Is Mikel Arteta's intensity wearing Arsenal down?

New York Times

a day ago

Arsenal's transformation under Mikel Arteta has been undeniable. After finishing eighth in the Premier League in his first two seasons following his appointment in December 2019, Arteta guided them to fifth in 2021–22 and then to three consecutive runner-up finishes.
In 2024–25, the 43-year-old Spaniard also led Arsenal to their first Champions League semi-final since 2009, where they were beaten 3–1 on aggregate by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.
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Like many top managers, Arteta is known for his intensity. But after another season of missed opportunities where Arsenal's league form tailed off late on, is that intensity wearing his side down?
This was one listener's question that Ian Stone, Adrian Clarke and Art de Roché delved into on the latest episode of Handbrake Off.
A partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available to listen to via the Handbrake Off feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Ian: This question is from Richard (listener) who asked, 'Do you think Mikel Arteta's intensity has led to squad fatigue? They can't even have a relaxing dinner together without a pickpocket stealing their things.' If you don't know the context of that, you really need to look it up. But Adrian, do you think his intensity has led to squad fatigue?
Adrian: I wouldn't say that's an issue, although mental fatigue is a thing. I do think that if you have an intense manager and someone who does a lot of talking, you do need to have something tangible at the end of it sooner rather than later. So there is a bit of pressure now on Arteta to deliver trophies because if you're listening to the same guy giving you team talks year in and year out, but you're not winning stuff, sooner or later there is a danger that some might stop listening. Or they may stop listening as intently, and not have that same level of buy-in, so there is a threat of that. But I don't see it as being a problem in the here and now.
That's why it's so important that you refresh the squad each year with new faces, and faces that are really into what the manager is saying. That can then be really infectious, and it rubs back off on the players, and together as a group they maintain that total buy-in. That can be the same with staff members, because certain managers who stay at clubs for a long time do refresh their backroom team. That's something maybe to consider if not this year, next year, just to have a fresh voice. I do think that's important, especially if you haven't got over the line yet and you haven't climbed that mountain. But we don't know what goes on behind the scenes. I'm pretty sure that they get plenty of downtime and can also have a laugh. I'm sure Arteta's not always on them, we don't see all of that, but I'm sure they have plenty of laughs and time off.
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Ian: Art anything to add to that? I agree with you Adrian that we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. There's no doubt Arteta's intense, and Ethan Nwaneri touched on that when you spoke to him Art, but it's not like he's on them 24 hours a day. I remember Man United's young players talking about when Sir Alex Ferguson was on the phone asking, 'Where are you? Why aren't you home yet?' And all that stuff. But that's what you need, you need full focus. It's not like we haven't played great the last few years, we're just trying to get over the line.
Art: Yeah definitely, and what Adrian said about refreshing things is quite interesting as well. The manager that actually came to my mind was Sir Alex Ferguson when Adrian mentioned the backroom staff. I remember he changed his assistant manager every few seasons, and it seemed to work quite well. But also if we talk about just general fatigue in terms of fitness, I think that's where the squad building comes into it as well. Because if you look at the last couple of seasons, and I know we've spoken about it before, the knock-on effect of having one injury means that one player might have to play a lot more than expected. We've seen it at right-back with Ben White and Jurrien Timber, where Timber's ACL injury meant White had to play a lot more minutes than expected that season, and it came back to haunt him.
Ian: So you think that affected him the year after with the injury?
Art: Yeah potentially because he ended up playing pretty much all the minutes, so all of that factors into it too. There's physical fatigue alongside mental fatigue as well. But hopefully, a lot of these players without the Club World Cup and no real men's international tournament this summer get a good rest.
Remember, can listen to full episodes of Handbrake Off for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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