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As he approaches his six-year milestone at the helm, Mikel Arteta has admitted that his longevity in North London is fundamentally dependent to delivering trophies.

A Look Back: Six Years in Charge

The Spanish coach took over on December 20th, 2019 and soon guided the team to an cup win a short time later. But, that early success remains his only significant piece of silverware since succeeding Unai Emery.

“Yes,” Arteta responded when questioned about his future past 2027. “However, it is about today. And many things have to happen in the near future as well to warrant that continuation.”

This weekend sees the six-year milestone with a match versus Everton, the exact opponent Arsenal played the day after his hiring was confirmed.

The Current Landscape

With second-placed Manchester City taking on West Ham on Saturday afternoon, Arsenal face being knocked off top spot in the Premier League prior to their fixture. This comes despite Arteta overseeing a squad that has suffered in excess of one hundred injury setbacks from the beginning of last season.

The manager is tied down by 18 months to run on the deal he signed in 2024, however, he knows that results must come promptly.

The Manager's Mandate

He went on to explain, stressing the daily requirement to justify his role. “In my view a manager needs to warrant the right to be here tomorrow. And that is determined by how you react, how you talk here, how you enter the dressing room, the signal you send.”

Arteta continued, praising the unwavering support from the board and owners, while singling out the team's buy-in as most crucial. “At the end, the key individuals are those players... For six years, I’ve seen just players with a level of attention, desire to learn and give the maximum to the team.”

Injury Concerns

The squad approaches the Everton match managing a fresh setback. Defender Ben White has been ruled out with a strain that is anticipated to see him miss action for several weeks.

Evolved Priorities

Regardless of the availability issues and the intense pressure, Arteta is confident the club's “objectives and communication” are vastly different from when he initially took over.

The manager referenced the record-breaking achievements as evidence of progress. “Examine the performances, all the historical marks we surpassed... We still haven’t managed to do that [win trophies]. But that tells you the caliber we've reached.”

Arteta concluded, “That is a level that the Premier League has not witnessed in the past. And we want to achieve more lofty ambitions. And if we do that, I think we are on the proper course to winning.”