In a very telling part of the now-airing Amazon docuseries, ‘All or Nothing,’ that provided a behind-the-scene glance at Arsenal Football Club as it went through the highs and lows of the 2021/2022 season, team manager Mikel Arteta confided in club doctor, Gary O’Driscoll, the dilemma he faced in decisively dealing with the challenge that team captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang posed with his infrequent tardiness and poor conduct, while he, as manager, was doing his best to guide one of the English Premier League’s youngest squad of impressionable minds to excellence.
Before Arteta, there were two paths to follow: To stick to his avowed non-negotiables or give in to the weight of the pressure from a cross-section of the fan base and the club’s Board and allow Aubameyang’s penchant to disregard rules slide. Arteta rhetorically asked O’Driscoll, “What do you have to do? What do you do? If you let it go… it’s OK? What happened… in the last 10 years? Let it go… the next one the same… the next one the same. In Spain, it is called ‘casa pepe’… Everyone does whatever he f*****g wants.”
To avoid that set of circumstances where the rules are broken at whim because of a feeling that there will be no consequences and to forestall any squad disruptions that may result, Arteta chose the hard option. He stripped the ex-Gabonese captain of his armband and took him off the starting XI in subsequent matches.
The ruthless streak of the Spaniard, which was coming to light in the embroilment of the situation around Mesut Ozil, the detachment of former Chelsea Brazilian player, Willian and the loaning out of the young and rebellious Matteo Guendouzi from the Gunners’ squad shone brilliantly with the ostracism of Aubameyang.
Arteta was banking on the team, all of whom were close friends with Aubameyang, to realise the fact that no one was above the law, not even the manager and that his triple set of non-negotiable principles were really and truly non-negotiable. And should any player, no matter how important to the team’s success, fail to abide by these principles, he would face the music squarely.
This was the kind of discipline, accountability and responsibility that had been lacking in the years since Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles Era’ under the legendary French manager, Arsene Wenger, and in the years that followed.
Some previous Arsenal players have alluded to Wenger’s soft spot for Ozil to the point where the manager seemed to close his eyes to the player’s quirkiness. There is no debating Wenger’s open and overly incredible admiration of the artistry that was Ozil’s ball control and ability to string the most otherworldly passes that more often than not lead to more advanced play deep in the opponent’s half of the pitch, which sometimes yields fanciful goals.
Wenger appeared all too ready to excuse what became a familiar pattern of inconsistent performances that irked some fans.
It was but one example of how discipline loosened in the twilight of Wenger’s time at the Emirates and how an arbitrary recruitment process, one of which resulted in panic transfer deadline day buying that brought in Arteta from Everton as one of five new signings (the others being Park Chu-Young, Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker and Yossi Benayoun) and caused the one-time invincible squad that consistently made the UEFA Champions League to not even make it into Europa.
I have been an ardent Arsenal fan and supporter since the 1990s and I have had my fair dose of joy, heartbreaks and hurts that till this day I just watch the team play with cautious optimism so that I don’t get too pained in case it suffers defeat.
Since Arteta’s return to the club in December 2019 as substantive manager, he has squarely taken up the challenge of returning the club to its lost glory. Five days before taking over, he had come to the Emirates Stadium with the Manchester City team as assistant coach to Pep Guardiola and they had left 3-0 winners, inflicting further damage on the Gunners that had only won just once in 12 competitive matches and were mid-table in the standings.
Although Arteta was the 10th man to coach the Gunners after previously playing in the team, he was the second youngest after Terry Neil from 1976. He had never been manager before and was taking on a club on the ropes with a couple of young players that had broken into the first team from the Academy and needed the steady hand of experience and wisdom to be groomed into world class stars.
Arteta won the FA Cup for Arsenal against Chelsea in his first season in charge of the Gunners and subsequently added the Community Shield against Liverpool via penalty shootout in 2020.
It was a confirmation of the confidence reposed in the young manager by Wenger, who openly consented to his appointment and glowingly praised his abilities to take on the challenge, and by Guardiola, who was unambiguous in stating Arteta’s giftedness and encyclopedic knowledge about everything football. Where he has demonstrated all these is obvious in the club’s gradual improvement in the disciplinary metrics, the unity amongst squad members, on the one hand and between the team and the fans, on the other, as well as the never-say-die mentality that is part of this new Arsenal squad’s emerging character.
As hinted above, discipline has been a part of Arteta’s nature from his days playing under Wenger. His leadership potentials were obvious even then and it was not long before he was made captain. Yet, as manager, the red cards flashed against his team quickly piled up. There were 10 red cards before his first year anniversary as manager and it made it difficult to fight for those precious three points with a numerical disadvantage on the pitch. The mentality of the players took a knock as well because they seemed to be fighting so hard to get results only to be dismayed by unforced errors and self-inflicted damage.
Being out of Europe completely in the 2020/2021 season was supposed to help with the team-building, yet goals were drying up. Aubameyang was cast out of the squad for indiscipline and the club was languishing in 15th position on the table ahead of a crucial game against the defensively stout Chelsea side of Thomas Tuchel, when Arteta made the decision that saved his job, turned around Arsenal’s fortunes and became part of how he turned around the problem of discipline.
Arteta turned to the youths in his team, trusted them with the responsibility of becoming the players they dreamed to be and club favourites in the process.
