Lacazette admires Arteta’s half time aggression, reveals boss ‘shouted a lot’

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s aggressive half-time wake-up call to his team was praised by his players who revealed it was what inspired them in a lead up to their victory over Leeds in the third round of the FA Cup.

It was Reiss Nelson’s 55th-minute goal which has seen Arsenal progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Leeds dominated the proceedings in the first half and deserved to be ahead going into the break, but Arsenal came back stronger and atoned for their slow start in the second half.

In the post-match event, gaffer Arteta expressed his content with how his side bounced back from an awful first 45 minutes to book their place in the next round of the competition.

“Now, I’m really pleased, but we saw two different teams from the first to the second half,” he told BBC Sport.

“I tried to tell them exactly what they were going to face and after 32 minutes we had won one duel, I think.

“We changed our attitude, desire, and organization at half-time and then we were completely different.

“Sometimes they have to experience themselves how tough and how hard it is going to be.

“I watched a lot of Leeds games and they battered every team every three days. It was good for my players to learn and to suffer on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette echoed the manager’s sentiments while also disclosing that the boss shouted a lot after he was far from pleased at the intermission due to the players not trusting his instincts.

“The manager shouted a lot,” he said. “He was not happy because we knew they’d play like this and we didn’t respect what he had said.”

“The emotions are high,” goalscorer Nelson who netted the all-important goal in the game said. “They played well in the first half. Leeds is a great team and they pressed us, we didn’t expect it. We got the goal in the end and that is the most important thing.

“This will give us the confidence to go forward.”

The Gunners will visit Bournemouth in the next round later this month.