Four years ago today, Mikel Arteta took charge of his first game as Arsenal manager in a 1-1 draw away at Bournemouth.
The Spaniard had returned to the club he previously captained after a few years as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, and he had a huge task on his hands.
The fanbase was miserable, there was chaos at boardroom level and Arteta had inherited Unai Emery’s ageing, divided and defensively feeble Arsenal squad.
Four years on, Arsenal are challenging for the Premier League title, and are comfortably in the Champions League knockout rounds.
Arteta has overseen an incredible rebuild of the club, and looking back at the starting XI from his first game is eye-opening. Just two players from the XI are still at the club, whilst Aaron Ramsdale was in goal for the opposition side.
Arsenal starting XI from Mikel Arteta’s first game in charge
Bernd Leno was in goal for the visitors, as he continued as first-choice ahead of Emi Martinez. He would continue as first-choice when fit for another season after before Arteta elected to bring Ramsdale in.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles was playing at right-back, with Hector Bellerin still recovering from a long-term injury. The Englishman initially impressed under Arteta, but eventually fell out of favour, and headed out on several loan spells before joining Lyon on a free transfer this summer.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos partnered David Luiz at the back. The Greek centre-back would leave a year later on a free transfer, after being left out of the Premier League squad registration, and is currently at Real Betis.
Luiz is now plying his trade back in Brazil with Flamengo, having stayed at Arsenal for one more year, and ended up becoming a fairly popular figure by the time he left.
Bukayo Saka was still in the early stages of his Arsenal career, and started the game at left-back. Four years later, he is arguably the best player at the club, and one of the best wingers in the world.
Granit Xhaka started in midfield, and at the time, it seemed it could be one of his final games. However, Arteta convinced him to stay in the January window, and he would finish his Arsenal career as a fan favourite, which was unthinkable at the time of this game.
Lucas Torreira was alongside Xhaka, but after a strong first season at Arsenal, he agitated for a move, and had spells at Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina before joining Galatasaray in the summer.
Reiss Nelson, alongside Saka, is one of two players from the starting XI who are still at the club. Although he is struggling for game time right now, he has impressed in his limited appearances, and fans have called for Arteta to start him more.
He was thrown into the lineup against Bournemouth ahead of record-signing Nicolas Pepe, and he would go on to score a dramatic last-minute winner against them over three years later.
Mesut Ozil was expected to have a new lease of life playing under his former teammate after a fallout with Emery, and it was looking good after a fairly solid return to the lineup. However, things went sour a few months later, and he would never appear for the club again after March 2020.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored Arsenal’s equaliser in this game, and he went on to help win the FA Cup with a brace in the semi-final and a brace in the final. Arteta then handed the attacker a new contract, but later terminated it after some disciplinary issues.
Alexandre Lacazette was the central striker in this match, and would play for two and a half more seasons before joining Lyon on a free transfer. It never quite worked out for him under Arteta, and his struggles in his final season played a part in Arsenal missing out on a top-four spot in the final weeks of the season.
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