THEY are the two most attractive young bosses in Europe, the soulmates since schoolboys poised to make history.
Two friends whose football career started as kickaround companions on San Sebastian beaches and has every possibility of culminating in championship success.After a two-decade drought, Mikel Arteta is bringing Arsenal closer to becoming the Premier League champions in North London.
On Sunday, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen might win the Bundesliga for the first time, occurring about 400 miles away.
For the Basque friends and the little Spanish youth team Antiguoko, where they established the midfield core as ten-year-olds, it’s an incredible tale.
Roberto Montiel, their previous coach, is ecstatic with his two prize graduates.”Mikel always played ahead of his age group and showed a lot of maturity despite being a little boy,” said Montiel, who is currently the vice-president of the amateur club without an adult squad. We understood from the start that he had what it took to succeed professionally.
He is the greatest player I have ever seen at Antiguoko—better even than Alonso—and I believe he considered coaching long before he decided to hang up his spikes.
“After observing me coach a few of the teams, Arteta would inundate me with comments and ideas on how to turn things around!Even though he was still quite young, I could tell he was designing the coaching role.
“I would laugh because he’d tell me where my team was failing and where I had to use the scalpel to make changes!”
While Arteta’s destiny seemed predestined, it was not as immediately obvious with Alonso.
Montiel added: “Xabi was a small lad, who didn’t bulk up until the Under-17s.
“But he organised play very well and was a commanding presence without being very bossy.
“He was a bit introverted but transformed when on the pitch. He was never someone who needed to shout a lot — a few words was all it took.
“But he was always highly respected and when Xabi said something, everyone respected it.”
Better than Alonso, Mikel is the best player I have ever seen at Antiguoko.
Roberto Montiel Monttiel stays in close proximity to both of Antiguoko’s top students.
Additionally, a new clubhouse was funded by the proceeds from Alonso’s 2004 transfer from Real Sociedad to Liverpool.
According to Montiel, the team that also produced Andoni Iraola, the manager of Bournemouth, has a certain quality.
He said: “I think it’s because of the demands we put on them as kids, from a very young age.
“It is a culture where they never surrender — Antiguoko is a school of life.”
