[themaclad]

Arsenal
Deepdale 30/10/2024

https://www.arsenal.com/

MANAGER



Manchester City
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 at Tottenham Hotspur or join Pep Guardiola's coaching team at Manchester City. On 3 July 2016, Arteta was appointed an assistant coach at Manchester City,[60] 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 semi-finals 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.[61] Arteta stood in as Man City manager in a 2–1 Champions League loss against Lyon on 19 September 2018, because of Guardiola's touchline ban.[62] At Man 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 Arsène Wenger, but Unai Emery was eventually hired.[63][64]

Arsenal
2019–22: Early years and FA Cup win
On 20 December 2019, Arteta was appointed head coach at his former club Arsenal, signing a deal until 2023.[65][66] 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."[67] Arteta named his coaching staff on 24 December, with assistants Albert Stuivenberg and Steve Round, and goalkeeping coach Iñaki Caña joining the club. Interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg remained as assistant coach, and goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo stayed to work with Caña.[68][69]

On 26 December 2019, Arteta took charge for the first time as an Arsenal manager for their Premier League match against Bournemouth which ended in a 1–1 draw, thanks to a second half equaliser from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Despite the draw, he stated he was pleased with the "attitude, passion and the fighting spirit" of his players.[70] On 1 January 2020, Arteta got his first win as Arsenal coach: a 2–0 win over Manchester United at the Emirates.[71]

On 18 July 2020, Arsenal beat Arteta's former employer Manchester City 2–0 in the FA Cup semi-final, leading Arsenal to their fourth FA Cup final in seven years, and Arteta's first in charge. Arsenal went on to win the final 2–1 over Chelsea for a record 14th victory, making Arteta the first person to win the FA Cup as both captain and coach of Arsenal.[72] Moreover, he became the first head coach or manager to win a major trophy in his first season in charge of the club since George Graham in 1986–87.[73]

Prior to the start of the 2020–21 season, Arsenal announced that assistant coach Freddie Ljungberg and goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo had departed the club; while assistant coaches Carlos Cuesta and Miguel Molina, and set-piece coach Andreas Georgson joined Arteta's backroom staff.[74] On 29 August, Arteta won his second trophy as manager after Arsenal beat Liverpool 5–4 on penalties in the FA Community Shield.[75] On 10 September, Arteta's role was formally changed from first team head coach to manager, reflecting a wider remit at the club.[76]

On 23 January 2021, Arteta had his first defeat in the FA Cup in his managerial career as Arsenal was knocked out by Southampton in the fourth round, unable to defend the title.[77] On 14 March 2021, Arteta claimed his first victory in the North London derby as a manager thanks to goals from Martin Ødegaard and Alexandre Lacazette in a 2–1 win.[78] That was also Arsenal's first victory over Tottenham since December 2018.[79] In the Europa League, he led Arsenal to the semi-finals, in which they lost 2–1 on aggregate to Unai Emery's Villarreal.[80] Later on, Arsenal finished 8th in the Premier League, and the 25-year run of participating in European competitions came to an end.[81]

In July 2021, set-piece coach Nicolas Jover joined Arteta's coaching team, replacing Andreas Georgson who had departed the club.[82][83] On 13 August, Arsenal started their season with a 2–0 loss to newly promoted Brentford, followed by losses to Chelsea and Manchester City which left the club bottom of the league without a point or a goal, and left Arteta in a precarious position going into the international break.[84][85] Arsenal resisted calls from supporters for Arteta to be sacked, and the club duly went on to win all their league games in September, leading to Arteta receiving his first manager of the month award.[86] On 1 April 2022, Arteta received his second Manager of the Month award and on 6 May extended his contract to the end of the 2024–25 season.[87][88] Having sat in fourth place throughout much of the second half of the campaign, successive defeats away at both Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United in the closing weeks of the season saw Arsenal slip to 5th in the final table, and having to settle for a campaign in the UEFA Europa League for the following season.

