Mikel Arteta has revealed the extent to which he’s been working with the defence since he arrived at the club, and has praised the positive influence of David Luiz over the last couple of weeks.
Everyone with eyes has watched Arsenal in recent times and understood there are fundamental issues with the defensive side of the game, and that’s something the new manager has been working on.
Speaking about that focus and involvement ahead of today’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace, Arteta said, “We have to because I have to share my principals and what I expect from them in every situation on the pitch.
It might be a bit a little bit different from what they do with other managers, but positionally they have to understand what I expect from them.
“We do different types of drills, drills where they are facing the ball when the ball is far from them, situations where they have to defend transitions when they are overloaded, when they are in equal numbers.
“When the ball is with the full-backs, what I expect from them. Where I want the line in relation to the ball, not just the opponent, a few things that for us are important.”
The manager has also praised Luiz for stepping up and using his experience to good stead.
“He is a player that has won more trophies than anybody else in that dressing room,” said Arteta.
“We have to use that in a very powerful way. I wanted him to step up, I wanted him to put all his qualities – his personality and his experience – towards the team and he made a big step forward.
“In the games he has played under me so far he has been terrific. His attitude in training, the way he communicates with his team-mates, his desire to still learn, it’s superb.
“I am delighted with him.”
Let’s hope he, and the team, can continue their improvement against Crystal Palace later today.
Palace preview: An away day challenge after two big home games
Amazing that this wasn’t happening well under Emery, seems like basic stuff (principles…) to me.
And great if Luiz is improving, I wasn’t sure about him before but hope he steps up.
“Has Won More Trophies Than Any Other Player In The Dressing Room”……There You Have It “He Is A Leader”…We Need More Leaders In This Team For The Team To Succeed…Xhaka Surely Is One Too…Was Really Impressed When I Saw Luiz Giving The Team Talk Before The Start Of The Match Against Manchester Utd….Long May His Good Form Continues…Presently In The Circumstances We Are He Is Our Best CB…We Really Need Him To Step Up And Lead By Example
yeS
This guys is ridiculous. Walks into the club. Our youngest ever manager. First job. Massive job. A dressing room full of experienced heads who allegedly want someone more experienced. And he improves their game and shows them how to play better football. This man is special. He is the specialer one.
Let’s never forget that the Neville brothers attempted a similar thing. It lasted a couple of months. Now they sit in studios telling managers what they should do.
Thumb up for specialer one
Is it just me, or Arteta just might be the best manager in press conferences? For how his tactical analysis soothes fan curiosity.
I think he’s a new style of communication that suits the way the modern fan thinks. He gives a little more and you walk away satisfied like you’ve been given inside information. But he matches that with passion. Not blind anger that used to pass for “passion” (Pardew passion), it’s a true passion as in a passion that truly believes and won’t let anything stop him getting what he wants. He knows how and is demanding that same true, concentrated, passion from the players.
Very good point about the modern fan thing, Stephen. A young coach is more likely to be with the times.
Excellent… now for your next trick Arteta please help with improving Mustafi and turn him into world class.
Or somehow sending him out on loan when his last contribution was that 2nd goal against chelsea
or an even better next trick would be to convince some team (ANY team) to give us money for Mustafi; heck, I’d still be pleased with Arteta if he paid another team to take him off our hands!
???????
Why do I have a feeling he would be the next captain?
This article makes me want to shout COME ON ARSENAL!!!!!?
Luiz has definitely been improved under Arteta. The season Conte’s Chelsea won the league he was outstanding, so clearly there is a good defender in there.
Defence is totally about drills and repetition. Defend a corner 500 times in training and you should be able to do it in a game situation everytime. I did wonder whether Emery had any defensive nuance in him whatsoever.
Let me give you a clue – no he didn’t.
I was a huge defender of Emery, however something that became obvious was that he had no idea about how to set up defensively….
To be fair, it became obvious that Emery had no idea how to coach a top football team at all.
Miki will return from his loan and will be hailed ‘Mikidona’ after a month of Arteta’s coaching at this rate. Mustafi will soon have Franco Baresi saying “I wish I was as good as him.”
Yes, I’m happy with the job Arteta is doing do far in coaching our players. Come on Arsenal!
Beautiful to read. D.Luiz is an asset when he’s motivated
Next season I see Luiz and sokratis as quality understudies to younger new players, but that their experience will be invaluable
Felt Luiz was decent today. Specific insturctions and restrictions imposed by Arteta seem to also improve Granit and Torreira. We were far too loose and unstructured with Wenger. With Emery there was too much changes and no attention to defensive awareness, too much dogma in the way we tended to play out leading to predictable pressure and mistakes. Thought we worked our was out better and evident in first half. Passing much sharper. Saw the drills with limited viewing on the Arsenal site. You can feel a bit more confidence and better movement for the player on the ball to… Read more »
I love his feedback and his attitude