The decline of #ArtetaOut: Pivotal moments and reasons for fans backing Arsenal boss

“I remember my first tweet calling for Mikel Arteta to be sacked,” says Arsenal fan Matt Chapman. “It was February 27, 2020 — when we were dumped out of the Europa League at home to Olympiacos. Every dropped point, lost game, cup exit or questionable decision thereafter only added fuel to my furious fire.”

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At the time, Arteta had been in the job for just 69 days. Chapman is self-aware enough to describe his online output as occasionally “reactionary, knee -jerk, often stupid and a bit ‘pantomime villain’.” But those opinions on the MC Fool account are born of a deep love for Arsenal Football Club.

No European football next season, big contracts, big players. All gone. This is the club finished. This is the nail in the coffin. It’s over.

— MC Fool (@MattChReport) February 27, 2020

While Chapman may have been one of the first aboard the “#ArtetaOut” train, he certainly wasn’t the last. The hashtag saw significant spikes in the winter of 2020-21, the autumn of 2021, and even as last season reached an ultimately disappointing conclusion.

And yet, Arteta’s Arsenal now sit eight points clear at the top of the league. He has been named Manager of the Month for the fourth time overall and second this season, and just oversaw the first away league win in the north London derby since his playing days for the club nearly a decade ago. It is a remarkable turnaround in the Spaniard’s fortunes — and has won over many of those who doubted him most. Even broadcaster and celebrity Arsenal fan Piers Morgan has expressed some contrition.

“I am big enough to accept and acknowledge when I’m wrong,” says Chapman. “Right now, he’s definitely the right man for the job.”

In December 2019, plenty of Arsenal fans were ready to welcome Arteta with open arms. Some had even wanted him to succeed Arsene Wenger in the summer of 2018, when he was a candidate but ultimately came up short.

The 18-month tenure of Unai Emery, who got the job of replacing Wenger, had been somewhat chaotic on and off the field, and Arteta at least offered the promise of change. Many supporters were ready to embrace the radical approach of hiring a 37-year-old first-time manager.

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There was still, however, some circumspection — especially with big names such as serial Serie A winner Massimiliano Allegri supposedly in the frame.

“I was sceptical of his appointment,” admits Ankit, an Arsenal fan from Vancouver in Canada, of the former Arsenal captain. “This was his first managerial role, and I thought a club as big as Arsenal would eat him alive — especially as we were in such a bad place at the time. His first interviews impressed me, though. He definitely knew what he was taking on, but as a fan I felt sorry for him — I thought he’d probably be fired within a year and ruin his legacy.”

Nevertheless, Arteta made a largely positive impression in his first few months, with both his convincing rhetoric and some big results. When football returned in June 2020 after a three-month shutdown because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, he led the team to victories over Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea — the latter two coming in the FA Cup semi-finals and final.

But winning a trophy did not prove to be the immediate launchpad many hoped for.

Arsenal’s transfer business in the summer 2020 window was perplexing — a three-year deal to bring in a 32-year-old Willian, for example, seemed at odds with the rebuild required.

By the first anniversary of his appointment, just before Christmas in 2020, “#ArtetaOut” was at its peak. Arsenal were on a dismal run — seven Premier League games without a win, five of them defeats.

“There were a lot of warning signs that made me feel that the job was too big for him too soon in his career,” says Elliot Smith, host of the Arsenal Vision podcast. “Firstly, the football was a lot more defensive and conservative in style than I had anticipated. With hindsight, I can see why Arteta may have felt he had to be pragmatic, but it obviously wasn’t delivering results. When you’re near the relegation zone, and you’re being pragmatic, my question would be, ‘What is your pragmatism serving?’.

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“He had obviously famously fallen out with some big figures at the club — chiefly Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi. I had questions about his man-management skills, coming from (being assistant manager at) Manchester City where you have an endless supply of talent and money to replace talent. I wondered if he had the right thoughts on how to work with players that are difficult, not just the players that are going to buy into what he asks.

