Granit Xhaka leads a group of five Arsenal stars with coaching badges

By late 2019, when Edu turned up at his house to discuss the Arsenal job, Mikel Arteta was a manager-in-waiting. The style of play, how they will press – everything had been developed before he travelled to Bournemouth, three years ago on Boxing Day, for his first game in charge.

Arsenal were 11th after that 1-1 draw. On Boxing Day this year, against West Ham, they begin the second half of this season with a five-point cushion at the top of the Premier League. This young Arsenal side are the embodiment of all Arteta has been building.

But the roots underpinning Arsenal’s rebirth stretch deeper into Arteta’s past – before he worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, before he’d even stopped playing.

Granit Xhaka leads a group of five Arsenal stars with coaching badges

Mikel Arteta has built a young, slick Arsenal squad that is the embodiment of his hard work

Midfielder Granit Xhaka now leads a group of five Arsenal stars with coaching badges 

Encouraged by Arsene Wenger, Arteta was 28 when he began earning his stripes, nurturing academy hopefuls including Reiss Nelson. Now his own players are treading a similar path.

Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny, Rob Holding and Cedric Soares have all recently completed their UEFA B Licence, working with Arsenal’s age groups around their busy schedule.

Oleksandr Zinchenko recently added to his own coaching qualifications with Ukraine. He is still only 26; none of Arsenal’s other student-teachers is older than 31. And none has any plans to give up playing, either.

So as Arsenal steel themselves for a title tussle, as they prepare for months without Gabriel Jesus, as they search for the leadership and control that deserted them late last season, questions arise: why is the club building this band of budding coaches? And could they help Arsenal now?

This was no grand plan, masterminded by Arteta. ‘A few of them came up to me after working together and they had the feeling they wanted to start doing it,’ the manager said this week. Cedric claims to have challenged Xhaka and Co to learn alongside him.

Mohamed Elneny is another one of Arsenal's stars who has completed his UEFA B Licence

Mohamed Elneny is another one of Arsenal’s stars who has completed his UEFA B Licence

Cedric claims to have challenged Xhaka and Co to learn alongside him. But Arteta knows how these courses can change a player

Cedric claims to have challenged Xhaka and Co to learn alongside him. But Arteta knows how these courses can change a player

But Arteta knows how these courses can change a player. ‘It focused me more, I enjoyed more playing and all the processes of training and preparation,’ he recalled.

It gave him a greater appreciation of a manager’s role; these early days have taught his successors more about their own job, too. ‘You take this as a player as well on the pitch,’ Xhaka told the PFA during one coaching session. ‘Because you see a bigger picture, from the outside.’

Someone close to the Arsenal squad even suggested the midfielder’s remarkable resurgence is down, in part, to his experiences in the dugout.

‘If you start to do your badges and you’re still playing, it changes two things in your mind,’ they said. ‘You see the vision from the coach. And now when you enter the field, you enter as a player and a coach.’

Xhaka has seen the benefits of reviewing training sessions, working under Arteta and ‘coach educators’ at the FA and PFA.

Rob Holding is another who has aspirations to become a coach and, like the others, has been working with Arsenal's age groups

Rob Holding is another who has aspirations to become a coach and, like the others, has been working with Arsenal’s age groups

‘They give you a lot of advice and you take this with you and try to change it in your game,’ he continued. ‘As an active player, but as well for the future.’

That much is clear in clips of Holding and Co on the touchline. They sit in opposing dugouts, pitting their wits against one another. They talk teenagers through pressing and defensive shape.

But they have their eyes opened to subtle skills in communication, organisation, even tactics. Coaching while being coached.

Arteta was around 26 when he felt he wanted to understand the game better. Now he wins if players more easily grasp his ideas and share a manager’s way of thinking. ‘When players coach players, you’re a lot better off,’ says someone who swaps ideas with the Arsenal boss.

‘I challenge them as well because it’s a good opportunity to learn,’ he explained. ‘What their thoughts are, what their vision is, what they’re learning, and share that.’

Xhaka has worked with 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri – who recently made his Premier League debut – and these steps into coaching help older heads to pass on wisdom.

Defender Oleksandr Zinchenko recently added to his own coaching qualifications with Ukraine

Defender Oleksandr Zinchenko recently added to his own coaching qualifications with Ukraine

‘You can have the knowledge here,’ Elneny told the PFA, pointing to his temple. ‘But they teach you how to deliver to people. When you play, it’s easy for you because it just automatically comes. But how are you going to go through the mind of people?’

Gabriel Martinelli, who has made extraordinary strides, leans on Cedric. The 31-year-old full back who fancies himself – according to Aaron Ramsdale – as a ‘future Pep’ regularly offers support and football advice. Others in Arteta’s young squad turn to Holding, a senior citizen at 27 who has been setting standards since his academy days at Bolton.

‘I always end up being one of the guys to help people learn and develop,’ he said.

A source close to Elneny, meanwhile, believes the midfielder shares ’90 per cent’ of Arteta’s character and mentality. Elneny’s father has tipped him to coach Arsenal, while Xhaka followed his old man, then a coach in Switzerland, from the age of four.

Xhaka has worked with 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri - who recently made his Premier League bow

Xhaka has worked with 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri – who recently made his Premier League bow

Academy boss Per Mertesacker also took his badges while an Arsenal player. Now he wants to provide exposure and support for others taking that step.

Guiding this all-star group through their classes and practical work is ex-Arsenal defender turned academy coach developer Matt Joseph. But working under Arteta has helped too. ‘How I see and understand the game now, is totally different from before,’ said Xhaka.

Recently, Elneny claimed: ‘I learn so much from him – as a player and as a coach now, the way you understand football from his thinking is incredible. Now when I do the badges, it’s so easy.’

It works both ways. Life is easier for Arteta with more generals on the pitch. Time will tell how they can help Arsenal in the months and challenges to come.

For all the latest Sports News Click Here 

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! TechAI is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.