Mikel Arteta’s past comments about Erik ten Hag at Arsenal are now very interesting after his sacking

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Mikel Arteta certainly enjoyed a fair amount of success at Arsenal coming up against Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager.

Arteta won three of his four games against the Dutchman, explaining why Ten Hag being sacked might be bad news for Arsenal.

The Gunners still have to face United twice this season, and that may even be against their former adversary Ruud van Nistelrooy should he still be in interim charge by December 4.

Van Nistelrooy often knew how to get the better of Arsenal as a player, but he might find it much more difficult coming up against Arteta as United boss.

Incidentally, the Dutchman did beat Arsenal whilst in charge of PSV Eindhoven back in 2022, bragging rights he’ll likely still enjoy.

Mikel Arteta previously thought Erik ten Hag deserved more time at Man United

That being said, Arteta’s comments about Ten Hag back in May of this year are now very interesting, which came whilst the United boss was under increasing pressure.

Winning the FA Cup ultimately bought Ten Hag more time, patience that has now run out at Old Trafford.

READ MORE: Why VAR didn’t give Arsenal a penalty when Ibrahima Konate appeared to foul Gabriel Martinelli

Interestingly, Arteta labelled Ten Hag as an ‘excellent coach’, saying it was difficult to prepare to face his United sides.

Arteta said: “I can only talk about what I think about him as a coach. He’s an excellent coach. I admire his teams, both Ajax and United.

“I know what he’s trying to do, I know how he does it, I know how difficult it is to prepare against him, so I have huge respect for him.

“Hopefully, yes, he gets the time because we are colleagues and we know how difficult it is in this league and what the margins are and yeah, hopefully that’s the case because I think he is an excellent coach.”

When do Arsenal play Manchester United next?

Arsenal will welcome Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium on December 4 for a midweek evening game.

The Gunners are then currently scheduled to head to Old Trafford in March 2025 during the ‘business end of the season’.

Perhaps that could be a very tricky fixture to navigate should United make the correct appointment.

As of now it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be in charge, but perhaps some Arsenal fans may be encouraged by the possibility of Gareth Southgate taking the job.

A much-loved manager, but one who ultimately never quite got it over the line for England.