2022–24: Title challengers and Champions League return
Arsenal began their 2022–23 campaign with a 2–0 win away to Crystal Palace on 5 August 2022. The victory was Arteta's 50th league win as Arsenal boss, making him the second-quickest manager to reach 50 top-flight wins for the Arsenal after Arsène Wenger.[89][90][91] On 20 August, the Gunners beat Bournemouth 3–0 in matchweek 3. The win vaulted them to the top of the Premier League for the first time since 2016,[92] and ensured it was the first time Arsenal had won their opening three fixtures since the 2004–05 season.[93][94][95] On 27 August, Arsenal beat Fulham 2–1 at Emirates Stadium, marking Arteta's 100th Premier League game in charge.[96][97][98] The Gunners finished the month with a 2–1 win at home over Aston Villa on 31 August. It was the fourth time Arsenal had started a top-flight season with a run of five wins, after 1930–31, 1947–48 and 2004–05.[99][100] Mikel Arteta became the 11th manager to have won the first five games of a Premier League season, after Kevin Keegan, Carlo Ancelotti, Alex Ferguson, Arsène Wenger, Alan Curbishley, José Mourinho, Manuel Pellegrini, Pep Guardiola, Maurizio Sarri, and Jürgen Klopp.[101] After leading the Gunners to wins in all five of their Premier League matches of August, Mikel Arteta was named Premier League Manager of the Month, winning the award for the third time following his previous successes in September 2021 and March 2022.[102][103]

On 16 October 2022, Arteta's side beat Leeds United 1–0 at Elland Road. This was the club's best start to a top-flight campaign as the Gunners had won nine of their first ten league games for the first time ever. The result also moved Arsenal four points clear at the top of the Premier League.[104][105][106] On 6 November, the Gunners beat Chelsea 1–0 at Stamford Bridge. This was Arteta's 87th victory in 150 games in charge of Arsenal – more than any of his predecessors, including George Graham and Arsène Wenger, over the equivalent period.[107][108][109][110] After guiding Arsenal to four wins from four Premier League games in November and December, Mikel Arteta picked up his second Premier League Manager of the Month award of the campaign, winning the award for the fourth time since December 2019.[111][112]

On 22 January 2023, Arteta's side beat Manchester United 3–2 at Home.[113][114][115] The victory put them a five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand, and meant that Arsenal had 50 points from 19 games at the halfway stage of the league season – their best start to a top-flight campaign – 15 more than they had at the same stage last season.[116][117] After leading the Gunners to two wins and a draw in January from their Premier League games against three teams vying for a place in the top four, Mikel Arteta was named Premier League Manager of the Month for the third time this season – the fifth time since December 2019.[118] He was the first manager to win the award in successive months since Manchester City's Pep Guardiola did so in November and December 2021. Arteta also became the first Arsenal manager to win the award three times in a single campaign, which was the first time that had happened in the league since Liverpool's Jürgen Klopp won five in the 2019–20 season.[119][120]

On 12 March, Arsenal beat Fulham 3–0 at Craven Cottage. This was Arteta's 100th win in his 168th game in charge of Arsenal, meaning he has the best win percentage of any Arsenal manager. Arteta said afterwards "there is still a lot to improve."[121][122][123] The following day, he was awarded Manager of the Year at the 2023 London Football Awards.[124][125] He won his fourth Manager of the Month award of the season in March.[126] Following a loss on penalties to Sporting CP after a 2–2 aggregate draw in the UEFA Europa League round of 16, injuries to key players William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu would prove detrimental, as Arsenal's seven-game winning streak spanning from mid-February to early April would derail with three consecutive draws to Liverpool, West Ham United, and bottom-of-the-table Southampton, before a 4–1 loss at the Etihad Stadium to allow second-place Manchester City to capitalise on Arsenal's drop in form.

By 20 May, Arsenal could no longer mathematically win the title after consecutive losses to Brighton[127] and Nottingham Forest, finishing in second-place and handing the title to Manchester City, being crowned Premier League champions for the third consecutive season before completing the continental treble.[128] The team's second-place finish meant Arteta was the first manager since Arsène Wenger six years earlier to guide Arsenal to a Champions League qualification spot, and was the highest position Arsenal had finished in since being league runners-up in 2015–16.[129]

It was reported in July 2023 that assistant coach Steve Round had departed the club.[130][131] Arsenal opened their 2023–24 campaign with a 4–1 victory via penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw against reigning champions Manchester City, winning the 2023 FA Community Shield accounting for Arteta's third trophy as Arsenal manager.[132] On 8 October, Arteta's Arsenal defeated Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium 1–0 to end Arsenal's 12-game straight losing run against City in the Premier League.[133] Arteta's 200th game as Arsenal manager came on 25 November, which saw Arsenal win 1–0 away at Brentford to take top spot of the Premier League for the first time in the season.[134] On 29 November, Arteta led Arsenal to the Champions League knockout stages for the first time since 2016–17, following a 6–0 win over Lens to win Group B.[135] Arteta was named Premier League Manager of the Month for February due to Arsenal's 100% win record throughout the month as well as scoring 18 goals in the process.[136] In the Champions League round of 16, Arsenal defeated Porto on penalties to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time since 2009–10.[137] On 12 May 2024, Arsenal defeated Manchester United in a 1–0 away win at Old Trafford to secure 27 wins in the 2023–24 campaign at that point, the most for a 38-game season in the club's history; surpassing the record set by the Invincibles in the 2003–04 season.[138]

