Arteta, Pep, Ten Hag and many modern managers are keeping Johan Cruyff football alive.. They all have their own tweaks to the JdP philosophy of Cruyff but the main elements are visible in their play. Ten Hag’s Ajax over the years have played similar to Pep’s City, and Arteta’s Arsenal has also displayed similar patterns of play in the past 2 seasons. What makes the difference is the personnel. Pep is always a lucky one cos he join clubs with big players and big budgets which means he doesnt necessarily oversee a long term rebuild projects like say Klopp at Liverpool. His City side won the league in his second season in charge for example.

With that said, the Kroenkes are very much aware of Arteta’s coaching talent thats why they bought time with him. Arteta did not inherit a squad that can play his football but look at it after 2 and a half years of revamping the squad – it is a whole different story. The vibe, the mentality, the football etc can’t be compared to the squads he had in his first 2 seasons and the difference is also showing on the table. Also bear in mind that this Arsenal squad is still not anywhere near completion, there’s still players who are not in the long-term plan of Arteta. Holding, Mari, AMN, Cedric, Elneny, Pepe, and even Turner. Those players will in the next few years be replaced by younger and better players which will also coincident with the maturity of the current crop of young players.

A win, a lose or a draw against Spurs will not define Arsenal’s season and it will not drift them away from their objective of finishing in the top 4 this season. The brighter side is that the project is working and it is moving in the right direction and at a faster rate. Arsenal will have a chance to be part of the dominating clubs in the Premier League for many seasons under Arteta. Thats the brighter side.