Southampton might be languishing in 19th place without a win since their promotion, but Mikel Arteta is taking nothing for granted after Leicester sent a shot across Arsenal’s bow last weekend.
The Gunners left it very late to snatch a 4-2 win over the Foxes having squandered a two-goal lead and the manager has warned his players they will need to be at their best against the Saints to extend their 15-game unbeaten run.
“We know the significance and difficulty of the match,” Arteta told his pre-game press conference.
“Last week the tough schedule that we have was proven and any opponent can cause you problems. When you think the game is under control, it can get out of your hands immediately, so it was probably a good thing to happen the way it ended up.
“We know the quality of Southampton and in my opinion, they’re a team who are extremely well-coached. They have a very clear philosophy, and they’ve been very unlucky not to have many more points because there were moments in the games when they were far better than the opponent and in some moments the results got away from them. It will be very tough.”
Southampton’s recent 3-1 defeat to local rivals Bournemouth didn’t sit well with their supporters, who have criticised manager Russell Martin for rigidly sticking to his tactical principles.
The Saints earned their promotion building out from the back and playing a possession-based football that saw them have more of the ball than any other side in the Championship last season.
While the same policy hasn’t served them well in the top flight, Martin’s stubbornness has Arteta’s approval.
“I love that kind of behaviour, in the end, you have to do what you feel,” said the Spaniard.
“He’s proven that his philosophy is extremely successful, what he did with Swansea, what he did with Southampton and last year they were 25 games unbeaten.
“It was a joy to watch that team play, the same with Swansea, and from what I’ve seen, they deserve much more than what they have already. But this is the Premier League, and the small details are so important to get results.”
Saturday’s clash will also see Arsenal reunited with Aaron Ramsdale, just over a month since he moved to St. Mary’s for an initial fee of £18 million.
Ramsdale will no doubt have a point to prove after being dropped last season in favour of David Raya not long after penning a new contract at the Emirates.
While the situation showed Arteta to be utterly ruthless he admits he found it hard parting ways with the England international given his contribution over the last three years.
“It is personally, because I was very grateful for what he did,” he said.
“When we signed there was a lot of noise around him. We helped him to create an environment that he needed because we believed in his potential and he showed it.
He won the respect and admiration of all of us.
“Then the circumstances changed because this is elite sport and that can happen. It was difficult to deal with that situation in a natural way so we decided to part ways and hopefully he is grateful as well.
He added: “I called him straight away when I got the news [of his transfer] and he was really happy.
“He is a player that we loved a lot, very charismatic and he really put his fingerprints here on the club with the way that he was. It’ll be very good to see him.”
Southampton possibly put the final nail on Arsenal’s coffin during the title run-in the season before last. The game ended 3-3, and Arsenal were a bit complacent at the time.
Unfortunately that did it for Ramsdale.
Not sure complacent is the right word – we were coming off draws in the previous 2 matches (Liverpool, West Ham) – if anything it showed how spent we were by that point in the season, and how much we missed Saliba
I’ll be glad for a win but still sad seeing Ramsey collecting balls from his net for each of our 5 goals.
Mikel’s been talking up fingerprints for a few days now. I look forward to him working in “luminol” and “forensic genealogy” into future press conferences.
When did he last mention fingerprints? I hope it wasn’t regarding Merino because everyone knows you don’t leave fingerprints behind when you wear woolen gloves.
When discussing Enrique. His fingerprints are all over the place, apparently. Sloppy.
ah yes, forgets to wipe as he leaves, you wonder what else he forgets to wipe…
From all the hugging he did after the match his fingerprints are all over Mikel now too.
I love the passive aggression regarding ‘his Swansea team’ – it tells me and Southampton, we’ve done our homework pal!
Mikel is being really generous here as he always is. I remembered when he talked up Sheffield United before our home game with them last year, said how hard it would be. We beat them 5-0 and Eddie scored a hat trick. Like Sheffield United last season, Southampton are 100% being relegated and Arsenal are 100% going to stomp all over them.
Mikel arteta stars in the new csi- london colney
Classy as always towards other managers.
Behind the scenes I think he is licking his chops. Me too.
Ramsdale is going to play the best game of his life tomorrow
Busiest, not best.