On 12 September 2024, Arteta extended his contract to remain Arsenal manager for three years.[139]

LAST ROUND





PREVIOUS MEETINGS



64 years since our last victory

NEWBIES



IN FORM



THE BOSS

Paul Heckingbottom knows PNE face the “toughest of challenges” on Wednesday night when Arsenal come to Deepdale, but he wants his side to enjoy the opportunity.

The Lilywhites will go head-to-head with the Premier League title challengers as the two battle for a place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

North End will be cheered on by a packed-out home crowd who will be hoping their side can cause a famous upset, following the victory over Fulham in the previous round.

Hecky said: “It’s a good occasion because it’s one of the best teams in the country and it’ll be a full house.

“It’ll be a great atmosphere, testing yourself against the best of opposition. It’s one that I think everyone’s looking forward to as a club. It’s sort of a reward for past performances.

“If you deliver, and we know we’d have to give a great performance and be really strong, be clinical at one end and be really strong at the other end – similar to Fulham – then who knows what could happen.”

The Gunners are, on paper, a level above North End’s third round opponents, having come within two points of the Premier League title last season.




They’re pushing for the crown again this term, while they’ll also be keen to lift the Carabao Cup for the first time since 1993.

PNE will be looking to get in their way and will head into Wednesday night believing they can take the game to the visitors from the capital.

“You can win any game on any given day,” he said. “That’s what we have to try and do.

“I think it’s about enjoying it and enjoying the challenge of who we’re playing against and enjoying the occasion at Deepdale. That’s everyone. It’s not just us and the players; it’s the fans as well.

“Enjoy the occasion because that’s the calibre of opposition we want to play against week in, week out, but we’re not there so we need to grab these opportunities with both hands.

“Mikel [Arteta] will certainly make changes because there’ll be one or two players who he wants to protect, similar to us in that respect. His changes are full international players and we know whatever 11 he picks, we know roughly the set-up and how they’re going to approach the game.

“We also know the standard and the quality of player, and with that the mentality that they bring as a team. It’s the toughest of challenges without a doubt, but that’s what we want, and that’s why we should be enjoying this opportunity to play against that.”

The Lilywhites will unfortunately be without Robbie Brady, who was forced off in the first half against Plymouth Argyle, and he’s not expected to be back in action for a number of weeks.


“He's going to be out for a while,” confirmed the gaffer. “He jumped for a header and, as he was coming down, he’s landed on the lad’s foot and he’s flipped his ankle so all his weight’s come down on a lopsided ankle.

“He’s got ligament damage there so it’s going to be weeks. We’re going to be without him for a while which is disappointing because we were really pleased with him.

“I had to wait a while to get Robbie back through internationals and little calf niggles, and I’ve really liked how he’s been playing. He’s been a big part of it so the only thing we can do, and Robbie can focus on, is making sure that when he’s back, he comes back in the same place as where we left him.”

The Fitness Test
After being forced off in Saturday's draw against Plymouth Argyle, Robbie Brady is set to miss a number of weeks due to ligament damage in his ankle.

PNE were boosted by the return of Brad Potts at Home Park and he'll be in contention again on Wednesday, for what would be the 500th appearance of his career if he features.

Josh Bowler missed out through illness but is expected to be back available. Ched Evans, Patrick Bauer and Will Keane remain sidelined.

The Gunners

It’s a historic meeting at Deepdale on Wednesday night as the only two teams in English history to go a full league season unbeaten go head-to-head.

Just over 21 years on from their Invincibles season, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners are once again aiming for the Premier League title, after narrowly missing out to Manchester City in the previous campaign.

In the third round – a 5-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers – Arsenal fielded a mixture of youth and experience, with five youngsters handed their full debuts, while there were also starts for the likes of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Declan Rice.

The Officials

Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistant Referees: Edward Smart and Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth Official: Tony Harrington

Peter Bankes will take charge of his first PNE match since January 2023, when Arsenal’s North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur came to Deepdale.

