October 08, (THEWILL) – After managing his team’s stunning turnaround in form, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been voted Premier League manager of the month for September.
It is a twist of fortune for a manager whose season began in the most dreadful manner possible when they lost all three games in August, shipped a bucketful of goals without scoring at home and away. But, after suffering their worst start to a season in 67 years, their fortunes turned in September with three consecutive victories.
Arsenal started the season with back-to-back 1-0 wins over Norwich and Burnley, before thrashing Tottenham in a one-sided north London derby at the end of the month.
“It’s a great feeling, it means we went on a good run and won matches. But for me it’s much more than that. It’s about the people involved, the people who work with me and how grateful I am to have them,” Arteta said, via the Premier League’s official website.
“The level of trust, implication and passion that they show working alongside me every day, that gives me the strength and then the belief in the players that they can do it, and that they are good enough to win matches and that we believe in them.
“I said it after the [Spurs] game, it’s the best atmosphere I’ve seen at the Emirates. It was electric, it was real, it was honest and it was a real sense of chemistry between our supporters and the team.
“And it was the perfect day to thank them. A few weeks earlier when we were under adversity and criticism they really stood for the team and it was a way for the team to say, ‘Thank you, you are a big part of our time and we need you, and when you are alongside us look at what we can do.’”
Arteta’s award makes him the sixth Spaniard to win manager of the month, joining Pep Guardiola, Rafa Benitez, Roberto Martinez, Quique Sánchez Flores, and Javi Gracia as the only other Spaniards to do so.
It makes Spain the country with the most managers who have won the prize of any non-British nation.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
