The new Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta only got his first real chance for some serious training with his new charges when they went off for the mid-season break in Dubai, and it would appear that he has made very clear who is in charge from now on.
Matteo Guendouzi is the first to fall foul of the Spaniard’s tongue when he was dropped totally from the squad to face Newcastle on the teams return to action.
There have been reports of a ‘heated exchange’ between the youngster and his new boss, and Arteta himself hinted that there was more than discussion about tactics involved, when he told the Telegraph why Guendouzi was dropped against the Toon: “The reason is that players who, in my opinion, are training better, behaving better and are more applied to deliver on the pitch, what we want, are the players selected,” Arteta said.
It is looking like Arteta is going to be a much harder taskmaster than Unai Emery, who famously preferred to watch videos and talk tactics rather than supervise the actual training part. But he is not just expecting them to work hard, but he needs the players respect to get them to do his bidding.
As Lacazette said in a different interview in the same paper: “He demands a lot of things,”
“I wouldn’t say he is strict, but he knows what he wants and when it is not good we know that as well we are playing s***. He is a good coach.”
So the message to Guendouzi (and the rest of the squad) is clear. Do what the boss says or rot on the bench…
