in the last season at Arsenal. However he didn't have much engine left so that energy spent in midfield meant he wasn't an attacking threat at all, thus no goals.

[TB-szht]

I think what helped Arteta massively was his passion and energy as well as being a former captain. We trusted he loved the club and wanted to put things right. Mostly though it's seeing the team progress constantly and moving in the right direction you can see the results on the pitch even without necessarily getting the results. Even up to the Dubai trip the team has constantly improved. Trusting the process is much easier when you can see the process working.

[jcameronferguson]

Oh man, I love Ødegaard so much! Before his loan over in 2021, I was playing FIFA career mode and Arsenal acquired Ødegaard in a transaction. I was like "oh, that would be so cool! But it would never happen, he's La Real, audible sigh". He's everything the hype ever advertised! As the skipper, he sets the standard in line with Arteta's expectations and policies. He runs more km than anyone else on the team - Ben White is close to top, incidentally - and he digs in at the tip of the spear when the press kicks in. His close control is like a cheat code, he's the consummate press resistant player. Audaciously creative. He loves the fans. Saka and Saliba (and now Rice) get the world class shouts, but I'll be damned if Martin Ødegaard isn't every bit as talented as de Bruyne. He's graceful and brutal. He'll kill you but then buy the flowers for your funeral. What a treasure he is.

[sudiptab]

The way Arsenal hierarchy recruited players over the last few seasons makes Manchester United and Chelsea look like idiots

[HeyJuuude-]

James is such a gripping storyteller. The way he structured that synopsis was soo narratively satisfying.

[Zeke_C]

What an intelligent and articulate bunch of blokes. These lot really know ball.

[Arazorblade]

ESR saved Arteta that day. I still remember game that day . Since so many kids wereplaying in starting 11, I though Arsenal are going to get slaughtered. But was so surprised and got hyped after Arsenal beat Chelsea. Although Arsenal were losing in next games but watching ESR, Martinelli, Saka and Odegard was so refreshing.

[TheSealDribble]

What JJ seem to miss is that Arsenals way of playing atm isnt about being as entertaining as possible, its about getting the absolute maximum out of the teams strengths while allowing the absolute minimum exploitation of their weaknesses. Thats why eg their Xga is so low.
Portos mid-block did well to counter that but most teams dont manage that, so Arsenal control games very well.

[mosamakgoka]

This is by far the best football podcast on Youtube.

[mb]

Odegaard, then Zinchenko and Saliba were the players that had the most transformative effect in terms of how we play. The game where I first saw us freely moving the ball between the lines (not the highly coached, mechanistic passing we used to win the FA Cup) was the Spurs game, Fall 2021. Couldn’t believe my eyes. But the real game changer that turned the fans into true believers was the New Years Day game vs City at home. That first half was unbelievable. Still a ways to go (particularly in terms of rotation) and I’m hopeful about this ssn but I really think next ssn we will solidify ourselves as one of the 2-3 best teams in Europe

[danielvaega]

Editor with the Man Of The Match performance today, James McNicholas leading the line, Joe Devine with the constant threat, in all, an impressive performance from the team!

[_Yolk]

That cut from Joe to John and instantly back to Joe killed me

[TDG_]

This was brilliant as an arsenal fan but I think if you're an outsider, its even more interesting to see a progress map of what has happened the past few years and how we have evolved, nice one guys, i miss the longer vids on the tifo channel.