To say that the pairing of 19-year-old Bukayo Saka, 19-year-old Gabriel Martinelli and 20-year-old Emile-Smith Rowe came to the rescue of Arsenal will only be stating the obvious. That Saka finished the season with a nomination for the Men’s PFA Young Player of the Year, the only Arsenal player so considered, is a testament to how immense he was in bringing the Gunners back from the brink. These young players from the Academy injected their boundless energy to the team’s play, did not risk red cards and saw the club pick up a high 79 points as the third most points gained behind Man City and Chelsea in the period. They demonstrated the game that Arteta wanted: A quick, committed high press and possession football that found pockets to exploit for the goals that could win games. It meant that a season that began as the worst in Arsenal’s history, flat and out after the first three games where they had conceded 10 goals, scored zero and were bottom of the league, finished with them challenging for a place in the UCL and settling for a Europa slot.
These actions brought unity to the team, casting the pale cloud of doubts of previous seasons aside and putting the depressing incidents in the dressing room gloom that followed the extrication of Ozil, Matteo Guendouzi and Aubameyang in the past where it belonged. This unity impacted the fans as well, who became passionate about the club all over again and thronged to matches to show their support in full voice.
Arteta continued his investment in the youth to purge the club of its bloated old guard. Ozil, David Luiz, Saed Kolasinac, Nacho Monreal, Alexandre Lacezette, Henrikh Mkhitaryan all made way as Arsenal’s new recruitment approach targeted players in their peak years, such that the average age of the starting XI became the youngest in the EPL last season. They also invested in talented, serial-winning recruits, especially Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Man City, to inject that positive attitude and quality in this growing team.
What has happened since has altered Arsenal’s recent history. A midweek game last week against the resilient Aston Villa made it five wins in five consecutive matches for this resurgent Gunners’ squad for the first time since the ‘Invincibles’ era of the 2003/2004 season where they went through the entire season unbeaten. It may be only five games of a 38-game marathon, with the November World Cup thrown in the mix, but the aspects of their game I want to focus on does not need to be given a trial period.
The truth is that it is obvious to the most unbiased reviewer that this team is confident, dominant and resilient. With the right characters possessing the right qualities like Jesus upfront, Martin Odegaard in the middle and William Saliba at the back, they are primed to be worth the results they are producing.
Like Arsenal, Nigeria has lost its shine to the point of becoming a parody of its acclaimed status as the “Giant of Africa”. Its green passport is an object of ridicule as we are learning from the treatment meted out to Nigerians in Dubai and other international destinations. It is just the recent of a history of scorn that Nigerians experience because the country is nowhere near its worth after consistently punching below its weight because, for the longest time, we have been led, not by our best and brightest, but by the least prepared and experienced for the task of governing a country with the overabundance of gifts as Nigeria.
As a result, what we have now is the elevation of mediocrity to leadership. What we require is a turnaround of similar proportion to Arsenal’s beginning, in much the same way as this piece began, by making a hard choice. As a country, 2023 gives us a chance to right this ship and get back on course in the direction of progress, accountability, responsibility and single-minded commitment to the purpose and vision of Nigeria’s difficult but desired developmental goals.
Arsenal’s momentum at this moment in time presents a very clear template to turn a morbid situation into an inspiring narrative that will be used to encourage others, much the same way as pundits tried to do with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, who pitifully lost his first two games of the season and saw his side languishing at the bottom of the League before facing Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Arteta recognised the enormity of the task facing him but with a mindset that was aware of Arsenal’s status in Europe. He assembled a team to help turn around the club’s fortunes as the Amazon docuseries revealed. He emphasised the part the youth would play in that project. He set a trio of what he termed non-negotiables: Respect, commitment and passion. He was ruthless in dealing out punishment for anyone that went against these principles in order to ensure discipline, establish a culture of responsibility, demonstrate that there are no sacred cows and entrench an atmosphere of never backing down, irrespective of the odds stacked up against them. He has come quite close to the glory years of Arsenal under Wenger as a result, claiming 53 victories in his first 100 EPL games, only one shy of Wenger’s 54.
Nigeria can learn from this to bring back the glorious days of yore. In spite of our counsel and pleas to the two main political parties, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to select their presidential candidates from the country’s pool of bright and smart business leaders who understand how to manage resources and create wealth, we now have before us two experienced politicians in their 70s, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidates of the APC and PDP, respectively. The third force, Mr. Peter Obi, 61, a businessman and trader, is the Labour Party’s candidate. These are clearly the frontline candidates.
We now have a choice to make to begin our redemption in 2023 and I encourage every eligible Nigerian to come out on Election Day and vote because we are crumbling as a country due to very poor choices made by those we have elected into the highest office. The fiscal policies of this administration have been disastrous to be candid.
This is why I recommend the Arsenal template. The choice before us at next year’s polls means we must pick a leader who can pick the right team of character, quality and passion. He must have non-negotiables that are targeted towards ensuring that this team aligns with the purposeful drive to improve the lives of every Nigerian rather than a subset as it currently operates. He must have the no-nonsense approach to governance that serves out immediate sanctions to those who merit it. He must hold the unity of his team in high esteem as that will translate to the unity of the country in the larger picture. He must bring a recognisable momentum to governance that will be clear for all to see, supporters, opponents, commentators and detractors alike. And he must be ready to give everything to succeed because no sacrifice should be too small to take Nigeria from the brink of a failed state status back to the dizzying heights of peace, progress and prosperity as it truly deserves. Indeed, it must be ALL OR NOTHING.
I have not asked you to cast a vote for any candidate. However, I urge you to choose who you think is best for the country when you cast your vote. It is our individual and collective responsibility to bring such a leader to power because next year’s general election calls for the salvation of our country.
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