Mikel Arteta officially took over as Arsenal’s head coach this morning and he was straight on the training pitch trying to get his ideas across to those players who didn’t feature against Everton yesterday.
Alex Lacazette, Pepe, Sokratis and Mesut Ozil, back from ‘injury’, feature in the club’s picture gallery, as do a host of youngsters.
We’re assuming that new first team coach Steve Round was present but with his appointment not yet confirmed by the club, he’s not featured in any of the pictures.
Including today, Arteta has only four sessions with his team before we face Bournemouth on Boxing Day. How much he can influence during that time only time will tell, but it’s great to see the new man in our club colours again.
See below for a few pictures taken by the club’s in-house photographers.
I know there’s a lot of naysayers who doubt this appointment but I’m actually genuinely excited at what the Arteta chapter will bring
Me too, most excited Ive been about Arsenal in a very very long time!
How long is a “very very long time” anyway? Cos I remember coming across this phrase not long ago when the “we’ve got our Arsenal back” was echoing high and loud at the Emirates. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves cos we’ve been here before. Let’s support our Lego-hair man and minimize our expectations. We tend to get on the back of the manager quite quickly when high expectations are not met. Can’t wait to see Arteta succeed though.
We should have high expectations..we are arsenal football club. The board need to realise that
You’re right Pal, l am equally excited about the Arteta aura around the Emirates.
I’m equally as excited. But what’s important is to give him time also. Morale is low at the moment and patience may not come by easily amongst the fan base. Another uncertainty is how much the board are willing to back him in the transfer window (this coming one included). Many forget this already, but Unai’s first January window we only got Denis Suarez, when it’s obvious Unai has got the team working to a certain way. That was poor from the board really – not saying Unai’s failures are solely from that one window but the board really needs… Read more »
2.. 2 naysayers :0)
Ozil doesn’t look injured, anyway we are all behind you Mikel. Let’s get this club back where we belong!
I suppose he is injured again now, after being hit with the foam pillow. Pure madness this, it looks really, really dangerous.
You missed the part where they got out the Smith & Shawcross branded bats for leg training.
Showing papa the door.
You’re not mama, buddy.
Don’t ask me why, but I’ve got a good feeling about this. Had a similar feeling about Wenger being a success too when he joined.
However, I have never won more than £10 on the lottery.
Still, I think if (big if, of course) the board back him properly (with signings and in the face of any potential player power revolt) then I think we’ll be back where we belong within a few seasons.
Raul can’t afford to let Arteta fail.
He’ll listen when Mikel talks.
But, will the Kroekes. That’s the real question.
Amen.
The danger for Arteta would be trying to play like Man City immediately. We have no De Bruyne and no Sterling and if you look back at what made them successful, we have no Kompany and no David Silva. Maybe a couple of Foden (to be).
Arteta should be Benitez for his first two seasons at least this one.
Our players are not that awful though. Ozil, aubamayang, lacazette, pepe they are not shit players. Just playing shit.
They’re not working hard enough off the ball too. In the modern game, you can have all the talent you want, but if you don’t work hard enough without the ball, your talent means nothing. This applies to more than those you named to be fair.
I would maybe agree with you with this modern football nonesense if we were capabale to do something with the ball.
Well at least if he tries to do that, we’ll know he’s not the right fit right away. Tough he strikes me as smart enough to know that he’s got to first stop the bleeding, before he can start the rebuild.
I’m happy now.. Now i feel at ease…i know for sure we are in good hands… The future is bright
Is Ozil hiding in one of the pictures is he about to be hammered?
I think he’s practicing the “Arteta press”.
The club said Özil is injured, FL said he is injured, but no, on Arseblog he was “injured”. Yes, i forgot that Elvis is not dead and that men have never landed on the moon.
Freddie was also very clear that Ozil wasn’t going to play no matter what yesterday – he went out of his way to make sure everyone knew that Ozil wasn’t missing the game bc of a minor injury that recovered significantly to allow him to train today.
It’s pretty normal. Discipline or precautionary? The club doesn’t need to be honest about an internal discipline matter, and we don’t need to care beyond the sheet and what happens on the pitch.
Alex, will Ozil make you feel vindicated one day?
We need some help from Stanley Kubrik on that one I think
Little wonder Ozil always seems injured.
They’ve had him practicing out-of-position at linebacker.
You obviously have inside information from the medical staff to say he always seems to be injured
Obviously.
Just got a missive from the med-staff:
“That boy needs a sense-of-humor transplant– stat!”
I agree. What are they thinking? He’s much more suited to playing at tight end.
