Mikel Arteta says he’s found it difficult watching David Moyes’ managerial struggles in recent years after establishing such a strong bond with the Scot during their time together at Everton.
Arteta moved to Goodison Park on loan in January 2005 and had an instant impact as the Toffees secured Champions League football. They would finish 5th in two further campaigns before Arsene Wenger lured Arteta to the Emirates in 2011.
Despite going their separate ways, Arteta has regularly credited Moyes for giving him the tools to succeed on and off the pitch and he’s pleased his old mentor is enjoying such a successful season at West Ham.
“I suffered when he had a difficult time because I didn’t think it was very fair on him that he was given no time in some places,” he said ahead of Sunday’s clash at the London Stadium.
“I know about his qualities and I’m glad to see that now he is enjoying it and doing what he is really good at. I can see his team being what he is and what he likes to do.”
He added: “He was the one that introduced me to the Premier League and he has been a huge influence.
“First of all on a personal level because I think he made me a better person, made me mature in the earlier stages of my career.
“He was really demanding and challenging but at the same time really, really supportive.
“I learned a lot as well as a footballer, I think he made me a much more complete player, he made me play in different positions and gave me a lot of responsibility as well. I have great memories with him and we had some great times together.”
Heading into the game, Arsenal are seven points behind the Hammers and desperately need a win to maintain any chance of qualifying for Europa via the league. Arteta is wary of the threat facing his players given the extra time off enjoyed by Moyes’ players.
“I think they have a really strong squad and they have a great manager and coaching staff,” he said.
“They started the season with some doubts but I know what David is capable of doing. He gets the group together, they’re working really hard for each other, they’ve recruited really well and you can start to see the things that David has done.
“Obviously they have a little bit more time during the week to prepare football matches and training, and I think they’ve been in great form and they’re a really dangerous team.”
For his part, Moyes has been similarly positive about Arteta’s work at Arsenal. While the Gunners have flattered to deceive domestically, the Scot thinks the project is moving in the right direction.
On Friday, he said: “The one thing Mikel has got is a great playing experience and he understands the club from that point of view, and he worked under a great manager in Arsene Wenger there.
“He also had the chance to do a couple of years watching Pep Guardiola working at Manchester City, so he had a great opportunity to learn from that, but then he has to go on and become his own person as well.
“I think Arsenal were going to take a little bit of time to develop. I don’t think that was something he could do overnight and change, but I think they’re starting to look as if they’re going in the right direction.
“The one thing you have to say about Mikel is that they won the FA Cup and Community Shield last summer, so what a great start for any young manager to already have two trophies under his belt.
“So, he’s had a great start in his early managerial career and I have no doubt he’ll go on and on.”
I’ve always though Moyes was underestimated and never given the credit he deserved. We need to be on good form because he has WH playing as a cohesive unit.
It’s all about finding your level. He was good at Everton but United was too much. And West Ham seems to be a perfect match. It was like Brendan at Liverpool. Just a bit too high a standard and expectations.
A lot of British managers seem to have a ceiling like this.
I don’t think he was given enough time for us to say Man U was too much. His stats compared to those who came after him for the same period of time puts him in and around where they were. But the impatience that the execs showed ended his experience. Who knows what he’d have done with more time.
Maybe. I just think for some managers, less is more. Moyes excels with little money and low expectations. Give him £150m to spend and he wouldn’t know what to do with it. Well he would. He’d buy Fellaini.
Anichebe for 139M would be a great start
Actually Fellaini was an excellent player at Everton which is why we were linked with him and Man Utd signed him. However he somehow never lived up to his reputation after the move.
Yeah, but just signing players from your former club shows a lack of creative thinking.
You don’t see Klopp raiding Dortmund or Pep taking Bayern players with him. But average managers like Redknapp do it everywhere they go as they aren’t able to adapt to their new surroundings without familiar faces.
Johnny, I find you to be very insightful at times and appreciate your epigrammatic comments. This time I would disagree or at least find each aspect of that comment somewhat myopic.
Ok, there are two words I don’t understand there.
So basically you’re calling me a legend, right?
No, a genius who just missed the mark this time
That’s mostly because EPL is a lot more physical than the others. Pep said this when he signed Thiago at Bayern:
“I spoke to club [sic] about my concept and told them why I want Thiago. He is the only player I want. It’ll be him or no one.”
And Klopp of course joined Liverpool together with Buvac, and the pair had worked together for 18 years straight across 3 different clubs.
