As he embarks on his sixth season as our boss, Mikel Arteta admits that he is hugely optimistic for the future of the club thanks to the energy he is surrounded by day-to-day.
It has been quite a journey for our boss since his appointment in December 2019, as he has improved on his points total in every campaign, and pushed us to the brink of the Premier League title last term. Despite coming up ever so short, he says his motivation to go again is inspired by the working culture he is in.
He believes seeing his players and staff pulling together to push everyone forward is why results on the pitch have improved, and that only positive things will come from this mentality which bounces off the walls at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.
"There is so much energy," he explained. "In our job, every day there is something new and so you are going to have ideas. The players give you so much information and so much to think about, and we have staff who are curious and want to get better and evolve. This is why the transformation happened because we are all on the same page.
"I am very grateful first of all for where I’m sitting and the people I work with every single day. It’s really difficult to find that harmony, trust, belief and an alignment in the vision. It’s something I always mention. We have an unbelievable time ahead of us and I’m very excited about it.
"I see myself today and tomorrow and this is the reality of us as managers. We have to live with that urgency as well. It’s something that I actually like. Look in two or three years time, you have to plan as a club what will happen afterwards depending on how good the results are that we get. That’s the reality. Do your best and enjoy it if you can."
That is the message as we head to Villa Park this weekend, and our excellent recent away form is sure to be tested in our first away game of the season on Saturday afternoon.
We fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Aston Villa last term – one of only three away defeats we suffered in the league in 2023/24 – but Mikel has complete faith in his players to put that disappointment behind them.
“I always feel we need to believe in our players and trust them,” he said in Friday’s pre-match press conference. “That’s the only way to get the best out of your team and the individuals, and we always have done. If it’s to achieve one level, that’s something else but it is not what we want, we want to perform at the highest level in every game to earn the right to win it. Tomorrow is no different, it is the second game, and that’s what we’re going to do."
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