Nigel Winterburn has hailed the evolution and mentality of the current Arsenal team under Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard was made the club’s manager last year and he has helped them achieve their most recent successes.
They have won the FA Cup and Community Shield and also earned wins against top Premier League sides like Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
The Gunners have made a fine start to the season, winning all their competitive games so far and they can remain joint-top of the Premier League if they beat Liverpool on Monday.
Winterburn believes that the mental side of the game is even more important than the physical side and after watching the Gunners beat West Ham despite conceding an equalising goal, he insists that Arsenal wouldn’t have won such a game before and that shows how good their mentality is under the Spaniard.
Winterburn said as quoted by Sun Sports: “Arsenal are certainly getting mentally stronger under Mikel Arteta which has been shown in a few cases last season.
“The mental side of the game is so important, which a lot of people forget about.
“When people are watching football from the outside, they tend to focus on a player’s ability.
“For me, ability is a given. If you’re playing in the Premier League you have ability, but you need that mental strength when things are not going for you.
“You need to be able to keep pushing yourself and pushing your team-mates to dig out the results.”
He continued: “Last season Arsenal would’ve been in danger of losing a game like that to West Ham.
“I wouldn’t have seen them going on to win that type of game last season.
“Mikel Arteta is already doing a fantastic job with the club, he’s a no-nonsense manager that knows what he wants.
“He’s not afraid to leave players out if he doesn’t think their work rate or attitude is right.
“He’s set ground rules, and when you start to do that, you can develop the way you train and the way you play.
“It’s not all perfect, there’s a long way for Arsenal to go and I’m certainly not getting carried away.
“However, it’s nice to feel that there is some progression.”
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