“So when you combine dressing-room personality issues with a sort of dour, conservative approach to football, with results that weren’t being improved by that conservatism or pragmatism, and then some head-scratching transfers…”

The prosecution rests its case.

This was not, at the time, a minority view.

“The football we were playing was absolutely dire,” says US-based fan Carter Spearry. “He was picking Willian over Nicolas Pepe; Thomas Partey, Arteta’s big signing, looked like a total flop. There was no creativity at all in the team and it was easy to think, ‘I know he’s in the twilight of his career, but Ozil is getting paid to sit at home and play Fortnite, so why not use him?’.”

On Boxing Day of 2020, Arsenal found themselves 15th in the 20-team division before the visit of London rivals Chelsea. It’s no exaggeration to say that many supporters felt a poor result that night should lead to Arteta’s dismissal.

Instead, it was one of the major turning points — perhaps the pivotal moment — in his short managerial career at Arsenal up until then.

Unable to select Willian, Arteta named an exciting-looking line-up with Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli all playing behind Alexandre Lacazette. Arsenal won 3-1 — and a process of recovery began.

“The interesting thing about that victory over Chelsea is that not only was it a turning point in terms of results, but really a turning point for our football,” says Smith.

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The introduction of academy product Smith Rowe as a No 10, whether planned or forced upon the manager by circumstance, added fluency and attacking intent. Shortly afterwards, Martin Odegaard was signed on loan. Arteta’s Arsenal steadily began to take shape.

“I probably did not see the forest through the trees as clear as I probably should,” admits Smith. “But I don’t know that many people would have seen where we are now from where we were on Boxing Day 2020!”

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It would be wrong to suggest it’s been plain sailing ever since.

The Europa League semi-finals defeat by Emery’s Villarreal in the spring of 2021 was another moment that saw that familiar hashtag trending on social media. “Arteta’s decision to play Granit Xhaka at left-back and Smith Rowe as a false nine were very questionable,” says Spearry. “And to go out of the cup against Emery, who he’d replaced and has a much less-expensively acquired squad, was an extremely hard pill to swallow.”

A second consecutive eighth-place finish did little to appease the disgruntled sections of the fanbase.

When Arsenal then lost the opening three league games last season, after significant summer expenditure, some had their pitchforks out again. But the manner in which the team recovered from that difficult start won Arteta many new fans.

“For me, the moment was December 11, 2021 — Arsenal vs Southampton,” says Ankit from Vancouver. “We were coming off losses to Manchester United and Everton, clubs who were in crisis. However, that first goal from Lacazette — that was the turning point. That’s when I saw it. It wasn’t Lacazette’s finish, but that move. It opened my eyes.”

Others needed more convincing.

“I think the moment I could say I truly started to back Arteta was Manchester City at home on New Year’s Day 2022,” Spearry says. “I can’t believe I’m saying that, considering we lost the game, but the performance really showed that Mikel has the tactical aptitude to be able to compete at the very top of the table.”

For some, the Spaniard’s fall-out with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened old wounds. Arteta appeared to have sacrificed another star on the altar of culture.

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“I don’t think you can win with a toxic culture,” says Smith. “But I also don’t think you can win without talent. And so I think a manager always has to find a balance between instilling a good culture and also finding ways to take the tougher personalities and integrate them in that culture and get them to buy in.”

For others, Arteta’s principled stand became a reason to believe.

“My views on Arteta changed when he resisted the pressure to find any short-term solutions at centre-forward last January,” says Kwame Baafor Osei Akoto, an Arsenal fan from Ghana. “I believed then that he and his team had a plan, and they were willing to stick to it. It gave me much more confidence in what they are doing.”

Arsenal’s decision to open up their training ground to fly-on-the-wall cameras has also won Arteta fans. “I had zero time for Arteta until I watched All Or Nothing on Amazon,” says Chapman. “I didn’t intend to watch the documentary at all, considering my views on the manager and players, but I enjoyed it and the insight it gave.

