How much progress have Arsenal made under Arteta?

By Oli Dickson Jefford

It’s been over two years since Mikel Arteta took over at Arsenal after Unai Emery was sacked following a little under 18 months at the club.

And the Spaniard, a hugely popular figure during his time as a player, has certainly had time to make his mark at the Emirates now.

However, just how much of an impact has he actually had?

With pressure once again mounting on the Spaniard’s shoulders after a recent dip in form and off-field issues, whether there has been progress or not remains up for debate.

Form still patchy

The main issue dogging the Gunners in recent seasons has been inconsistency.

There is no doubt that there is talent in the squad, but the ability to string together a run of performances remains an issue.

After a dreadful start to the season, things looked to be heading upwards under Arteta and a new youthful brigade of players.

However, recent losses to Man Utd, Liverpool and Everton mean Arsenal’s push to finish in the European spots is once again flagging.

And though defeats to the likes of Man Utd and Liverpool may not be surprising, the fact that they didn’t even look competitive in their match against the latter shows they are just as far behind as ever.

A confidence-boosting win over Southampton last weekend would have eased some pressure, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Off-pitch distractions

There was a sense of negativity surrounding Arsenal as a club when Arteta took over, and that has certainly lingered.

It has been dispelled to an extent more recently, with a young talented generation of players coming through providing a potentially promising future at the Emirates.

However, there are still issues at the club that need to be addressed.

Just this week, Arteta and the club have been dragged into a controversy surrounding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Aubameyang has been stripped of his captaincy due to disciplinary issues - a decision that has attracted praise from some, but criticism from others.

Whatever the situation it would appear that there is perhaps still a cultural issue at the club that also troubled Unai Emery’s reign - particularly with Granit Xhaka - and also towards the end of Arsene Wenger’s tenure.

Though this might not solely be Arteta’s fault, a more experienced manager may have been able to move the club forward and deal with such issues in a more controlled manner.

Has any progress been made?

In all honesty, not much progress has been made during Arteta’s reign.

Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea are still a long way ahead of Arsenal in terms of competitiveness, while there are no guarantees of European football with Man Utd, Tottenham and West Ham all fighting for top-six spots as well.

Last season saw Arsenal fail to qualify for European football for the first time in 25 years and failure to do that again would be a disaster for a club that was not far off winning the Champions League in the past.

The fact that they are stagnating, perhaps even regressing slightly, under Arteta shows he is not doing a good enough job.

There could be a bright future with several young players showing great promise, but questions arise about whether Arteta has demonstrated enough to show he is the right man moving forward.

Photo Credit: Getty Images