That 2013 united squad remain the worst side to have won the premier league in the competition’s history. I have every belief that had Van Persie not cut and run after so many years of patience from Arsene, he would have led us to the title in 2013-14 instead. Possibly the spaniard was bought with the funds from the purchase but can you imagine the link up between him getting on the end of passes from Carzola? Moyes inherited a turd, a team full of egos, most of which were past it by then. And with David Gill departing at… Read more »
On the other hand you look at the link up between RvP and the over hyped very underperforming right hand side of Chamberlain and Jenkinson (for a champions league team that was criminal negligence) and see that him staying might not have been enough.
We were not ambitious as a club. The manager was so intent on playing his players into form even if it took the full length of their contract.
Exactly, Cazorla was bought to replace Van Persie not play alongside.
We never showed any interest is complementing either him or Fabregas with the quality required to actually compete for the league let alone win it.
The aim was always maximum income at minimum expense.
There was no comparison between Cazorla and RVP who were completely different types of players in totally different positions so your comment is total nonsense
With Arsene you can never know. We spent the whole summer chasing an out and out 9 Higuain, 40M+1 then boom Ö
Cazorla was one of a trio of players bought to replace van Persie in 2012 and Fabregas and Nasri in 2011
Maximum income?? With our record in selling players??
Via Champions League qualification not player sales
I think it was Podolski who was bought to replace RVP, not Santi
Utter rubbish.
Yes, I think you’re right. We shouldn’t get too fixated about managerial “failure” at Utd and “finding levels” of competence etc. The reality is that no manager after Ferguson has succeeded simply because they are all compared to him and his record – and, of course, found wanting (who wouldn’t be?). It happened at Utd previously after Busby of course – until Ferguson arrived. Boards get the wind up when their “new man” isn’t a MkII version. That’s the curse, if you like, of having a very famous, successful, long-term manager with no real succession planning in place. In a… Read more »
Actually football is always about predicting levels and finding them. Zaha wasn’t good enough to play for United. But he’s too good for Palace. So he needs an Everton or a Tottenham. Pepe was wonderful in an ok French team but not so much at an elite sports club. The same applies to managers. If you can’t keep a squad that just won the league in the top four then you’re just not good enough to be at that club. It’s why Sean Dyche can do a great job at Burnley but never be offered a top position. You need… Read more »
No, I don’t agree. Players and managers are different in this context and we’re talking about managers, aren’t we? My point is that Moyes wasn’t given an adequate opportunity at Utd because of the extra and increased pressure on him (and the managers who succeeded him there) of always having to “live up to Sir Alex” without being Sir Alex, without using his methods etc. When a long-term, successful, manager leaves there’s almost always a slump and Boards should be patient enough to give the new man a fair chance – but usually they’re not as we know. Utd’s weren’t,… Read more »
Ok, when Moyes wins a major trophy I’ll completely change my stance.
But we both know that he won’t.
Zaha transitioned from being an immature yet admirable talent into…we only know what he grew into based on the size of the pot that his growing plant was transplanted into.
But, we’re talking managers here and that’s different. For example, very successful players rarely turn into very successful managers. It requires a different skill set that most players don’t have and “predicting levels and finding them” for managers is not as clear cut it may be with players because there are a lot more factors involved with management – as I’m sure our manager is find out only too quickly.
Managers in football are often not given enough time to show what they can do, particularly in big clubs and particularly if they follow a long-term, successful, manager.
You obviously haven’t been watching Pepe in recent matches
You mean like Alex Ferguson….
Why would British managers have a ceiling?
Saying British managers have less capabilities than managers from other countries, is straight up xenophobia, your claim stands up to no real type of scrutiny
Success is relative to the hand you’ve been dealt, and your potential has nothing to do with where you were born
https://twitter.com/DeludedBrendan I’ll think you find Brendan set up Liverpool to win and Klopp got the benefit. Then went to Celtic and did amazingly. See the Twitter account if you have any doubts.
Sure, Klopp came in and immediately won the league in his first season, so it was because of Rogers. Oh.
I think it’s about being given the time to develop your ideas and that was his problem at Man Utd, Louis Van Gaal found the same issues and he’s not from these islands.
Yes, you’re right. It’s about being given time.
I mostly agree about Moyes, but it is unlikely that anyone could have succeeded as Ferguson’s successor at Man United. Even more so, since Ferguson’s last team was pretty crap and still won the league–a crash was inevitable. One factor that we shouldn’t underestimate in Moyes’ success this year, is the absence of fans. West Ham supporters, like those of several other clubs (including Man United and Spurs), think of their teams as attacking, adventurous outfits (rightly or wrongly). Fans’ pressure at home would make it more difficult to play the kind of cautious (boring) tactics that have paid off… Read more »
Rogers would have won the league with Liverpool of Gerrard hadn’t fallen over. I have always been surprised how much shit he got for 2nd place. Wasn’t like Liverpool were any good before him. Still find him odious though, for some reason.
