Saying Mikel Arteta has faced a fair amount of criticism during his near three-year tenure as Arsenal manager, would be an understatement. Several strings of bad results along with questionable recruitment decisions, saw the Spaniard come under significant scrutiny, but his project has reached a very important stage.
Arsenal sit top of the Premier League table and have resided there for much of the 2022/23 season securing 11 wins out of a possible 13 along with qualifying top of their Europa League group, bypassing the knockout play-off round and heading straight into the last-16.
Back to back eighth place finishes in his first two seasons and a monumental collapse at the end of the last campaign where Arsenal finished fifth, after being pipped to the final Champions League spot by north London rivals Spurs.
READ MORE: Mykhaylo Mudryk to Arsenal transfer can address Mikel Arteta's key problem after two-goal issue
However, Arteta was allowed time to bed his ideas and methods into the club and after having arguably the best transfer window he has had since joining the club with Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko the notable additions from Manchester City, Arsenal are playing their best football of the last decade.
Granit Xhaka has become a pillar of the Arsenal team this season after it looked as though his career in north London could be over following an incident against Crystal Palace when he was substituted in one of Unai Emery's final games as manager..
Alongside the rejuvenated Swiss international, some of the Gunners' younger players have been their best performers with William Saliba, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, who are all 21, starring.
Arteta's squad has an average age of 24.43 years, and he has admitted he needed to implement certain methods first that were more on the soft side before challenging his players and it seems he has got the response he wanted that has made him proud.
He says that the squad now need him to challenge them to reach their full potential, and ensure they are being pushed to their maximum.
"During this period they needed someone to hold their backs and make them feel protected and give them something they could hold onto," he told Sky Sports.
"Now they need someone who is going to challenge them to the next stage and is going to really push them to fulfil their potential.
"I am proud. Especially about one thing. We had a club that was in a difficult state and today we have a club that I think we can feel proud of."
READ NEXT :
Arsenal predicted XI vs Wolves as Oleksandr Zinchenko starts but Tomiyasu not ready
Full Arsenal squad revealed for Wolves clash as Mikel Arteta faces Takehiro Tomiyasu decision
Edu out for Bruno Guimaraes Arsenal transfer revenge with £30m bid for ideal midfielder transfer
Full list of Arsenal players going to Qatar 2022 World Cup including Fabio Vieira decision
Arsenal news and transfers LIVE: Latest news, rumours and gossip from the Emirates Stadium
