Mikel Arteta: class, character and cojones
523 comments September 6th, 2011
Arsene Wenger has signed bigger names. He’s spent more money on a player, and he’s worked far longer on some deals. But rarely has a signing been set to have such a major impact on Arsenal’s season as that of Mikel Arteta.
Typically, Arsene likes his signings to be supplements to a settled squad. They can bed in over a prolonged period, slowly augmenting the existing set-up. In the case of Arteta, there’s no time for such luxuries. He’ll have to hit the ground running – and passing, and tackling, and scoring.
In the past month or so, Arsenal have lost both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. The injury to Jack Wilshere has made for a hatrick blow: we have lost arguably our three most creative players. Replacing them was never going to be easy. Cesc is a once-in-a-generation talent: we can’t buy another Fabregas off the shelf.  Nevertheless, some fans were desperate to see a marquee signing. Realistically, that could only have been a player from abroad: a Juan Mata or a Mario Goetze. Talented though those players undoubtedly are, they’d be unknown quantities. It’s impossible to say how they’d adapt to the English game. Furthermore, they’re in the same age bracket as the likes of Song, Wilshere and Ramsey. With Cesc gone, these players needed someone they could look up to. Mikel Arteta is that man.
Like all of our deadline day signings, it was a deal that was both a long time in coming and a short time in happening. A long time in coming because Arsene has been aware of Arteta for a good while now. How could he not be? At Everton, he’s been right under our noses, pulling the strings for a Premier League team for the best part of a decade. Since signing, Arteta has hinted that Everton denied him the opportunity to move last year – possibly to Arsenal. However, official interest this summer was only lodged in the form of an enquiry shortly before the fateful weekend that saw us hammered 8-2 by Manchester United. In the aftermath of that match, Arsene was asked by a clearly well-informed reporter whether there was any interest in Arteta. He said “No”, and then allowed this smile to crawl across his lips. The writing was on the wall.
It’s not clear if he was first-choice, but when it came to the crunch a combination of factors (the heavy defeat at Old Trafford; Everton’s poverty; our need for experience) combined to see Arteta arrive at Arsenal.
Reaction amidst Everton fans has been mixed. The blog RoyalBlueMersey suggest the club have done well to get £10m for a player who has struggled with injuries:
“For the past two to three years Arteta has been way below the standard we have come to expect from him. And no, we aren’t expecting too much. If we want to press on then people like Arteta have to perform at their best on a consistent basis. Â Arteta hasn’t. Â He doesn’t shoot often enough, his passes are sideways, his crosses don’t beat the first defender and his free kicks hit the wall.”
He may have a point. Lasts season, Arteta’s form was as patchy as his fitness. But for a more balanced assessment of the player – one not lacquered in the bitterness caused by his departure – I urge you to read this piece from Everton blog School of Science. Their appreciation of the player is evident:
“Mikel Arteta, thank you. Thank you for the last 6 1/2 years. Thank you for playing football in a way that this club was once renowned for, thank you for honouring the style, substance and character of some of the great men who have gone before you, and thank you for being a true gentleman and the ultimate role-model during your time at Everton Football Club.
Thank you for making it a pleasure to watch you. For the free-kicks, the little turns, the touch, the guile, the craft, quality and sheer excellence of more or less every touch. Thanks for being a shining light of real football through the last 9 years of bland efficiency.”
We’ve witnessed his class at a distance, and now we’ll get to witness it up close in a team far more suited to his style than Everton’s rugged game. Is he as good a player as Cesc Fabregas? Probably not. Is he better than what we had a week ago? Certainly. He has what Ramsey lacks in guile, what Song lacks in finesse, and what Rosicky lacks in cutting edge. He’s a great role model for Wilshere and others. And, despite being 29, he could yet improve. Old Trafford last weekend provided a perfect showcase of the step up Ashley Young has made now he’s surrounded by better players. Arteta is more than capable of doing the same, inspired by the bright lights of the Emirates and Champions League football.
Arteta’s last act at Everton was to take a stoppage-time penalty. At stake were three points for a beleaguered club. Everton’s usual taker, Leighton Baines, handed the ball to Arteta, grasped his head in his hands, and whispered a few crucial words in to the Spaniard’s ear. One can only imagine he was urging the midfielder to leave the club and the fans the parting gift of a goal.
That’s pressure. That’s where a player has to draw upon experience, nerve, skill and character.  Arteta duly stepped up, and scored. And that’s just why Arsenal need him.
