Arsenal’s Spanish right-back Hector Bellerin has been the subject of many transfer rumours regarding his future after he was left on the bench for many games in the second half of the last campaign, but there has been little mention of him moving on in the media lately.
But the roght-back has found time to appear in the High Performance Podcast, and at one point he was asked what he thinks that Mikel Arteta has changed drastically at the club, and he focused on the work off the ball, which he thinks often goes unnoticed by the wider audience.
He said: “I think personally at Arsenal that’s something (emphasis on off the ball movement) that has changed a lot,”
“I think the ethics and the way they work since Mikel has been the manager of the club has completely changed.
“And these behaviours, our behaviours have been awarded by them. There’s more emphasis on that behaviour, so the way we run back or the way we create space for a player.
“Because you know you can move to receive the ball, you can move to get a player away or you can move into space, there’s so many ways you can move for and sometimes a goal is created not by the player that passes the ball or by the player that scores but by the player that actually created the space.
“And many people like the fans in the stands or even the pundits sometimes they won’t see that. But truly that’s what we’ve practised, that’s what the coach has asked, and by the player doing that were able to score.
“I think even sometimes for the players it’s hard to see, when other teams do it and stuff, but we know in our dressing room and in the way we play that we scored that goal thanks to that player.”
So there is something for us Arsenal fans to look out for when the new season starts, but I wonder if Bellerin will still be with us by then?
Darren N
As a coach the first thing to look out for are your players stamina, with that, players can move easily, create space for themselves, give options, come for the ball( for one two’s), increase game intensity, provide cover for team mates, and consistent pressing throughout the game time…one of the major problems our players are facing is laziness..a coach like Bielsa won’t tolerate most of our players
I don’t “wonder if Bellerin will still be with us next season.” I am certain will be elsewhere and mightily pleased about that too. I have wanted Bellerin gone even longer than I have wanted Xhaka gone.
And I wanted XHAKA GONE AFTER SEEING HIS IMMOBILE AND SLOWCOACH PERFS, JUST HALF A DOZEN TIMES ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. I SAW RIGHT FROM THE VERY START THAT BELLERIN HAS NOT A CLUE ABOUT DEFENDING.
It struck me from his start that it was way beyond foolish to have a defender who was hopeless – and he has remained hopeless ever since – at defending!
Must be something about being born on the 13th Jon – totally agree.
Personally, I would also very much apply your observations above to AMN (currently another thread on here).
I have never understood the “smoke & mirrors” surrounding this player (AMN), which largely seem to centre around the sentiment of him being a graduate of Hale End, along with positional issues.
I buy neither.
If we are at long last serious regarding being in the midst of a “transitional” phase, these are the level of player who have long since run their course at the club and should be moved on.
AJ AH YES THEGOOD OLD 13TH! Unlucky for those who love superstition but lucky for those born with good old high level 13th intellect ! Serious or ironic? LET ALL DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES!
To be totally serious though, all academy graduates are regarded with extra fan sentiment or as some would see it, hype!
What an absolutely clueless commentary by Bellerin, as the one thing this team has sadly lacked is movement off the ball…I’ve never seen a more static squad in all my years of watching this club, except maybe 1 year under GG…we pass far too often onto the back foot, which discourages movement, instead of opting for a leading pass into an open space, we rarely utilize “dummy” runs to create space in and around the box and we don’t properly protect our wide side players through the use of overlapping runs, minus when Tierney is on the pitch and healthy…how obtuse must this individual be if he’s actually trying to sell this notion to the viewing public, who clearly knows this is a ridiculous take…fact is, if this is what Arteta had focused his attentions on then either he’s an exceptionally poor manager or he’s lost the dressing room…maybe Bellerin is actually displeased with what has become of his role at the club and is simply attempting to provoke anti-Arteta sentiment by making an obviously erroneous claim, although I highly doubt it, as that’s not really his gig
Get the hell out of my club!