Mikel Arteta received a glowing report after leading Arsenal to a 3-1 victory over Tottenham in the north London derby – and the Spaniard was even compared to legendary former manager Arsene Wenger
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Arteta delivers verdict on Arsenal’s win over Tottenham
Gael Clichy has tipped Mikel Arteta to emulate Arsene Wenger’s achievements at Arsenal after he led the club to a brilliant victory over Tottenham.
The Gunners were by far the superior team as they defeated their north London rivals 3-1 in a riveting derby on Sunday evening.
The result further relieves the pressure on Arteta’s shoulders after a rocky start to the season, while he has already proved his quality by winning the 2020 FA Cup early in his reign.
Wenger, meanwhile, won the trophy seven times during his 22 seasons as Arsenal manager and also clinched three Premier League titles, including one during an unbeaten season.
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Clichy knows both men well having played under Wenger at Arsenal for eight years and Arteta for a brief time while the Spaniard was an assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
The French left-back insists Arteta’s time working with Guardiola will pay dividends in the years to come as he praised the 39-year-old following the victory over Spurs.
“Arteta has so much knowledge and he had the luxury to learn from Pep,” Clichy told BBC Radio 5 Live .
“I really believe in the long term he could be the next Arsene Wenger. He is quite young, and I truly believe, given time, he will prove people wrong.”
While Arteta has a long way to go to match Wenger’s deeds in north London, he insists the legendary Frenchman laid the groundwork for future success prior to his departure in 2018.
“I think those foundations are in place,” Arteta told Sky Sports earlier this week. “I think those foundations are in place because of people like Arsene and what he did for this football club.
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“When he left, everything didn’t go with him. A lot of things stayed.
“I think the biggest thing that stayed is the way that he was able to educate, and transmit the values and respect and what this club is about.
“I think he was incredibly good at engaging people to believe in what he and the club were trying to do.
“He did it in a magnificent way because he played really attractive football when he was able to recruit some top talent that just glide together in a generation that just brought a lot of joy and fun to the football world in general and of course to Arsenal supporters.”
Wenger managed Arsenal for a total of 1,235 games and ended his time at the club with a win ratio of 57.2 per cent.
Arteta is 94 games into his tenure having taken over in December 2019 and has won 53.2 per cent of those matches so far.
