Mikel Arteta: The Right Fit for Arsenal's Ambitions
Anders Limpar has no doubts. In his eyes, Mikel Arteta is already sitting at the top table of European football – and walking away from Arsenal now would make no sense at all.
The former Gunners winger believes the conditions in north London are as good as it gets for a modern manager. Arsenal’s trajectory, their pulling power in the transfer market, and the quality of the squad around Arteta form, in Limpar’s view, a platform that even the giants of Barcelona or Manchester City would struggle to better.
“Why would Mikel Arteta ever leave Arsenal when they are able to sign the best players in the world for him? They are the best or second best team in Europe,” Limpar told SveaCasino, underlining just how far the club has climbed under the Spaniard. “Everybody wants to come and play for Arsenal now. We are a massive club nowadays.”
This is not the Arsenal of drift and doubt. Limpar talks about a team that can realistically chase every trophy on offer.
“To win the Premier League and go so deep into all four competitions, everyone wants to play for a club that could win the quadruple, and look at the players he already has! They are all very good players. If you’re only a good player, you’re not going to fit in at Arsenal. Go and play for Brighton or Fulham or whoever.”
It is a ruthless line, but it captures the standard he believes Arteta has set. For Limpar, the level is now so high that anything short of “world class” belongs somewhere else.
‘He won’t find a better set-up’
Arteta has frequently been linked, at least in theory, with the jobs that traditionally sit at the summit of the European game. Limpar dismisses the idea that those roles would offer him more than he already enjoys at the Emirates.
“Arteta won’t find a better set up at Barcelona or Manchester City than what he already has at Arsenal, and they’re still signing him even more, even better players,” he said.
It is a bold claim. Barcelona’s heritage and City’s recent dominance usually dominate such conversations. Limpar’s argument is that Arsenal now live in that same space – and, crucially, that Arteta is the one being backed with elite reinforcements season after season.
That support, though, brings a different kind of pressure.
The real test: managing the egos
Limpar’s praise quickly turns into a warning. Building a squad of stars is one thing; keeping it together is something else entirely.
“To have a world class team, you need ten world class outfield players, but you also need to have more than ten world class players who are on the bench or who don’t even play,” he explained. “This is the hardest job for a manager. It was hard for the likes of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. It will be hard for Mikel Arteta too to keep his squad happy. That’s the hardest thing. Arteta’s real job only starts now. He has to be a master psychologist if he is to keep everyone engaged under his umbrella.”
The comparison with Guardiola and Klopp is deliberate. Both built juggernauts, both wrestled with the politics of leaving top players out. The football, Limpar suggests, is almost the easy part. The psychology is where managers either rise or crack.
He paints a picture of a dressing room packed with international stars, some of whom will inevitably sit out big nights. That is where, in his view, Arteta’s next challenge lies.
‘A dangerous position if he gets it wrong’
Limpar knows the sharp edge of elite football. He calls management at the top level “a tough business” and insists that even a dream squad comes with hidden traps.
“It’s a tough business to be a manager at a top club, I can tell you that, but this has been Mikel Arteta’s dream, to have the ten best players available every game, and there will be injuries, red cards and changes in form,” he said. “If you look at the bench at those moments and the players are still not happy, it doesn’t matter who you are.”
The message is blunt: reputations don’t protect you if you mishandle big personalities. The manager has to turn frustration into fuel.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s awkward coming into games like that. The players need to channel it. Come on thinking ‘I am going to run for that mother f***er and show him’ - that’s where the psychology of football comes in when you’re a danger. He’s in a dangerous position if he gets it wrong.”
For Limpar, that edge – that simmering desire from those left out – can turn Arsenal into something unstoppable, or it can fracture the project Arteta has built. The club, he insists, has never been better placed. The question now is whether their manager can control the fire he’s helped to light.