Please don’t keep repeating the myth about Liverpool losing the title because of a Gerrard slip. They had numerous other opportunities to have become champions but did a “Spurs” and bottled it.
Oh, Everton fwiends.
Totally off topic as usual. But who thinks that the English voice that goes “This is Arsecast extra” on the pod is actually Andrew?
I dunno, there’s something about its cadence that makes me think he’s trying out his vast array of voiceover articulations.
If it is Andrew, he truly is the AMN of voices. If he nails a few helicopter noises, he could totally reboot the police academy franchise.
I thought it was James.
Interesting. Very interesting.
AMN. So versatile he couldn’t actually play in any positions.
Haha! Yeah, now I think of it I’m a very versatile footballer…
I thought it was Alan Partridge.
The AMN of voices… Does that mean he really wants to use the This is Arsecast Extra (Hollywood) voice even when everyone sensible tells him he is better sticking with the voice he has used so naturally before now?
Maybe he could use it on the WBA podcast…
…If they even have the internet in Birmingham.
It is most definitely a recording of James!
Same like the “Byeee-Bye” at the end. I think they spoke about it in the reverse format, behind the Arsecast Extra where James hosted Andrew and asked questions about the pod.
No, it’s not me. It’s https://twitter.com/domoshea
Tomorrow’s a game we really need to win, we can still get into the Europa League places
Gambling on winning the Europa League is basically a coin toss, we’ve got a decent chance, but we shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket
A win tomorrow puts us right in the mix, we should be aiming for at least 60 points
Two managers showing each other appreciation and respect before a game in an act of true sportsmanship. Just like it should be. One for Maureen to watch and learn.
To be fair, he gave the Zagreb boys a clap…
And now we can all sit back and watch the famous Act 3 of “That Mourinho Show”.
Let’s not though! I don’t think that Mou deserves a fair treatment from us. 😀
He always does that in some feeble attempt to display sportsmanship but only after his so called mind games, which are never anything but course and insulting. It’s also a prelude to a press conference where he makes his poorly veiled accusations about refs being on the take, having an agenda against him personally, or both followed by his players are at fault. Players he spends much of his time bullying and breaking down behind the scenes. The man doesn’t have a sporting bone in his body. He doesn’t have a winning bone left in him either. He’s become the… Read more »
The official opening to Act 3 has happened. Lloris’ post-match comments: the team was a disgrace and the team accurately reflects what is happening with the club. That’s their captain (and the World Cup-winning captain) speaking.
I look forward to Mourinho’s success in leading Dijon to the top half of the Ligue 1 table.
Mourinho and his effects on players is now as predictable as sunrise
Anybody wanna fill me in on what happened to Holding? He was massive, signed a new contract, got injured, got back, and hasn’t played since? Why not?
“Mikel Arteta says he’s found it difficult watching David Moyes’ managerial struggles in recent years” – as have the fans of most of the teams he’s coached in that period.
🤮 Get a room boys 😂
Massive game. Really hope and need Saka back for this one.
Yes, they’re above us in the PL so we really need the points to try and close the gap to an EL qualification place. It would be great to see Saka back, but MA may be cautious and not risk the whole 90 minutes if he does appear. I think it will be tight, possibly only a goal in it either way – but, hopefully, our way.
We haven’t kept a clean sheet in our last eleven games – going all the way back to Utd 0-0 end of January. Almost two months – that’s pretty alarming but nobody is really talking about that.
So here’s to a 2-1 win tomorrow.
If Saka doesn’t play tomorrow then the smart move would be for Arsenal to pull him out of the England squad and let him take it easy for the next two weeks.
Yes, that’s a worry – still, it’s got to change sometime (hasn’t it?). As to Saka, I agree that MA probably would withdraw him from the England squad if he’s still recovering.
Considering all aspects, and there are many… who will play? Auba or ESR or Gabi/ Ode/Pepe/ Laca or Gabi or ESR/Ode/Pepe/Laca or Auba or ESR as a 10. Arteta has both very very tough yet exciting choices.
Sorry about the crap formatting making this difficult to read.
Google loading speed freezing the posts?
I used to like Moyes at Everton. He was the anti-Mourinho and used to say positive things about Wenger and Arsenal’s style of play: all the things we loved. Everton was also my preferred side to take up one of the top 4 spots and dump out one of the other big 4 teams in the 2000s.
Reading this just made me realise that Arteta has won more as a manager, than Moyes