Five differences Arteta has made at Arsenal already

Work Rate

For many teams, work rate is a given, all players will put 100% effort in and fight for the badge. Week in, week out that is the least a football fan can ask for that the players give everything they have got for 90 minutes, however under Emery the Arsenal players weren’t doing the basics and lead to this group of players becoming very unfit. Since Arteta’s arrival, he has clearly expressed his philosophy of pressing teams high up the pitch with maximum intensity for the whole match. If some players are unable to do this, Arteta strikes me as the kind of manager who will not be waiting around for players who are simply not capable and instead will find players who match his game plan. So far, it is clear that the squad as a whole can’t cope physically with doing this for 90 minutes, but one thing is clear that the players have bought into the idea and are at least trying to implement it. A prime example of this is Mesut Özil, a player notorious for being “Lazy”, his stats against Manchester United were staggering and proved that he is prepared to fight for Arteta’s cause.

Özil usually averages 9.97km per game, which is the third highest in the team, but against Manchester United he ran 11.5km which is a big increase and not only this won possession 10 times. It is clear that the work rate for the whole team has improved as well with the likes of Lacazette, Torreira and Maitland-Niles putting in shifts for the first four games under new management. This is a very key aspect to any side, it doesn’t matter how good you are, if you aren’t willing to put a shift in then your results will show that and the fact that Arteta has managed to implement this within the space of a month is a very promising sign. Without a doubt, making this a non-negotiable will stand Arteta in good stead for the future, ensuring he maintains it as all the youth players coming up into the first team will know this is the way we play, starting a culture throughout the academy and the club. Not only this, but players coming into the club and from the academy will have a clear idea of what they need to do in order to break through with regarding their fitness being at a top level, along with hunger and desire to work for the badge.

Man Management Skills

One part of Arteta’s management style which has really impressed me is the way he deals with star players and massive ego’s. When he arrived there was a lot of key players in the squad with uncertain futures, for example Aubameyang, Xhaka and Özil. In the short space of time he has had, all three of them have reiterated their desire to stay and fight for trophies which shows that the players have bought into Arteta as not only a coach but as a man. Aubameyang has come out and said “I am the Arsenal captain. I love this club. I am committed to it and desperate to bring it back to the top, where it belongs.” this is excellent news for Arsenal as without him, we would be in a much worse position this season.

Not only this, but in a recent press conference Arteta said this about Granit Xhaka “I think he is going to stay. He was very good [against United], and I really like him. With the way we want to play, if we get him on board I think he can be a tremendous player for the football club.” This is another brilliant example of how to manage players, after all that happened with Xhaka and the fans this season he clearly needs some public backing and the fact that Arteta isn’t afraid of doing this proves he has the steel to bring Arsenal back to the top and re-install the confidence back into the group.

Organisation

Arsenal are starting to look a lot more organised and that was evident from the first game against Bournemouth. Players were actually in the correct areas of the pitch, the pressing was organised and in the transition we looked a lot more secure. As a result of this, we were the much better side that game and if we had taken our chances we would have gone on to win it, however many Arsenal fans were just happy to see us defend as a team and play some free-flowing football. There was a clear identity and the fact that we could see what formation we were playing was a good start.

As you can see from the picture, the idea was clear, to press with the front four high up the pitch and restrict the amount of opportunities Bournemouth had playing out from the back and finding their central players. In the future, these organisation skills which Arteta has displayed in such a short amount of time can only be a good thing as it proves the players are taking on board his instructions and shows they are capable of defending as a team. Not only this, but under Emery our main downfall was in the transition and so far under Arteta he has proved that this is fixable, one major change when we have possession is Maitland-Niles coming inside to make a midfield three, this closes the opposition in and allows us to recover the ball more often in the middle of the pitch, in my opinion this is a key factor into getting us back to where we are meant to be.

Fear Factor

Sometimes in football, especially at Arsenal, it seems as if the players have it too easy with no real consequences for not performing, as key players are hardly ever dropped if they don’t do well, with previous managers just brushing it under the carpet. However, I have noticed a very different approach from Arteta, who seems hungry to win and enforce his ideas onto the club even if it means he has an element of “fear factor”. In my opinion, this is a welcomed change to the mould at Arsenal as players are often made to feel too comfortable, but a recent example has shown that this is no longer the case. At the end of the game against Leeds in the FA Cup Lacazette was asked what Arteta said at halftime in order for them to play better and he responded with “He shouted a lot”.

In the future, this will create a team with more desire and hunger to win, as we have seen in the past sometimes the best way to get a reaction is by giving the players the ‘hairdryer’ treatment every so often. Sir Alex swore by this and look at how successful he was!

Confidence

So far it seems as if Arteta has managed to put some confidence into the players as they were on the floor in that sense when he arrived. Arsenal had lost their identity of playing one, two touch free flowing football and creating chances at will. The players looked scared to make a difficult pass causing them to dwell on the ball, and as a result making our attacks predictable and pedestrian like. However, Arteta has given the players the freedom when on the ball to be brave and attack with rhythm, leading to the fans being much more excited when match day comes around. To do all this in a very short space of time is impressive and is the reason why I am confident Arsenal have found the right Manager.

Feedback

Let me know your thoughts in the comments or join the discussion on Twitter & Instagram. Hit the share buttons at the bottom of the page!
James Humphreys