Mikel Arteta admits it feels great to hear the Arsenal fans singing his name, and he’s more than happy to accept converted doubters.
After another important Premier League win away to Aston Villa on Saturday, the Arsenal fans celebrated by chanting Mikel Arteta’s new song in the stands.
For those who haven’t heard it yet, you can check it out here or in the tweet below. The lyrics are as follows:
“We’ve got super Mik Arteta, he knows exactly what we need, Tierney at the back, Gabi in attack, Arsenal gonna win the Champions League!”
We’ve got super Mik Artetaaaaaa pic.twitter.com/CZaftiRnPi
— Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) March 19, 2022
Responding to questions about the chant and about fan unity after the game, Arteta was clearly pleased to have people on board with his project.
“That’s what it gives, probably sense to everything that we do,” Arteta said.
“You realise it in those moments that those people have big emotions towards the club and if we can make them happy then everything just makes sense.
“The connection that they show with the players and with me as well, we have to be very grateful because they have come on this journey and I think they believe in what we do.
“Personally, (it feels) great, because we’ve been through a lot and, as you said, we played almost two years without crowds.
“To build something that, in my opinion, was the most important thing, was unity around the club and a sense of direction and belonging, they were going to be really important and they give us belief and energy.”
You’d have to have a pretty short memory or no access to social media to be unaware that things were pretty different just a few months ago.
After the Everton defeat in particular, many fans were ready to give up on Arteta and move on.
It’s there that many of those doubters are now the same people signing the head coach’s name, but Arteta isn’t holding a grudge.
“They can join. The more people we have on board, the better,” Arteta said. “It’s normal at this club and its history and tradition is to win all the time.
“That is the only thing that is acceptable and when you are sitting here or playing you have to accept that.”
With 10 games of the season remaining, I think we all hope the current good feeling around the squad can help carry us over the line and back to Champions League football.