ART'N SOUL

Mikel magic lifted club with 'no feeling' out of doldrums

- MATTHEW DUNN

MIKEL ARTETA still remembers the day he sat in the opposition dugout and looked out on a team that had lost its soul.

Furthermore, Arsenal had just had their heart ripped out by three Manchester City goals in 40 first-half minutes, the final savage act of a run of 12 games with just one win to show for it.

"I was assistant to Pep at City and we played against Arsenal," Arteta said. "I saw that the club had lost their soul.

"They weren't enjoying it, they weren't feeling it. I knew there was the option of being in the other dugout and I knew we had to connect the team and the fans."

Five days later the Spaniard was appointed Arsenal boss, taking charge of his first game on Boxing Day against Bournemouth.

It was a slow start, with just one victory from his first seven Premier League games, but you can clearly trace the source of Gunners' thrilling title-chase last season back to those early beginnings in December 2019.