Everton can stick the boot in to former hero Arteta and his ailing Arsenal side

A lot has unfolded since Mikel Arteta last went to Goodison Park, almost exactly 12 months ago.

Back then the Spaniard, appointed as Arsenal's new manager the day before, sat in the director's box alongside technical director Edu as Everton and his new club played out a goalless draw.

It was a stalemate that showed just how much Arteta would have to change to get Arsenal back on track. They barely troubled Jordan Pickford all afternoon, playing with a lack of cohesion and confidence that Everton should have exploited a little better.

When Arteta returns to Goodison, the ground where he played in Everton colours for six years, this Saturday teatime, it's tempting to conclude that Arsenal haven't moved on a great deal since last time.

While the rookie manager did guide the Gunners to FA Cup glory amid a season disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, their Premier League form this season has suggested a regression rather than progression.

Just four wins and seven defeats from 13 matches so far, leaving Arsenal a lowly 15th in the standings, tells you everything. Far from restoring confidence in his squad, it seems to have further drained away in recent months.

Arteta is finding top level management a baptism of fire, quickly learning there can be no shortcuts or quick fixes and that your every move as manager of a leading club is scrutinised intensely.

On that day a year ago, Carlo Ancelotti watched on a few feet away from Arteta. The Italian had just been appointed Everton's manager, succeeding Marco Silva.

Their trajectory has contrasted with Arsenal's in the months since. Ancelotti has brought unmistakable improvement to Everton and given they currently sit fifth in the table.

They will start Saturday's game as favourites to beat Arsenal, something that was unthinkable during Arteta's playing days for either club.

With Merseyside still in tier two, a couple of thousand Evertonians will be hoping their team can stick the boot in to Arteta and his ailing team to further highlight how the two clubs are heading in opposite directions.

Arteta was a much-loved figure during his time at Everton but the nature of the departure to Arsenal in 2011 was acrimonious and the wounds haven't fully heeled since.

And so Everton fans would love nothing more than to inflict Arsenal's eighth league defeat of the season here and pile further pressure onto Arteta's shoulders.

Arteta, a combative but cultured defensive midfielder, played 209 times for Everton between 2005 and 2011 when David Moyes was manager.

In his initial half-season loan from Real Sociedad he helped Everton qualify for the Champions League for the first and only time and after signing permanently for £2million that summer he was the Everton fans' and players' Player of the Season in 2005-06.

Soon he was being serenaded by the Everton faithful: 'Follow, follow, follow/Everton is the team to follow/'Cause there's nobody better than Mikel Arteta/He's the best little Spaniard we know' to the tune of Scott Joplin's 'The Entertainer.'

But the goodwill soon faded when Arteta left for Arsenal on deadline day in August 2011, with his words 'I am 29-years-old so I haven't got much time left to take a chance like this one' cutting little ice on Merseyside.

The chance to play regularly in the Champions League was too much to resist even if Arsene Wenger's Arsenal were past their peak as a title-challenging force.

But Arteta certainly burned his bridges with Evertonians, despite later efforts to make peace.

When Arteta put through his own net as Arsenal lost 3-0 at Goodison in April 2014, the home fans delighted in chanting 'Mikel, Mikel, what's the score?'

In an interview when he retired from football in 2016, he reflected: 'I don't think that they [the Everton fans] understood my decision and they were so disappointed, which I understand because they didn't want me to leave.

'When I went back on my first time with Arsenal they were upset and the reaction towards me wasn't what I was expecting. But that is football and you can't make everybody happy.

'I understood that I made people upset and I am very sorry but it wasn't my intention. It was because I truly believe that it was the right time for me.'

Football fans have famously long memories and while the reception Arteta gets on Saturday night won't be quite as hostile, there will be little sympathy if Everton do get the three points.

Mind you, Arteta is clearly expecting a different reception. He said on Friday: 'We were very successful for the team and the resources that we had in the moment and I still have a lot of love, admiration and friends over there because I'm grateful.

'They treated me really, really well and I enjoyed being part of that family.'

Sadly, it's a 'family' that will gleefully kick Arteta and Arsenal a little bit closer to the relegation zone this Christmas.