The Arteta Way: Trust the Process

Winning sometimes tends to take a little longer, or to be quite hard. That saying of “teli kitagwa” tends to hit hard. But as you know, persistence in everything nowadays can easily be defined by one club, no matter how hard its rivals are, the “bukacheere” as Vj Junior calls them, they have really stood firm and defended their position.

Okay, let’s not take it so far. Manchester United has 14 premier league titles, but still its fans never wanted Arsenal to at least win one, that “nuggu” just know it hits hard. This even relates to the other clubs themselves, because the day Arsenal won the Premier League, I swiped through my socials looking for any Premier League club congratulating Arsenal for winning the league, but I saw none. Until when it lost the Champions League, then Chelsea came out after posting a message that felt like an attack on Arsenal, later congratulating them. Even here in Uganda, Vipers SC did dirty to Kitara FC.

But this is the point, I got to fall in love with Arsenal when I was still a kid. That time when we used to just listen to matches on radio because we couldn’t go away from home, mainly me because of my age. I used to sit near my “Jajja”, and after Arsenal had scored a goal he used to say, “kati mukole defense”. He used to believe in “1- nil to the Arsenal”? because after only one goal he would call them to fall back and start defending. Funny, right? But that made me really love football.

Of course, when the World Cup came up that year and UBC was broadcasting it, I really felt like “yaa kati nze aliwo”. I used to enjoy every moment even though I was still young and didn’t fully understand everything happening on the pitch, and as they say the rest is history.

Then came a turning point in football. Mikel Arteta arrived at Arsenal, first as assistant, and later as head coach in 2019. His early days were not easy, but one moment that stood out was the 2020 FA Cup journey. Arsenal shocked Manchester City in the semi-final, then went on to beat Chelsea 2–1 in the final at Wembley. That trophy was not just silverware it was belief. It showed that something was being built.

But building is never smooth. There were painful losses, inconsistency, and moments where fans questioned everything. Even finishing seasons outside the top positions and coming close but not winning the league tested everyone’s patience. Many times, it felt like progress was slow, like nothing was changing.

Still, something was different. The team started to grow. Young players improved, mentality changed, and even in tough games, there was a clear identity forming. Slowly, Arsenal stopped being a team that just hoped and became a team that competed.

That is when hope started coming back for me. I started watching every match with belief because I knew “ya abo tugenda bakuba”. But what I didn’t fully understand at first was that winning takes time, and preparation builds the path to success. Losing back-to-back and finishing second used to frustrate me, but I learned to trust the process as Arteta always said.

At the end of the day, I have seen Arsenal lift trophies again. And more than that, I learned what winning really means it always comes at the right time. The season Arsenal finally broke through changed many minds: fans who once doubted Arteta, fans who had lost hope, all had to accept the journey.

This is where it connects deeply to The Barcelona Way. That philosophy showed how success is built on identity, discipline, and long-term belief rather than quick fixes. Barcelona’s dominance was not accidental it came from a clear system, consistency, and trusting the process over many years. They didn’t chase quick reactions after setbacks; they stayed committed to their identity until it became success.

In the same way, Arsenal under Arteta has followed a similar path. It is not about instant success, but about building something that lasts. Like Barcelona, the idea is simple but powerful: when you trust your identity and stay committed to the process, results eventually follow.

And that is the Arteta way. It teaches you that patience, belief, and consistency eventually turn process into victory. So keep pushing.