In a column for Sky Sports, former Arsenal man Paul Merson has delivered a ringing endorsement of Mikel Arteta’s first few weeks in charge.
What did he say?
The Spaniard took over from Unai Emery on a permanent basis as head coach, and despite only registering one win in the Premier League, Merson has insisted there are plenty of positives.
He said: “It was always going to be a hard job for Emery. The defence wasn’t good from the word go. It’s all about clean sheets. We’ve seen with Mikel Arteta, the moment the window opened he brought in two defenders. But I found it hard watching Arsenal under Emery. I thought it was soft, like watching Arsene Wenger’s teams, and at least now they’re not getting dominated and bullied by Burnley.
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“Against Leeds they got battered in the FA Cup in the first half, Arteta gets them in and says what he wants and they absolutely dominate the second half and could’ve won by a lot of goals – that tells me something, when managers can turn things around like he did and players listen.
“Arteta’s not going to come in and tell Ozil how to play a pass, but Arsenal have been the worst team in the Premier League without the ball over the last 10 years and that’s what he’s trying to change.”
Inspiration
As Merson pinpoints, the FA Cup clash against Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds certainly showed a major sign of the players responding to Arteta’s voice.
As per Sofascore, in the first-half, the Whites racked up an incredible 15 shots on goal, registering 64% of the possession. On the other hand, the Gunners could only muster three attempts. But following the break, the north London side appeared to flick on the switch and go up several gears. They had 13 total shots in the second period, and closed the possession gap to just 2%.
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Arteta’s team talk will surely have been a contributing factor in how massive the change in performance was against Leeds. And if he has that power and aura to inspire such a reaction in his players, then it bodes well for his time in charge at the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Arsenal fans are fuming with this star’s comments.