Sports Poets Society

Manager’s first footballing steps in the Basque Country and Barcelona are recalled by those who shared them before he attempts to lead Gunners to further success tonight ‘Mikel caught your attention.  The word I’d use is alive:  give him the ball and he’ll find a solution’ 30 May 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Sid Lowe The way Santi Cazorla tells it, rolling about laughing, Mikel Arteta may just be the worst person you could ever wish to watch a match with. Which is why he knew his friend would be a coach and why he told him to go away and become one, convinced great things were coming. “When we were injured at Arsenal, we used to meet at home for games, and he would grab the remote and pause it,” Cazorla recalls. “I would say: ‘What are you stopping it for?’ He would say: ‘No, go back,’ rewind it 30 seconds, and then ask: ‘What do you see?’ I would say: ‘I see a paused screen. I don’t see anything!’” So Arteta would explain. “‘Don’t you think this player is badly positioned? …...

Passé sur le banc de Paris et d’Arsenal, l’entraîneur d’Aston Villa estime que la finale de Ligue des champions, samedi, va opposer les deux meilleures équipes du monde. "Arsenal joue de manière fantastique" "Moi, j’ai de la chance. J’ai toujours de la chance" 27 May 2026 - L'Équipe EMERY TAISNE À l’aube du choc entre le Paris-SG et Arsenal en finale de la Ligue des champions, samedi, qui de mieux placé qu’Unai Emery pour évoquer ce duel au sommet ? L’entraîneur basque (54 ans) – qui sort d’une saison historique au cours de laquelle il a gagné une cinquième Ligue Europa, avec Aston Villa – a dirigé le club parisien pendant deux ans (2016-2018) avant de prendre la tête des Gunners la saison d’après (2018-2019). Dela métamorphose collective opérée par Luis Enrique au PSG à la maturité tactique d’un Mikel Arteta sacré en Angleterre, il a accepté de s’exprimer sur le rendez-vous de Budapest. Qu’est-ce qui vous surprend le plus? Que le PSG soit en finale de la Ligue ...

First few years of manager’s tenure were far from smooth, but promising young players and his vision led to title ‘It was much better to be the manager  t hat followed the manager who succeeded Wenger’ 21 May 2026 - The Guardian Rob Draper It didn’t start well for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. On a crisp December night in 2019 at about 1am in a Manchester suburb, Vinai Venkatesham stepped out of Arteta’s home. The Arsenal managing director looked around, satisfied with his meeting. Arteta had just outlined a “hugely impressive” five-year plan to rebuild a club reeling from Arsène Wenger’s departure and Unai Emery’s failed succession. Venkatesham stepped into his car and was driven away with his colleague Huss Fahmy. The club were about to take a huge gamble, but one with which they were increasingly comfortable. For many Arsenal executives, Arteta had won the interview round in 2018 when Wenger left. Yet it seemed too much to ask a 36-year-old rookie to manage a seismic transition and ...

TOM JENKINS/THE GUARDIAN  Declan Rice and his teammates did not bottle the game but still came up short The game highlighted one clear problem: Arsenal’s lack of an elite striker.  Havertz held the ball up well, but he’s not a striker 21 Apr 2026 - The Guardian Jonathan Wilson It was probably Arsenal’s best performance in two months, but that will be scant consolation. Manchester City’s win on Sunday leaves Pep Guardiola’s side in control of the title race; they will go top of the Premier League if they beat Burnley at Turf Moor tomorrow evening. Both sides will then have five games to play. Sunday’s game was decided by desperately fine margins. What prevented Eberechi Eze’s whipped shot from just outside the box going in? An inch? Half of one? Gabriel Magalhães also struck the woodwork, while Kai Havertz headed a great chance a fraction over the crossbar in injury time. It was a result that has handed City the advantage in the title race, but it could very easily have been a ...