So far this season, Bankes has refereed six matches – five of those coming in the Premier League – and within that time he has shown 31 yellow cards.

[b]MACS VIEW

This all depends on who the Gunners play, stacks of injuries important fixtures at home and Europe, they mixed and matched in the last round won easily, they could do the same tomorrow night but Arteta did say they were tird last week, so could e theire elite youth side playing us.
If that is the case then we have a chance if it's a fairly strong side then it should be them.
My hope is that we have a go instead of our let's wait and see attitude that has happened over the years.
/b]

[themaclad]

Preston North End 0 Arsenal 3 Jesus, Nwaneri, Havertz



Attendance: 21,811 (5,642 Arsenal fans).

Referee: Mr P Bankes.



Sadly the gap between the elite clubs and the rest of us is massive as last night showed, thought we might have a chance and then you see the Gunners line up and you realise that you don't.
A rainy night in Preston, excellent large away support and a chance to watch a decent team.
They dominated the ball for basically the first 20 minutes although we probably had the chance to go 1 up, free kick which Lindsay headed over, possibly could have done better.
Soon after the first went in, looked a soft free kick, ball to back post headed back to Jesus, right foot 10 yards up in it does, the second was different gravy Sterling did well to keep the ball in, ball eventually ended up at the feet of 17 year old Nwaneri bent it in, this lad is impressive.
Manage to survive until half time when they brought on Havertz and Partey which really is taking the piss, actually we did actually come into the game a bit more with Okkels starting for the first time showing what a decent player we may have bought.
He did give them a few difficulties forced the keeper into a save, Riis was also unlucky couldn't get enough direction on a shot, however by that time we were three down, Havertz having buried a header.
Nwaneri hit the top of the bar, Watmough also headed against his own bar, rode our look a bit, but we saved the best to last, Sterling six yards out after they had ripped through , goal bound shot superbly cleared off the line by Potts.
Put it down to experience and onto Brizzle.

THE BOSS

Paul Heckingbottom felt his side got stronger as the Carabao Cup tie against Arsenal went on.

North End were beaten in the fourth round of the competition by the Gunners, as the Premier League title challengers left Deepdale with a 3-0 victory.

The side from London were two goals up at the break thanks to Gabriel Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri, before Kai Havertz made it three to all but seal their place in the quarter-finals.



Hecky said: “We worked really hard. I thought as the game went on, we got stronger.

“We obviously changed shape at half-time and it gave us a better footing in the game. We were better with the ball in the second half and it would have been nice to get a goal that I think our play deserved in the second half.

“You can certainly see their quality. Arsenal produced exactly what I expected before the game, no surprises, probably even more so once I saw the teamsheet.

“They’re a really intense team and their levels very rarely drop, and you could see that tonight.”

Mikel Arteta chose a strong squad to line up at Deepdale and they took control of the game in the early stages, as they enjoyed the majority of possession.


A change of shape at half-time by the Lilywhites, though, meant they enjoyed more forays forward and came close to scoring on a few occasions, with Jeppe Okkels arguably the liveliest player on the night.

Hecky said: “In the first half we worked really hard without the ball but couldn’t get much control even when they had the ball. Having said that, the first goal from our point of view is really poor.

“It’s a free-kick in a very similar position to a corner and we’re all marking different players to who we should be and then it just drops in. It’s a second ball. It’s really poor. Regardless of how much possession they’ve had, it’s a cheap goal.

“Their second and third goals are unreal and showed the quality they have. At half-time, we changed shape, the challenge from us was to show how good we are with the ball.

“I thought in the first half that’s what let us down really. Not the effort, not the energy, not the work-rate. We were too loose and gave the ball away too cheaply, too quickly and second half we moved it much better.”

The manager opted to make six changes from the weekend’s draw against Plymouth Argyle, with chances offered to the likes of Okkels and Josh Bowler.

Hecky said: “We’ve got seven games in three weeks so there’s not a chance we could play to any sort of level like that physically with 11 players, so every game we’ve changed players.

“We’ve suffered an injury to Robbie [Brady] which means that we probably need a lot more from our wingers who’ve not been involved as often lately. We need them to come and seize the opportunity.

“All in all, it was a team and energy-wise to compete as best we could tonight, but likewise we needed to give players to minutes to strengthen us in future games and also take minutes off players who are maybe carrying one or two little injuries at the minute.”