Mikel Arteta nearly quit Arsenal in 2020 (Photo by Dan Mullan, Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is now a Premier League champion, but there was a moment early on in his reign that he apparently considered quitting.
The Spanish tactician took over in the 2019/20 season and it took some time for him to really turn the Gunners into a serious team again.
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Early on in the following campaign, Arsenal were in a really poor run of form, winning just once in ten Premier League games between October 17th and December 19th.
According to the Independent, it was around that time that Arteta felt like he’d made “a terrible mistake” and was feeling “very low” about the situation at the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta inherited “toxic” atmosphere at Arsenal
The report also claims that the atmosphere inside Arsenal was described as “toxic” when Arteta took over, with some players clearly having a negative impact.
Although no specific names are mentioned in the report, it sounds like Arteta had to deal with some players who would fake injuries to get out of certain games they didn’t fancy.
Even going back to his time as a player at Arsenal, Arteta apparently noticed the habit of some players to mentally check out before the end of the season and start thinking about their holidays.
Given how bad things were, it’s not surprising that the 44-year-old had serious questions about if he could turn things around after that poor run of form in the winter of 2020.
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