Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
Nacho Monreal says he’d have loved to play under Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta
Former Arsenal player Nacho Monreal has told that he always saw something in Mikel Arteta which suggested he’d go into management.
The left-back departed Arsenal in the summer of 2019, signing for Real Sociedad for to end a six-year association with the Gunners.
Arteta has been in charge at the North London-based club just under a year and has overseen four wins, four defeats and a draw from Arsenal’s first nine games of the season.
Last season he led the club back into the Europa League after beating Chelsea to win the FA Cup at the end of the season.
Monreal played 251 times for the Gunners and has played eight times for Real Sociedad during the 2020/21 campaign.
He always recognised the required traits to suggest that Arteta would step into management.
“Yes, you could see it. He was a leader, a captain. He expressed himself very well, spoke in every meeting, knowledgable.
“I would have loved to have played under Arteta. I spoke to Hector (Bellerin) about that. I had him as a teammate and I would have loved to see him as a coach; there’s that curiosity in me.
“He was bright, tactically he understood, he grasped everything. That said, so fast? No. I didn’t expect that. But, he will have learned from Guardiola, he’s brought fresh air and will grow more.”
TBR View – Arsenal must place faith in Arteta to build
The football hasn’t been great and the results leave Arsenal in 11th place in this season’s Premier League – but Arteta deserves time.
His current job is his first foray into management and with that in mind, the Gunners should avoid any knee-jerk reactions.
As Monreal suggests, he perhaps didn’t expect Arteta to make the leap so soon but there’s enough evidence to suggest he’s tailor-made for the role.
Arteta is an Arsenal man and the hierarchy must place their faith in him to be the man to build a successful side at the club.
Monreal hits the nail on the head when he suggests he’d have loved to have played under him.
Arteta will have that influence on potential new additions and that can only bode well for Arsenal.