So fudging excited about this appointment
So fudging excited about this appointment!
We know one thing already, Arteta is a leader. How effective he leads in really difficult conditions remains to be seen. He is a leader.
Looks like he’s got it! He will also need to be very smart leader to not get on the wrong side of the dessing room and to know that before he can get us to the top, we’ll need to be consistently competent first, with some average players.
At this point the club really should back Arteta over any senior players – especially as the only real senior mainstay in our first 11 (Auba) appears to be dead set on leaving. (Leno is still fairly young for a goal keeper)
Ozil back in training?
Another miraculous recovery…
He probably didn’t fancy a trip up north yesterday….
It’s cold, it’s wet, he only earns £300,000 p/w, and he’s “lost” 1 of his gloves…
Bless his little cotton socks.
Probably picked up something that didn’t agree with him in his Chinese takeaway.
Glad M Ozil regenerated quickly after that career ending injury.
Now you understand eaven better why FL felt the need to go in on him like he did!
Best of luck for Arteta.
I remember a lot of people saying “Arsene who?”
And look what happened there.
Exciting times ahead…
Lets dispense with the AFTV attitude and see what happens !
Gooners. Pull one direction. Please?
I hope im not deluded, but i think Arteta is going to be a revelation! He has been planning for this for years and has real leadership qualities. He has great knowledge of game and i think he is going to kick are players into shape. Give him rest of season to instill his ideas and weed out players who arent up for it! He also knows The Arsenal way and will bring some class back to our club. I feel alive again, havent been this excited about Arsenal for years
Couldn’t agree more. I look at it this way: Does the new manager ‘get’ our club – it’s history, spirit, culture, ethos etc? Certainly. Will he play the ‘Arsenal way’ – at least as it has been set down in our heyday under Arsene? Seems like it. Does he have the experience/ability/CV to do the above? Experience, no – but couldn’t have had better mentors in Arsene and then Pep. Does he have the mental and emotional qualities needed to take on what is a pretty hefty challenge? We know the man had steel as a player. And everything seen… Read more »
I can’t think of a more impressive opening press conference than Arteta’s. I went from worried to excited in seconds. But now, the talk ends.
Good luck, Mikel.
It was really good. It had this “I’ve got this” vibe to it. Looking forward to him.
To ALL the Özil HATERS….I sincerely do not know what is your problem. He missed a game, its a problem for you…he trained, its also a problem for you. Hence what’s your problem??!
And to ALL the Ozil HATERS….dont be surprised if the first team MA picks for his first game in-charge will include the player that you continuously hate (either he plays or more so when he doesnt play) in the first 11….because MA worked with world class and very good players at Man City so he knows quality when he sees one!!
One thing I will say for Ozil. He knows a poor coach when he sees one ala Emery.
He knows world class work rate too and understands that to get to where we want, players need both
Yeah man, but unfortunately he also knows a hungry player with good attitude when he sees one!…Özil faked injury because he knew Freddy wouldn’t pick him again. Also remember the meeting that FL and MA are due to have, probl a nasty report or two on Mr Mesut in order
Anyone else seen no Auba in any of the photos?
*dum dum dummmmmmmmmmmm*
Anyone seen that none of the team that played against Everton trained? dum dum indeed.
Can it be said that Auba ‘actually played’?
Might well have been a deer.
Dressed in yellow.
Wandered out the tunnel.
Around the pitch for 70 minutes.
You obviously missed him being our most dangerous player in the second half and forced Pickford to make a great save to prevent him scoring.
Sokratis looks lost.
First things first, sort out that leaky defence, make us more organised at the back. That’s probably the best quick win right now.
Absolutely. But easier said than done, especially with Sokratis, Luiz, Mustafi, Dino and Chambers as CB’s, Kola and AMN as wingbacks and your best defenders (Holding, Tierney and Hector) out for several weeks.
Picture 3: Now Papa, if you keep allowing the striker to get goal side of you I’m going to have to ask you to sit over there with Mustafi
Here’s hoping we get the new manager’s bounce in points tally, seeing as that it’s a phenomenon that happens very often.
But beyond that, let’s hope Arteta does well and puts in some strong fundamentals too.
Where is Aubameyang?
Arteta in pic 1 saying: When I win the treble, I want my statue at the Emirates to look like… this.
MA haven’t even managed a match for us yet, but we are all excited, and you could see the positive connection btw fans and the team again. This is what happens when you make exciting appointments and buy exciting players. We should learn from this going forward. I really hope this transforms into improved performances on the field of play.