Arsenal’s FA Cup win over Chelsea highlights Mikel Arteta’s impact
Mikel Arteta clenched his fists and punched the air. His players summoned one last burst of energy to run into each other’s arms. The final whistle had sounded at Wembley and with it came a wave of elation and relief. Arsenal’s gruelling season had ended on a trophy-winning high.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was their hero.
Another match-winning double to follow up the one that took Arsenal past Manchester City in the semi-final – „big games require big moments from big players,“ said Arteta afterwards – but it’s Arteta himself who deserves most of the credit.
Arsenal were a mess when he took over in December. He inherited problems on the pitch and plenty more off it.
But you only have to compare their performance against Chelsea on Saturday to the one they put in against the same side in last year’s Europa League final to see how far he has taken them.
The Premier League table does not reflect that progress, of course. Arsenal’s lowest finish in a quarter of a century underlines the scope for improvement. But they are already a different proposition under Arteta. He has brought spirit and togetherness, structure and discipline.
It feels like something is stirring and it was all there to be seen at Wembley on Saturday evening. Arsenal’s heads might have dropped after Christian Pulisic’s early goal. That’s certainly what happened after Chelsea’s opener in Baku last May. But instead they produced what Arteta later described as their „best 30 minutes“ since his appointment.
It was an impressive response and it was not the first time his Arsenal side have fought back from a position of adversity.
In their previous meeting with Chelsea, at Stamford Bridge in January, they salvaged a draw despite being reduced to 10 men midway through the first half. They showed similar resolve to see off Sheffield United and Manchester City on their way to this final. In between those two games, they came from behind to beat Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
The belief has come flooding back, among the supporters as well as the players, and Arsenal’s recent record against top opposition underlines the manager’s tactical acumen. At Wembley, their improvement after his team talk during the first-half drinks break was no coincidence. It was not the first time his instructions have changed the course of a game either.
It is already clear why he was so highly valued by Pep Guardiola, the man he outwitted in last month’s semi-final, and it is also easy to understand why Arsenal players have been queuing up to praise him. „I think he’s a manager who is going to be among the best in the world in the future,“ said Dani Ceballos in a recent interview with Sky Sports.
Ceballos is not the only player to have benefitted from Arteta’s appointment but he is certainly a fine example. With his countryman’s guidance, he is thriving in an unfamiliar role at the base of midfield. At Wembley on Saturday, he was excellent again. He looks a far better player than he was when Arteta took over and so do many of his team-mates.
Granit Xhaka, Ceballos’s midfield partner, is another example. The Swiss international seemed to have little future at Arsenal after he was stripped of the captaincy by Unai Emery in the first half of the season, but Arteta has restored his confidence and good form has followed. It has been a similar story with Shkodran Mustafi.
Arteta has coaxed performances out of players others had written off and Arsenal’s FA Cup-winning finish to the season is even more impressive when you consider that the options available to him are even more limited now than they were when he arrived.
There is no Mesut Ozil or Matteo Guendouzi, both frozen out for falling foul of his „non-negotiables“. Even Pablo Mari, the centre-back recruited to strengthen their defence in January, has been ruled out by injury and he is not the only one to have found himself in the treatment room.
Despite all that, Arteta has created a platform to build on. He has transformed the mood around the club and inspired hope that, for all their struggles this season, there is a bright future ahead.
Winning the FA Cup should help towards that future.
The financial implications of the coronavirus outbreak are such that Arsenal could ill-afford to miss out on European qualification. But that revenue is now guaranteed and it will certainly help as they approach the transfer market to strengthen the squad this summer.
It will help, too, as they try to convince Aubameyang to sign a new deal. The 31-year-old offered no update when pressed on his future after the game, but Arteta certainly seems optimistic on that front – „I think that we’ll get an agreement with him,“ he said after the game – and why shouldn’t he be?
He inherited a club in crisis, a side which had lost its identity, but in the space of only eight months, and in circumstances which could hardly have been more challenging, he has made them an attractive proposition again. He has provided a clear direction for a fanbase that desperately needed it. He has ensured that a long, difficult season will be remembered as a success – and perhaps even as the beginning of something special.
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
