MANCHESTER CITY fought hard to keep hold of Mikel Arteta when Arsenal came calling in December 2019.
The feeling at the Etihad was that their Spanish No2 would be a possible to successor to Pep Guardiola whenever he left.
Ironically this week, life after Pep came into focus when the City boss suggested he could go at the end of his current deal in 2023.
That saw speculation over who could take over from the former Barcelona boss – with Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Pochettino among those mentioned.
Not many were talking about Arteta, that’s for sure. And no wonder on the evidence of Arsenal’s shambolic start to the season.
In different circumstances this could have been almost an audition for the former Everton man to put himself in contention for the top job at City.
Yet instead he is battling to save his own skin after another disastrous day for the North London side.
He will know as well as anyone that a game against the champions was the last thing anyone connected to the Gunners needed – knowing their record against them.
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The thumping Carabao Cup win at West Brom in midweek gave him a little bit of breathing space.
But more importantly it’s three straight league defeats, no goals scored and nine goals conceded.
At full-time, the once-mighty Arsenal were bottom of the table.
Assuming he survives it, then after the international break, Norwich are the next visitors to the Emirates. On the face of it, a relegation six pointer.
The travelling Gunners fans were so disheartened they were actually celebrating when Rodri made it 4-0 to the home side.
In the Premier League at least, they have forgotten what that feels like.
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Arsenal fan Piers Morgan tweeted: “Arsenal have given up – no heart, no fight, no nothing. Embarassing.
“How much worse can it get?”
It will be a long two weeks for Arteta after this.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
