How Arteta is faring compared to Arsenal board objectives for this season

When Arsenal appointed Mikel Arteta in December 2019, the Spaniard was open in the discussions he had held with the club’s owners.

"We need to be competing for the top trophies in the game," Arteta said at his unveiling.

"That's been made very clear to me in my discussions with [owners] Stan and Josh Kroenke and the senior people from the club.

"We all know there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that but I am confident we'll do it.

"I'm realistic enough to know it won't happen overnight, but the current squad has plenty of talent and there is a great pipeline of young players coming through from the academy."

In the proceeding 14 months, Arteta’s time in the Emirates dugout has gone through it’s fair share of ups and downs.

After a tumultuous end to Unai Emery’s tenure, his replacement helped to steady the ship, ultimately ending the season with the Gunners finishing in 8th.

But it was in the FA Cup that Arteta achieved his greatest feat thus far, beating Manchester City in the semi final, before overcoming Chelsea in the final.

This season hasn’t been plain sailing however. The Gunners got off to their worst start in almost half a century and fell perilously close to the relegation zone in December.

Arteta’s position came under intense scrutiny before an up-turn in form over the festive fixture schedule helped to reduce some of the pressure on his shoulders.

The Gunners currently sit in the lower half of the table and are eight points off the top-six with the battle for European spots looking to be a difficult one.

According to the Athletic, Arsenal’s board set out very clear objectives that Arteta needed to achieve in his first season-and-a-half in north London.

It was claimed the priority for his first campaign was to ‘finish in a respectable position’, challenge for a Europa League spot and ‘instill a culture’.

And while he ticked those three off, he is in danger of falling short in his first full season.

Champions League qualification was set out as a priority for the 2020/21 campaign, although technical director Edu hinted that the coronavirus pandemic may have shifted the goalposts.

At the time of his hiring, there was said to be little pressure to achieve immediate success, with Edu’s recent comments about building for a ‘magical future’ tying in with that.

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