​Which has been Mikel Arteta’s best Arsenal season? My worst-to-best ranking – OpinionIt’s a case of when and not if Arsenal announce that Mikel Arteta has extended his contract at the Emirates.The Spaniard is easily the current longest-serving manager in the Premiership, with his latest deal expected to mean he will have been in charge of the Gunners for over a decade.Since returning to the club he captained, the 44-year-old has lifted the Premiership and FA Cup.He was a penalty shoot-out away in the Champions League Final from doing something no man has done in our history.To celebrate, let’s rank all of his seasons from worst to best.I have not based this list purely on his league position but have considered context and how each campaign made me feel.2020-2021 – 8thFor the first time in a quarter of a century, Arsenal failed to qualify for Europe, a stat that at other clubs our size would have led to a manager being sacked.Instead of a consecutive eighth-place finish, as well as the disgraceful plans to form a Super League, Josh Kroenke was forced to sit down with Arteta, BFG and Edu to make an action plan for all departments of the business to ensure this rock bottom wouldn’t happen again.It can’t be a coincidence that the Gunners had their worst season in 25 years when playing in empty stadiums, but COVID can’t be held entirely responsible.For half the campaign, Ozil had been paid to sit at home before his contract was ripped up – a habit that would become too familiar.Can a coach, on one hand, bemoan a lack of creativity in his team yet not register a World Cup winner in his squad?2021-2022 – 5thThis campaign divided the fanbase.Some called fifth progress.Others argued it was achieved by the same man who took us to two eighth-place finishes.You could also argue better man-management would have got us into the top four?Rightly or wrongly, Arteta clearly had the trust of the owners to wash his hands of talent who didn’t suit his ethos, even if it meant the club taking a financial hit.The only issue with that is a young manager thinking it’s normal practice to just give up on players instead of coaching them to be better.For the second year running, one of our highest earners was being paid to sit at home.Some Gooners will argue that, in the long term, it was crucial our manager made an example out of Aubameyang to send a message to his young dressing room that a lack of standards wouldn’t be tolerated.Was there not a way, though, for all parties to be professional until the summer, the striker fires us back into the Champions League, and then everyone goes their separate ways?Instead, despite having zero inclination to play his captain again, he was given to Barcelona with zero replacement brought in because the priority was slashing the wage bill.With a straight face, our boss tried to convince us that Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah were enough firepower.They were not!2024-2025 – 2ndSome would argue that Premiership