Burnwinter I was definitely worried when he was stamping his authority on the dressing room and there seemed to be quite a few cracks showing. But each time, it was very noticeable how the bulk of our squad seemed content with his big decisions.
I think in years to come we might see a few issues emerge, but Arteta appears to be an ideal leader for the young and buoyant squad he's built.
That never really concerned me to be honest. I thought the decisions he had to make were clear, be it down to a lack of quality, or buy in from the crop he'd inherited. Even during the Christmas of 20/21 season, and the slump at the end of that season, I thought it was pretty clear the squad needed serious improvement and he deserved time. The recruitment that Summer and the profile of players bought him that, as well as the unprecedented circumstances he'd faced, but what I probably didn't expect, is the tune he would get out of some of the players we already had (Xhaka).
The clubs biggest mistake at that point, and what probably held us back in some way, was the resigning of Aubameyang of course. Personally, I wasn't against getting what we could for him and continuing a rebuild, but how could they not resign him on the back of the 19/20 season.
I would say, if my confidence in him ever waned slightly, it would probably have been around those away defeats in Christmas '21. It was his team by that point, and we were looking to move away from that rigid system, and some of the football wasn't great. Having looked back at the form though, it was very much a bump in the road.
Shelf life of a manager is always a concern. You only have to look at Klopp. How Arteta goes about managing that and continue the buy in from the squad will be interesting. Worry about that at a later point though.
