Arteta’s shadow: The unfair yardstick and the emotional double standard
In the high-stakes theatre of modern football management, there is no greater cultural talking point than the “Process.” When a young, tactically-minded coach arrives at a dysfunctional giant, the demand is simple: Give him time. Trust the process.
Yet, the media narrative is applied with profound inequality. The scrutiny placed on new appointments, from Rúben Amorim at Manchester United to Enzo Maresca at Chelsea, is measured almost exclusively against the yardstick set by Mikel Arteta’s tenure at Arsenal, ignoring crucial differences in working conditions, political capital, and—most glaringly—the results.
1. The genesis of the Arteta blueprint
The comparison exists because Arteta’s five-year tenure at Arsenal established a widely publicised, easily marketable narrative: The “Trust the Process” Rebuild.
Arteta inherited a mess: a fractured culture, an overpaid and under performing squad, and a toxic atmosphere. His struggles were so extreme that they allowed the media to document the lowest possible point, providing a clear starting line for the subsequent redemption arc.
Crucially, the comparison began with two key factors that his successors rarely possess:
- The Guardiola aura: As Pep Guardiola’s protégé, Arteta was immediately branded as a tactical purist, which automatically made him the standard for other young, tactical “new breed” coaches.
- The FA Cup shield: Winning a major trophy within six months (the FA Cup in 2020) was an instant, tangible piece of evidence for the process. This victory provided a shield against early criticism and bought him immense political capital and time, a luxury few others are afforded.
2. The unfair burden: Time, patience, and the COVID conundrum
The patience afforded to Arteta was not a reward for simple failure; it was a necessity driven by unique circumstances that fundamentally differentiate his tenure from every major managerial appointment since.
The impossible conditions of a cultural reset
The greatest, most overlooked disparity lies in the COVID-19 pandemic. Arteta had to execute a ruthless cultural reset—his “non-negotiables”—at a toxic club without the benefit of daily, in-person contact for much of his initial two years.
How do you install discipline, build unbreakable bonds, and communicate complex tactical systems when training is fractured and interactions are limited to remote video calls? The fact that he secured an FA Cup and oversaw a cultural clear-out under these impossible conditions underscores the success of his strategic commitment.
The rigidity vs. pragmatism contrast
While Arteta, adhering to a philosophy, showed early pragmatism, shifting to a defensive 3-4-3 for the FA Cup run to secure a result, managers like Amorim have faced immediate scrutiny for their dogmatic rigidity and refusal to abandon their systems even when results are catastrophic. This lack of in-game or short-term adaptability makes the struggles seem less like a “teething process” and more like a core managerial flaw.
3. The data doesn’t lie: A comparison of first 50 games
The statistical reality utterly breaks the symmetry of the comparison. When we look at the first 50 games in charge (across all competitions), the Amorim project at Manchester United is shown to be on a far worse trajectory than Arteta’s.
| Manager | Club | Games | Wins | Losses | Win % | Goals Conceded | Early Success |
| Mikel Arteta | Arsenal | 50 | 27 | 13 | 54% | 48 | FA Cup (2020) |
| Unai Emery | Arsenal | 50 | 32 | 10 | 64% | 55 | Europa League Final |
| Brendan Rodgers | Liverpool (League) | 50 | 23 | 17 | 46% | 63 | N/A |
| Rúben Amorim | Man Utd | ~50 | 19 | 19 | 38% | 76 | N/A |
The data confirms the hypocrisy: Arteta won 54% of his first 50 games and conceded 48 goals, all while navigating a pandemic. Amorim, working in normal conditions, won only 38% and conceded a massive 76 goals, yet both are simply labelled as needing “time.”
4. The burden of the ‘process’: An unrealistic template
The ultimate burden of the “Arteta Process” is that it has become an unrealistic template that ignores the exceptional circumstances that allowed it to survive.
The rhetorical shield and political capital
The most striking evidence of this failure comes directly from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who used the Arteta template to justify Rúben Amorim’s position: “I would say Ruben needs to demonstrate that he’s a great coach over three years… Look at Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, he had a miserable time the first couple of years.”
This quote proves the media/ownership complex is actively using the Arteta narrative as a rhetorical shield. However, it fails to mention that Arteta’s project was also backed with nearly £1 billion in spending over five years—a level of financial capital no other young manager has been guaranteed.
The emotional double standard
The most insidious application of the double standard is seen in how managers and players are allowed to show emotion.
When Enzo Maresca recently sprinted down the touchline to wildly celebrate a late winner against Liverpool—a goal that merely avoided a third straight league defeat—the general media consensus was that it was a display of “passion,” with Maresca claiming the resulting red card was “worth it.”
Compare this to the reaction when Reiss Nelson scored his 97th-minute winner against Bournemouth, a goal that kept Arsenal’s title hopes alive:
- Mikel Arteta’s celebratory run was scrutinised by certain pundits as “immature” and “silly.”
- Martin Ødegaard was openly mocked by figures like Jamie Carragher for taking a photo with the club cameraman, with Carragher declaring: “Just get down the tunnel… you’ve won a game, it’s three points.”
The message is clear: when a rival manager shows emotion in a non-title race game, it’s passion. When Arsenal’s manager and captain show genuine, shared joy in a defining, title-race moment, it is over-celebrating and a sign of immaturity.
The truth is, the Arteta Process is not a template; it is an exception. It was a unique combination of a trophy shield, a COVID co-efficient, and nearly £1 billion in financial backing that allowed it to survive. Until the media drops its double standards on performance, political capital, and basic human emotion, the next generation of managers will continue to be unfairly judged in his shadow.
Images courtesy of Reuters/Action Images