‘Extraordinary’—Mikel Arteta Delivers Telling Reaction to Thomas Frank Sack

Arteta takes on Tottenham in Arsenal’s next Premier League fixture.

Mikel Arteta (left) and Thomas Frank shared some intriguing duels. | Shaun Brooks-CameraSport/Getty Images

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta dropped club rivalries to hail the “extraordinary” Thomas Frank after news of his Tottenham Hotspur exit was revealed on Wednesday morning, while also acknowledging the delicate position of every Premier League boss.

“Well, always very sad news when you have a colleague that doesn’t continue doing his job because Thomas is an excellent coach, he’s an extraordinary man as well and he’s proven that in the league,” Arteta said of the Spurs boss, who was relieved of his duties after steering the club into 16th place following a ruinous run of domestic form.

For all the good will washing Frank’s way from his former foe, Arteta’s thoughts also tellingly turned to his own mortality in this cut-throat industry.

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Arteta: ‘We’re All Vulnerable’

Mikel Arteta’s has steered Arsenal to three second place finishes. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

At this point in time, as Arsenal chase titles on four fronts while opposition managers queue up to call them the best—if not the most exciting—team in Europe, it may seem as though Arteta’s position is untouchable. The mounting speculation surrounding Arne Slot’s position at Liverpool has proven that no manager has any whisper of job security.

“This league is so competitive,” Arteta fretted. “We are all vulnerable because anybody can beat you on the day, you know that. And that’s really tough to manage.

“At the end the percentage of games that you win has to be really high if you want to continue in the job,” the Gunners boss warned. However, if there is any manager who disproves this short-term view of results it’s Arteta and Arsenal.

The Basque boss endured a rocky start to his managerial career. After winning the FA Cup in his first, COVID-riddled campaign, Arteta steered Arsenal to successive eighth-placed Premier League finishes. After losing the first three games of the 2021–22 campaign, Arteta could very feasibly have found himself out of a job. Over the course of his opening 61 Premier League games, the Gunners boss averaged 1.54 points per game, worse than the 1.74 ratio which Enzo Maresca recorded at Chelsea before he parted company with the Blues in January.

Manager (Club)	Premier League Games	Points per Game
Mikel Arteta (First two Arsenal seasons)	61	1.54
Enzo Maresca (Chelsea)	57	1.74
Ruben Amorim (Man Utd)	47	1.23
Thomas Frank (Tottenham)	26	1.12

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How Frank Sacking Will Impact North London Derby

Arsenal face Tottenham next week. | David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

Before Arteta can contemplate another job, he must navigate a north London derby against a new managerial opponent. The list of potential candidates is still very much hypothetical at this stage of the process—although he may be able to eliminate the likes of Harry Redknapp and Tim Sherwood.

Spurs should have appointed at least a stand-in for the remainder of the season by the time they host Arsenal on Sunday, Feb. 22, but Arteta’s preparations will be more inward looking.

“Focus more on us,” was Arteta’s message to his players. “Make sure that what we want to achieve, the way we want to play, the things that we want to happen in the game, that happen many times, in relation or not in relation to what they will do tactically.

“Because then the setup is one thing, the player profile is another thing and the momentum of the game and context is something else. And we have to be able to adapt and recognise that and understand those rules to do what we have to do.”

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