After three consecutive Premier League runners-up finishes, Mikel Arteta was left trying to find solutions.
What would it not take to flip his Arsenal group into champions? The squad wanted extra depth. The mentality had to be harder.
The membership responded by signing eight new gamers. Yet the most vital summer season arrival might nicely have been the least conspicuous. Arteta turned to one among his oldest and most trusted allies: former Argentina, Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze, who changed outgoing assistant Carlos Cuesta.
Arteta and Heinze first met at PSG in 2001 beneath the administration of Luis Fernandez.
“They were great boys,” says Fernandez, who signed Arteta from Barcelona in January 2001 and Heinze from Real Valladolid six months later.
“It was a pleasure to manage them. What’s great is they haven’t changed. They’re exactly the same today; loyal, hard-working people. When I see what they’re doing at Arsenal, I’m very proud.”
It feels extremely vital that at this key second in Arteta’s managerial profession, he turned to a determine who had carried out the function of a big brother to him at PSG.
Arteta was simply 18 when he left his homeland. He just lately described his 18 months in Paris as “an experience that will stay with me forever, that shaped who I wanted to be as a player and ignited in me something to become a manager”.
That PSG group was full of star names and robust personalities. As nicely as Heinze, Arteta shared a dressing room with Ronaldinho, Mauricio Pochettino, Jay-Jay Okocha and Nicolas Anelka.
The first months had been troublesome for the shy, introverted Spaniard, regardless of the presence and help of his dad and mom.
“It was very tough,” remembers Yves Ribardiere, PSG’s participant liaison officer again then. “Mikel was living in a hotel that was quite basic. It was winter, the weather was cold and grey. He was in this small room and had a lot of time to kill. I used to stay with him to make sure he didn’t get too down.”
PSG’s Spanish audio system additionally helped clean the transition. Pochettino, then 28, took Arteta beneath his wing earlier than Heinze arrived. “Mauricio was like a father figure,” remembers ex-PSG defender Didier Domi. “Gabi was closer to Mikel’s age and more like a brother.”
Heinze is 4 years older than Arteta, however there was an instantaneous chemistry between the two. “They were together at training, and also spent time together away from the pitch with their families,” remembers Fernandez.
“Gabi was a fierce competitor and always wanted to do better than his opponent. Mikel was more an elegant player with real technical qualities,” provides the PSG legend who captained the membership to their first league title in 1986 and gained the European Cup Winners’ Cup as coach a decade later.
Edouard Cisse insists the duo additionally had a lot in frequent. “They were both intense and passionate,” explains Cisse, who partnered Arteta in PSG’s midfield. “Gabi gave everything, even in training. He had to win. Mikel was calmer. But you knew not to rub him up the wrong way. He had that tough Basque edge.”
