No matter what happens with the rest of this season, I hope the Mikel Arteta-Arsenal relationship brings back an era of patience in soccer. In a modern game that has become a microcosm of society's decreasing attention span, owners and fans no longer have the patience to see a manager succeed.
They would rather have instant microwave pizza than cook a gourmet meal.
What if I told you a Premier League team that finished in the top 4 for five straight years and won two FA Cups in that period fired their old manager and hired a new manager that finished 11th, 2nd, then 11th again with no trophies to show for it? What would the fate of that manager be? Modern clubs would probably fire him after the fans demanded his resignation. Well, that anecdote I gave you is the start of Sir Alex Ferguson's career with Manchester United. It took Ferguson four years as United manager to win a FA Cup trophy and seven years to win a league trophy.
Would anyone have that type of patience now? I suspect the answer is no, and that is the problem.
Too many clubs are looking for short-term fixes to long-term problems. It is the equivalence of placing a band-aid over an open gash rather than taking it to the hospital. And you, the fan, are a part of the problem too. Fanbases have become far too impatient, and any extended turbulence will result in a significant portion of the club asking for the manager's head. Many of the same Arsenal fans supporting Arsenal's push to the Premier League trophy were flying the #ArtetaOut banners at the stadium and tweeting the hashtag on social media in December of 2020 when the club was in 15th place, just a year into his tenure.
The most worthy projects take time to build; sports history tells us so.
Managers like Pep Guardiola are an exception. The reality is if you want a Klopp, Ferguson, or Wenger at your club, you have to be willing to give them the time and unwavering support they need to build the team they need. Hopefully, the rise of Mikel Arteta will bring back the resurgence of patience with coaches at the highest level of soccer.
The month of December is giving us non stop boxing, with an event every weekend until Christmas Day. We started this cold month hot with three world title fights on December seventh, with Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs) defeating Liam Paro (25-1, 15 KOs) in a majority decision win to claim the IBF Super Lightweight world title in Puerto Rico....
Another MLS draft is upon us, bringing back fiery debates about whether there is still any value in the system or if it is a complete and utter waste of time. The franchises themselves have long signaled where they stand in that argument. For one, the growing trend of GMs declining to select a player prompted several changes, such as...
On November 9th, two of boxing's biggest future stars will defend their world titles at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Jaron "Boots" Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) defends his IBF welterweight world title against Karen Chuhadzhyan (24-2, 13 KOs), and Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) will be defending his WBC and Ring Magazine super flyweight...
On October 12th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dmitry Bivol (23-0, 12 KOs) and Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) will face off for the undisputed light heavyweight world championship. This is going to be a big night of boxing with a great undercard to get the show started, with the likes of Jai Opetia, Skye Nicolson, and Ben Whittaker fighting, as...
