Arteta had three options upon retirement. He was offered to lead the Arsenal Academy, by Arsène Wenger, join Mauricio Pochettino's - his team-mate from PSG - backroom staff or join Pep Guardiola's coaching team at Manchester City. In 2016, Arteta was appointed an assistant coach at Manchester City, alongside Brian Kidd and Domènec Torrent, who operated as deputies to Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola and Arteta first met at the Barcelona academy, although Guardiola was already established in the first team, being 11 years older than Arteta. Since then the two kept in touch. Guardiola was convinced Arteta – who was an Arsenal player at the time – would make a good coach when he called him to get information on Chelsea, prior to their 2012 Champions League semifinals against Barcelona.
In 2015, when Guardiola was exiting Bayern Munich, Arteta, in his final year as a player, re-connected and decided to work together.
Arteta stood in as Man City manager in a 2–1 Champions League loss against Lyon on in September 2018, because of Guardiola's touchline ban.
At Manchester City, Arteta won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, and two EFL Cups.
In 2018, Arteta became strongly linked with the Arsenal manager's vacancy, following the departure of his former manager Arsene Wenger, but Unai Emery was eventually hired.
The reign Unai Emery met a sad end and On December 20, 2019, Arteta was appointed head coach at former club Arsenal, signing a deal until 2023.
Upon his appointment, he stated that he believed the club had lost direction and that he didn't want players to shirk responsibility: “I want people to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club. Anyone who doesn’t buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture”.
Arteta received a side, which was needed a lot of polishing and motivation. It was not the Gunners in which Arteta used to play – one of the best in Europe. Rather, it is a side, which leak goals easily, messy at the center of the park and the frontline lacked the spark.
Arteta took the challenge to fix the Gunners and despite the failures, he stuck to his plans.
The English Premier League did not go according to the plans but there was the FA Cup from where and his unit can seek inspiration for the future build-up.
The Gunners, astonishingly, advanced to the finals of the FA Cup where the big guns like Manchester City and Liverpool failed to cut a satisfactory figure.
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea were in better shape than the Gunners and expected to fare well.
Never has an FA Cup win been so important for Arsenal.
This was a record-setting 14th success for the north London club, and it is one that could make the summer a much more enjoyable experience for Gunners fans around the world.
Two goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw Arsenal come from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley and ensured they did not suffer the embarrassment of missing out on European football next season for the first time in 25 years.
Christian Pulisic gave the Blues the lead, but Arteta, the man, who knows how to bounce back because as a player he experienced it back in 2014.
Before the 2014 FA Cup final against Hull City, when he was the captain, everybody connected to the club could feel the weight of nine-year trophy drought.
Arsenal were 2-0 down after eight minutes and it would have been three had Kieran Gibbs not cleared off the line from Alex Bruce. The Gunners pulled the match out of the fire - Santi Cazorla’s 17th-minute free-kick changed the game completely and, slowly but surely, with the maximum of drama, Arsenal clawed their way to a 3-2 extra-time victory.
There was no such drama at Wembley yesterday. Neither was there any presence of crowd and noise. But the tension was palpable and the Blues crippled by injuries and some dodgy decisions from the referee, Arsenal exploited it and went on to lift the FA Cup for a record fourteenth time.
Aubameyang is the hero who painted London red and believes Arsenal’s FA Cup triumph can persuade Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to sign a new contract at the north London club. Arteta plans to build things around Aubameyang.
“He knows what I think about him, I want to build a squad around him,” said Arsenal’s manager. “I want him to stay, it’s about getting the deal done.”
Despite negotiations proving inconclusive, Arteta remains confident Arsenal have shown their star striker sufficient love to ensure he sticks around. “I think moments like this will help him to believe we are on the right path and he is a big part of it. He is loved by everyone at the club. I think he will [stay].”
Aubameyang, though, was giving little away. When asked if he would be signing a new contract, the forward said there was “nothing” he could reveal. “Just the trophy, that is it,” he said before, to the amusement of his teammates, proceeding to drop the Cup.
“He needs more experience with trophies,” joked Arteta who praised his players’ resilience in fighting back after falling behind. “I knew the challenge when I took the decision to come here. We had to change the mentality. But now this team have made me proud and after we can win titles together.”
The FA Cup success was much needed for Arteta to plan for the 2020-21 season, which would get started within 42 days, and then there would be the UEFA Europa Cup, where a successful journey is needed to rejuvenate the Gunners.
Finally, Arteta has a reason to smile, but still a lot of work left to be done.
Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 02/08/2020 FA Cup: Mikel Arteta smiles
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