- Mikel Arteta celebrated his five-year anniversary at Arsenal on Friday
- He has admitted he was ‘terrified’ when he first took over from Unai Emery
- LISTEN NOW: It all starts! Are Tottenham managers treated differently to other managers?
Mikel Arteta has admitted he was ‘terrified’ when he was first appointed Arsenal manager.
Arteta got his first managerial job in December 2019 when the Gunners came calling after previously working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
He has since turned Arsenal into title contenders and on Friday he celebrated his five-year anniversary at the Emirates. But Arteta revealed he had some doubts when he initially took the job.
“I wanted to make sure I didn’t let anyone down, that I was capable of doing that,” Arteta said.
‘I was probably terrified.
‘You haven’t coached anyone at the highest level yet. It was in the middle of the season, without any preparation, without a technical staff, you are asked to take on this great and big job.’
Mikel Arteta has admitted he was ‘terrified’ when he first started at Arsenal five years ago
Arteta has turned around Arsenal’s fortunes since his arrival and turned them into title contenders
Arteta explained how he changed the culture to ensure the players were all pulling in the same direction
Arsenal have finished second to Manchester City each of the past two seasons and are now trying to chase Liverpool and Chelsea in the title race.
But things were very different when Arteta came in and took over an underperforming side that had struggled under Unai Emery.
Arteta explained that he quickly understood that the culture at the club had to change in order to progress.
“What I did was basically ask, through someone I employed, to give their opinion on how they feel about working at this football club,” Arteta revealed.
‘It was clear that something had to change. [It was pivotal] because those were the roots of the football club. If those roots were damaged at that level, without it there would be nothing left to build.
“So in the first season we had to put the energy and big decisions into making sure those roots were clean and in the right context and in the right place to be able to create and build what we wanted to build.”
Arsenal will be hoping to give Arteta the perfect anniversary when they travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The north London team have already beaten Palace in the Carabao Cup this week and set up a semi-final draw with Newcastle.