We all know that Mikel Arteta has had a rollercoaster of a ride since taking over at Arsenal, with the Pandemic, finishing in our lowest League position for decades, and then the Euphoria of winning the FA Cup.
But recently something has gone desperately wrong and the goals (and the points!) have dried up. If you think that it’s just us poor fans that have no idea what has happened for things to go so wrong, then you need to read this interview in EFE with our recovered defender Pablo Mari, who was simply asked “What’s going on at Arsenal?”
“It’s the million-dollar question. Everyone at the club is thinking about what is happening to us,” he said.
“In the dressing room, we give 100 per cent in every game, in every training session, to reverse this situation.
“But I think that within all this, football is streaks and I believe a lot in this kind of thing.
“As much as you want to score ten goals each game, there will be times when you can’t score any. We are in that dynamic right now, no matter how hard you try, football is not giving you everything that you give it. It is a matter of changing it.”
“The first thing is that I think that quick manager changes are not the right thing to do.
“When you appoint a coach, it is because he has given you the confidence that his idea of football is the one that you think is best for your club.
“If you don’t give it time for that idea to evolve, you aren’t giving it a chance. When you want to change a dynamic or a mentality of a club, it is difficult to do it in a month.
“About Mikel, I think the idea of the club has changed. The attitude, the mentality has changed.
“He has brought a very interesting long-term project in which I feel like a participant because I signed because I liked it a lot.
“I go with Mikel until the end of the world. He just needs time. Soccer is not always rosy. I am happy because, despite the situation, we are united.”
It is good to hear from the horses mouth that everyone is still behind Arteta and are trying hard to get us out of this hole, but if the players don’t understand what hasgone wrong, what chance have we got…?