🔴 All or Nothing: 𝗔𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹

📺 Episodes 1-3 are available NOW on Prime Video#AONArsenal pic.twitter.com/376t0NKpps

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 4, 2022

“The turning point for me to down tools was the Newcastle team talk — I was as incensed as everyone else with our dismal display at St James’ Park on the night and felt the coaching and playing staff should all be dismissed. When the documentary aired and we saw Arteta’s team talk, it was my ‘lightbulb’ moment. I realised the players failed the manager completely, and Arteta’s process did deserve patience and trust.”

A few Arsenal supporters remain who are still unconvinced.

“I’m still #ArtetaOut,” one anonymous supporter tells The Athletic. “(Sporting director) Edu is keeping him in a job.”

Never been so dejected to be a Gooner.
Arteta has sucked all hope, optimism, class & prestige out of Arsenal
Give him £500m & we still won't compete

And his clueless fanbase torment those who want Arsenal to succeed

The future is bleak
No man is bigger than the club#ArtetaOut

— 🎙 TheGoonerNation (@TheGoonerNation) May 22, 2022

“I’m still an anomaly in the fanbase as I dislike Arteta’s character,” says podcaster @TheGoonerNation. “Despite conducting himself well in interviews, he seems insincere and boring to me. I get a lot of stick for it and I wish I could change that feeling, but it is what it is. I still think there are several better candidates for the job than him. The last two seasons have been a failure in my opinion, but he’s undoubtedly succeeding this season.”

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Other former doubters are now fully on board.

“Even when we lose, we look good,” adds Ankit. “I catch myself re-watching games midweek and seeing us build upon past mistakes from prior games. I’ve always rooted for him as an ex-captain but now I find myself rooting for the individual that is Mikel. To paraphrase the documentary, ‘it’s the journey that’s more important’ and this is one of the best journeys I’ve been on, as an Arsenal fan — thanks to him.”

That’s not to say there aren’t areas he could improve: our interviewees cited substitutions, squad management and some concerns that the team’s style of play may not be sufficiently flexible.

In what may be a related point, Arteta is also yet to prove himself a good manager in European competition. Should Arsenal qualify for next season’s Champions League, it will be interesting to see how he handles the challenge at a level the club last experienced in 2016-17.

It’s tempting to say those fans who wanted #ArtetaOut have been proven wrong. It feels fairer to say those who were prepared to be patient — including the hierarchy at Arsenal — have been proven right.

After all, the criticisms aimed at Arteta had some validity. Mistakes were made. But Arsenal arguably have a different manager now to the one they appointed just over three years ago. Given his inexperience when he took the job, that’s to be expected. Arteta appears to have improved.

“The irony is, it’s possible that none of those concerned thoughts were wrong,” says Arsenal Vision’s Smith. “It’s possible that Arteta did a lot of learning ‘on the job’.”

And sacking a manager early, while brutal, can be a pretty effective strategy to improve results.

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“I think the clubs that fail fast and pivot quickly off mistakes tend to do better,” says Smith. “Staying with a manager just to show loyalty or commitment to the project is not usually rewarded. I would ask you to find me another example, in top-level football, where a manager reached the sort of depths of where we were at Christmas 2020 — and actually came out of it in this way.”

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When managers at other clubs come under pressure, Arteta is often cited as a reason to keep faith and “trust the process”. But he may be the exception that proves the rule. Not every coach has the potential to recover quite like this. Arteta has not just survived — he has flourished.

“I want to put on record: I love Arteta, and what he has done,” Smith says.

“Where we would be with another competent manager is hard (to say) because Mikel is unique in that he had his fingerprints all over the squad as well. There was a real ‘rip out and rebuild’ that was needed.

“I think Mikel was pretty essential in that. And I don’t know if anybody else could have quite had the vision for how to rebuild this club.”

(Main graphic — photos: Getty Images/design: Sam Richardson)

The Athletic’s Spanish football coverage has expanded…

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