FINE margins. Small details. Setting new standards.
Since taking charge at Arsenal in December 2019, Mikel Arteta has implemented every trick in the managerial book with the ultimate aim of guiding the club to Premier League glory.
Nearly five years on and the Spaniard is agonisingly close, ending this season two points adrift of old pal Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City top flight titans.
And being the intense, football obsessive nomad that he is, Arteta will already be scrutinising and analysing anything and everything to close that gap next term.
But after a campaign of near-perfection, the big question is: where on earth will it come from?
Arteta’s immaculate, workaholic fingerprints now cover every inch of Arsenal from top to bottom. No stone is left unturned. Not a day goes by where he isn’t plotting or scheming.
Less than an hour after beating Luton 2-0 at the Emirates on April 3, he retreated to his office in the heart of the stadium to sift through numerous clips of next opponents Brighton.
That same month, having had a couple of hours sleep during an overnight stay in Wolverhampton following a 2-0 win at Molineux, he was awake and dissecting Chelsea’s weaknesses ahead of a mid-week encounter.
In between that, he forced himself to watch back the entirety of their 2-0 home defeat to Aston Villa THREE times in order to precisely pinpoint what went wrong.
He watches rival managers press conferences to gain an extra edge, adding material for his famed pre-match motivational speeches that often include interactive props.
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In his desire for excellence, inspirational slogans cover most free wall space. In the corridor between the home dressing room and the Emirates tunnel, it reads: “Fight until the end”.
Inside Arsenal’s indoor training dome at London Colney, one wall reads: “Win the game with set-pieces”. The Gunners ended the season with a Prem-high 20 goals from them.
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And after complaining at a recent pre-match press conference that the room was too hot, Arteta had a fan installed by his feet the following week.
Yet in the modern era of laptop crunching, data collecting and insane perfectionism, there are those who will suggest winning a title is far more simplistic: beat your rival when you have the chance.
On March 31, after a 22-day break, Arsenal went to the Etihad knowing victory would take them four points clear of City at the top of the league with nine games remaining.
He will never admit it, but Arteta went safe and played to avoid defeat, earning a 0-0 draw. Had they gone for it and seized the moment, the title would have likely been theirs.
City midfielder Rodri said as much during their final-day celebrations, revealing: “The difference was mentality. When [Arsenal] came here, they didn’t want to beat us.”
Those comments will sting, but Arteta is perhaps correct in assuming that the title was instead lost before and after that crunch match.
Twice blowing leads at home in August and September. Losing successive games against West Ham and Fulham in late December. Falling to Villa both home and away.
Arteta will also point to the fact City did not manage to beat Arsenal or Liverpool this season and still managed to finish on top after a 23-match unbeaten run from December 10.
Defender Jurrien Timber said: “It’s hard because [City] almost win everything.”
Fatigue played its part, even with a successful winter break in Dubai that sparked 16 wins from their last 18 league games.
After Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League quarter finals by Bayern Munich on April 17, sporting director Edu spoke out on the need for further depth and quality in the squad to counter that.
In Arteta’s mind, there remains room for improvement, despite Prem records for number of wins [28], goals scored [91] and a league-best defence, conceding just 29.
There will be no ripping up plans and starting afresh this summer, just some tweaking, fine-tuning and acute recruitment decisions to get over the line when the margin for error is practically zero.
So, buckle up, Pep. On your pursuit of an unthinkable fifth Prem title in a row, Arteta’s obsessive nature is about to kick into overdrive.
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Chelsea are also being linked with a move for Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna, who is also wanted by Brighton.
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