Top 10 Amazing Facts about Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta interview with club officials, By ArsenalTVHD – Wikipedia

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta Amatriain is a professional football manager and former player from Spain. He was born on March 26, 1982. Arsenal of the Premier League is under his management. Here are the top amazing facts about Mikel Arteta

1. He played as a midfielder before retiring

Before he retired from football, Mikel Arteta had a key role as a midfielder. He has experience with Real Sociedad, Everton, Arsenal, and Rangers. The final team he played for before retiring and deciding to pursue coaching as a vocation was Arsenal. When Pep Guardiola was the head coach at Manchester City, he joined the team and functioned as the assistant manager. But as everyone knows now, he returned to Arsenal, although this time he was the head coach rather than a player.

2. His wife is a former Miss Spain

Lorena Bernal Pascual, modelo, actriz y presentadora de televisión, By BeatrizRodriguezTIK – Wikipedia

The stunning former Miss Spain, Lorena Bernal, is Mikel Arteta’s wife. When she was just 17 years old, she won the title in 1999. She has appeared in several shows, including CSI: Miami, as an actress. The three sons that Lorena Bernal and Mikel Arteta share were born in 2009, 2012, and 2015.

3. He was rated as the sixth most effective player in the Premier League in 2006–07 by the official player rating system the Action Index

According to the official player evaluation system, the Action Index, he was ranked as the sixth most valuable player in the Premier League in 2006–07. At Arsenal, Arteta assumed his old deeper midfield position. Due to his technique, skill, vision, passing, awareness, and tactical intelligence, he thrived as the playmaker for his team. In the 2006–07 league season, he finished third with 12 assists, behind only Cesc Fàbregas and Cristiano Ronaldo. Even though, he was the most fouled player in the Premier League with 100 fouls committed against him in the same season.

4. He was regarded to be a player in the style of Pep Guardiola

In the Barcelona youth system, Arteta first played as a number 10 but was later moved to a “pivot” or defensive midfielder since he was regarded to be a player in the mold of Pep Guardiola. 

Pep Guardiola is the current manager of the Premier League team Manchester City and a former professional football player from Spain. He owns the records for the most consecutive league games won in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and the Premier League, and is regarded as one of the best managers of all time. Guardiola was a defensive midfielder who usually played in a deep-lying playmaker’s role.

5. He has improved the performance of the Gunners

Arteta playing for Arsenal in 2012, By wonker from London, United Kingdom – Wikipedia

There were high expectations for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal before the 2021–22 Premier League season even started.  Arsenal invested more than £140 million in new players. The team has improved in performance under some shrewd management by Mikel Arteta. This might be influenced by the following reason; massively improving the defense and tactical switches.

6. He has received various accolades and honors

Arteta has received many accolades and honors as both a player and manager. Some of them include the following;  As a player, the following are the honors and accolades that he has received; UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2001, Scottish Premier League: 2002–03, Scottish League Cup: 2002–03, FA Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15, FA Community Shield: 2014, 2015 and as a manager they include the following; FA Cup: 2019–20, FA Community Shield: 2020, Premier League Manager of the Month: September 2021, March 2022, August 2022.

7. He is one of the best players in modern times to be omitted a senior international cap

Arteta playing for Everton in 2011, By BohemianFC from Dublin, Ireland –Wikipedia

Arteta played at a time when Spain had several high-quality players available in his position. He is frequently regarded as one of the best players in contemporary times to have gone without a senior international cap. 

When Arteta retired, he was promptly added to Pep Guardiola’s coaching team, and in 2019, he was picked as the next manager of Arsenal over far more seasoned competitors, which says a lot about how highly regarded he is. The fact that Arteta was never given a chance to play speaks eloquently about the abundance of tremendously excellent midfielders Spain has at their disposal.

8. He had three options upon his retirement

Mikel Arteta interview with club officials, By ArsenalTVHD – Wikipedia

When Arteta retired, he had three choices. He has been given the choice of joining Arsène Wenger’s coaching staff at Arsenal, Mauricio Pochettino’s (his PSG teammate) backroom staff at Tottenham Hotspur, or Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City. Along with Brian Kidd and Domènec Torrent, who served as Pep Guardiola’s assistant coaches at Manchester City, Arteta was hired on July 3, 2016, to fill that position. Due to Guardiola’s touchline suspension, Arteta managed Man City in their 2-1 Champions League defeat at Lyon on September 19, 2018. Arteta earned two Premier League crowns, one FA Cup, and two EFL Cups while playing for Man City. Following the resignation of his former manager Arsène Wenger in 2018, Arteta was closely associated with the position of Arsenal manager, but Unai Emery was ultimately appointed.

9. He was involved in the Amazon Original sports docuseries All or Nothing

Arteta took part in the Amazon Sports Original docuseries All or Nothing: Arsenal, which followed the club’s 2021–22 season by spending time with its players, coaches, and staff off the field and in the locker rooms.  Additionally, he contributed to All or Nothing: Manchester City. The series followed the development of English Premier League team Manchester City throughout the 2017–18 campaign, during which they won two of the four trophies up for grabs and set numerous Premier League performance-related records.

10 He can speak up to 7 languages

Mikel Arteta interview with club officials, By ArsenalTVHD – Wikipedia

Arteta is fluent in four languages: Spanish, Basque, Catalan, and English. He speaks a considerable amount of French, Italian, and Portuguese in addition to the other three languages. Due to their job requirements, managers typically need to speak multiple languages. This is because they frequently travel and may be responsible for managing clubs in various nations.  Therefore, it is a crucial managerial ability for Arteta to know the seven languages.