Mikel Arteta feels that Arsenal have to go distance before implementing his philosophy

Mikel Arteta

mikel arteta training season

“We have a long way to go in this process, to develop a lot of things that I want to implement,” said Mikel Arteta before they kicked off against Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton. Arsenal defeated Everton in a closely contested game by a scoreline of 3-2 where Gunners’ captain scored a brace alongside a goal from Eddie Nketiah.

In the press conference, Mikel Arteta felt that the current set of players at Emirates requires much more time to adapt the philosophy of what he is going to implement. However, Mikel Arteta open-heartedly praised his players for a good response to the changes.

Under the supervision of Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have been on a good run though they have drawn five games. It is worthy to note that since December 20, Arsenal have lost only one game out of 11 games across all the competitions. With this fine run, Arsenal finds themselves just 4 points shy of fifth-placed Manchester United and five points shy of Frank Lampard’s Chelsea.

mikel arteta arsenal fc

Mikel Arteta, the 37-year-old manager, also felt that there is no quick fix for the sliding down Arsenal but said that the painful times will get over soon and  Arsenal will be fighting for the trophies. Being optimistic enough, he said:

“What I can tell you is I am really proud to manage this football club at the moment and really happy with how everyone is reacting around the club,”

“The players – the passion and energy they are showing every day and the same with the staff and everybody who works here. We have a lot of things to improve and it feels like it was eight months ago but it was not that far away.

“We have a long way to go in this process, to develop a lot of things that I want to implement. We need time. I don’t want to accelerate the process and take them somewhere they cannot do because it would not be productive.

“We have to maintain the things we do good and maybe then we have little margins of improvement that we have to aim to achieve.”

The Spanish manager, Mikel Arteta is a man on mission and visionary who has developed his own set of things and ideology for his previous club. In his first full-time managerial post, Mikel Arteta is itching to face his one of the previous clubs which he assisted under the successful manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola. He also said what he wants from his players against the reigning Premier League champions.

Since the retirement of the Spaniard, Mikel Arteta has assisted former Catalan manager, Pep Guardiola at Etihad Stadium for four long years until his previous club Arsenal came calling for him. The manager opined:

“The attitude I want the players to play with is to confront the opponent,”

“It does not matter where we play, we have to go there and we have to face them.

“We have to feel that we are ready to go, not just when we have the ball but when we don’t have it as well, with the same attitude and aggression.

“They are doing it. I can only praise them because they are trying hard – sometimes we can be better or worse but they are very willing.

“I played there (at Everton) for seven years, I still have some great memories, great friends and people that I love a lot.

“It was weird because when I was appointed manager I had to go to Goodison Park (where he watched from the stands). It was always special for me to play there and I’m really looking forward to it.”