Mikel Arteta is standing on the brink of greatness. If Arsenal win the Champions League and complete a Double with the Premier League title, it will surely go down as the greatest achievement in a single season by a manager in the club’s history. That would elevate Arteta even above the likes of Arsene Wenger, George Graham, Bertie Mee and Herbert Chapman in terms of European success.
From there, Arteta would have the incredible opportunity to create an era of success and leave a legacy which could make him the greatest of all. Arsenal have never won the Champions League trophy before, and it would elevate the club onto a new level of standing within European football. They would effectively become a European super club, and it would also take Arteta to another level in terms of stature.
Arsenal are one of the great clubs of English football, but the lack of European success — just the 1970 Fairs Cup and 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup — is an oddity because they have won so many domestic trophies. In the Puskas Arena on Saturday night, Arsenal have the opportunity to put that right and become European champions for the first time. That is the tantalising prize and opportunity which awaits Arteta. The Spaniard can approach it with the freedom and confidence from already winning the Premier League title.
Arteta is now just 90 minutes from doing a League and Champions League Double, achieved on these shores only by Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Alex Ferguson (twice) and Pep Guardiola. It would set Arteta apart from the rest.
Back in the 1930s, Chapman was an innovator and arguably built the foundations for Arsenal and what the club has become. Mee was only the second manager to win the League and FA Cup Double when Arsenal did it in 1971 when it still felt incredibly difficult to do. Graham was not only a Double winner as a player but also achieved great success as a manager with two League titles and also the club’s last European trophy with the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup.
Wenger is surely still the greatest manager in Arsenal’s history because he won three titles — including two Doubles — and he won the FA Cup a record seven times. Yet European success eluded him. That is undoubtedly Wenger’s greatest regret. In 2004, Arsenal’s Invincibles were easily the best team in Europe. They won the Premier League unbeaten but, in the space of four days, went out of the FA Cup and crashed out of the Champions League. A Treble went to just one trophy, and that just shows how difficult it is to win multiple trophies in a single season. That is what sets the greats apart.
These debates are so difficult. How can you compare Sir Matt Busby to Jock Stein? Or Bill Shankly to other great Liverpool managers? You can, however, comfortably say that Wenger is up there among the Premier League greats of Guardiola, Ferguson and Jose Mourinho. Guardiola won 20 trophies in ten years while Fergie’s legacy of success surely puts him above Mourinho.
But in Arsenal terms, Arteta has already transformed the club by winning the first title in 22 years. He has a special connection because he captained Arsenal, won the FA Cup and has a wonderful passion for the club. He has already written his name into the history books. However, this is the chance to go to the next level. Arteta took charge in December 2019. Until this season, he only had the FA Cup in 2020 to show for his efforts. If they had finished this season empty-handed, questions would have been asked. Those are the fine margins of football.
But now Arteta has the path and potential for greatness. They have one trophy already. And if he wins a second trophy in his best season, then it will elevate him to sporting immortality.
