When public pressure on Kroenkethe American owner of Arsenal, was pressing hard, opted for Mikel Arteta to give the team a facelift. The Spanish coach, who was facing his first experience as a coach after three years being Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, he started with a revamp of the squad that is paying off even sooner than expected.
Of the first eleven that Arteta lined up, only one left in the template. Counting on the bench, two. First, sakaHe is still a starter, but that Boxing Day in 2019 in Bournemouth he was a left back. The second, smith rowe, was one of the players who refreshed the squad during the next two seasons. Both have been friends since they were little, having shared a team in all the lower categories of the quarry.
Ramsdale, Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Odegaard, Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Martinelli, all of them of the eleven type, do not exceed 25 years of age.
And beyond these two home players, Arteta handed over the team to a group of very young players to those who have given continuity and confidence when many did not have it. Ramsdale, Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Odegaard, Saka, and Martinelli, all of them of the eleven type, do not exceed 25 years of age. As important substitutes there are Tomiyasu (24 years old), Smith-Rowe (23), Fábio Vieira (23) or Nketiah (24).
Now, all these players are coming to the best moment of his career. Together they went through eighth and fifth place in the league before finishing second last season. Arteta continued to trust them, even giving him the captaincy to Odegaarda great bet from the club that is responding, with a style closer to that of the empathy with his players than that of the authority of the traditional coach. Only three years and seven months had passed since he said goodbye to the Emirates dressed in shorts until he returned with the tracksuit.