@ Michael Carrick hugs Amad Diallo after the  new-manager bounce worked its magic again Arsenal should be fine.  They have a good claim to be the best side in the world.  But there will be nibbles of doubt 26 Jan 2026 - The Guardian Jonathan Wilson - @Emirates Stadium And then the gap was down to four points. It is still four points, but the thought that Arsenal will struggle to suppress is that it could have been more, that it should have been more. Manchester City have won only one of their past five in the league, but Arsenal have not opened up clear water. Against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, they failed to take advantage of City slip-ups, drawing both those games 0-0, and that left them vulnerable to a game such as this. From an Arsenal point of view, the title race is disturbingly alive. Arsenal should be fine. They have been the best team in the league so far. They’ve been the best team in the Champions League. They’ve lost only three times all season. They hav...

League leaders have scored a glut of goals from dead balls this season – and they may be about to master throw-ins too 24 Jan 2026 - THE GUARDIAN / Sport Niall Mcveigh Set pieces are dominating the Premier League this season, with almost 30% of goals coming from corners, free-kicks, penalties or long throws. The leaders, Arsenal, are kings of the dead ball, scoring 17 of their 40 league goals from set pieces (including penalties). But what makes Mikel Arteta ’s side so effective in these areas, and what can opponents do to stop them? The data provides some answers. Rice and Saka in the swing Arsenal have scored 19 goals from corners in all competitions this season. Much of the credit for that goes to their primary corner takers, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka . Taking corners from the left with his right foot, Rice has created eight goals, compared with five from Saka , who offers left-foot deliveries from the right. The vast majority of Arsenal’s corners (81%) are in-swinging, and statis...

SHUTTERSTOCK/TOM JENKINS Arsenal’s hard-fought draw at Chelsea  capped a trying but successful week 2 Dec 2025 - The Guardian Jonathan Wilson The gap at the top is five points. Arsenal have now played two of their three toughest away games of the season. They’ve come through a potentially extremely tricky week with reputation enhanced, despite being without one of their starting centre-backs for all three games and both for one of them. If there is any sense of disappointment, it is only that they failed to beat Chelsea, whom they have become accustomed to getting the better of, despite having a man advantage from the 38th minute on Sunday. But really there shouldn’t be any disappointment. Coming out of the international break, having conceded a late equaliser to Sunderland in their previous game, Arsenal looked potentially vulnerable. Despite having been by far the most impressive side this season, their lead over Manchester City was only four points. They were without Gabriel Mag...

Non è né il North né il West London Derby, ma derby lo è eccome. E non solo londinese ma d'Europa. Abbiamo ancora negli occhi la loro luccicante serata di Champions League, e domenica alle 17.30 a Stamford Bridge si affronteranno nel big match che non potrebbe chiudere meglio la 13esima di Premier League. L'Arsenal ci arriva dopo aver strapazzato 4-1 la rivale di sempre, il Tottenham, e 3-1 nientemeno che il Bayern tritatutte (tranne il 2-2 con l'Union Berlin, ndr), alla prima sconfitta stagionale. Il Chelsea dopo aver rifilato 3 gol (e al terzo clean sheet consecutivo) al Barcellona. A differenza dei rispettivi, illustri predecessori del recente passato - le sfide infuocate fra i Gunners di Arsène Wenger e i Blues di José Mourinho appartengono già al folklore della Premier - Mikel Arteta e Enzo Maresca, figliocci tattici di Guardiola, non si detestano amabilmente. Ma hanno tutto per far nascere una nuova, esaltante rivalità; non solo strametropolitana. Nei loro unici d...

The Arsenal forward has been called ‘a bit of a moaner’ by his manager but he has a vital role to play this season 1 Jan 2025 - The Guardian David Hytner Mikel Arteta has warned Liverpool that his Arsenal team are ready to hammer away at the points gap over the second half of the season if they wobble at the top of the Premier League table. Liverpool have surged to the summit on the back of 14 wins from 18 games, with three draws, and they have a commanding nine-point advantage over Arsenal, who are broadly considered to be their likeliest challengers, with both sides having a game in hand on secondplaced Nottingham Forest. Arteta, who takes his team to Brentford today, has urged his players to turn the focus inwards and adopt a remorseless attitude. Arsenal drew 2-2 at home against Liverpool in October. The return at Anfield is scheduled for 10 May, the sides’ thirdlast match of the season. “It doesn’t depend on us,” Arteta said. “But we have to continue to be like a hammer, be there ...