Former Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho could see there was something special about Mikel Arteta even early on during his Arsenal reign.
The Spanish tactician left Manchester City’s coaching stuff to take his first management job when there was a vacancy at Arsenal in 2019, and it took some time for him to really make a mark on the team.
Many Arsenal fans will have had their doubts about Arteta at various points, with the team letting fourth spot slip away from a strong position last season, while they were never even really in the race for a Champions League place before that.
Now, however, Arteta has taken Arsenal eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with the north London giants dreaming of a first league title victory in 19 years.
Mourinho came up against Arteta not too long after he took over at the Emirates Stadium, with his Tottenham side winning 2-0 that day, though he made the unusual decision to heap praise on his opposite number after the game.
“I want to give good words and congratulations to Mikel because he gave us a very difficult game,” Mourinho said, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.
“Tactically, they are very good, they were very well organised, they were building with four, defending with five. Then in the second half, they tried to find triangles on the side and they gave us problems, problems that we managed to resolve because the players in this moment have good tactical culture.
“And even above that, they have an incredible spirit, but they gave us problems because they are a good team and he (Arteta) is a good coach. But we deserved to win, I guess, because two amazing goals.”
Mourinho is now at Roma and no longer quite looks like the manager he used to be, but it’s clear he still knows a thing or two about what makes an elite coach.
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