Mikel Arteta awarded Premier League Manager of the Month for September

If Arsenal’s August was a month to forget, September was one to remember, as we saw the Gunners shake off a bad start to the season en route to 9 points from 3 matches, including the smashing of Spurs in the North London Derby. After the reversal of fortunes, Mikel Arteta has been awarded the Premier League Manager of the Month award for September, the first of his managerial career and the first time an Arsenal manager has won it since Arsene Wenger was awarded it in October of 2015.

Much has been made of Arteta’s long-term “trust the process” approach that he has preached since being appointed as Arsenal’s manager in late 2019, for better and for worse. After the early barren patch following one of Arsenal’s busiest transfer windows in history, it appeared that there were more questions than answers. But, to Arteta’s credit, September finally saw a fully healthy Arsenal and a glimpse at what many believe is his preferred line-up.

The season has been far from perfect - the Gunners are still struggling to score goals and are not fully convincing as a top side. But the defense has looked far more solid, and Aaron Ramsdale has been a revelation in goal. The midfield is also starting to take shape, and promising young prospects abound. Arteta’s process is still far from completion, but as the pieces start to fall into place, we are starting to see his vision with more clarity.

At the end of the day, the award is a nice acknowledgement for Arteta and his coaching staff and is well deserved. He seems to genuinely care about the club and what it means to manage it, and players have vocally backed him since he took over. So, for now, we can shelve our criticisms and put away our pitchforks and tip our cap to the manager and his staff for this achievement.