Mikel Arteta waited for and spoke to Arsenal players after Everton draw.
Mikel Arteta is set to start work full-time today as Arsenal’s manager after being appointed on Friday afternoon. However, the Spaniard didn’t wait until his official start date before speaking to his players.
A report from Metro Sports claims that the Spaniard was waiting for his new players after their drab draw against Everton and he spoke to them before they left Merseyside.
Arsenal’s game against the Toffees was the first league game of the Premier League weekend but it was a poor game from both sides with Arsenal only mustering one shot on target.
The report claims that Arteta had given a short message before the match to inspire some confidence, and he was on hand to give them another message after the game.
‘He came down after the game and said similar things to what I just said,’ Freddie Ljungberg revealed after the game.
Ljungberg also added that he believed Arteta would help Arsenal get back to form.
‘For me, of course we’re a big club,’ Ljungberg said about Arsenal’s chances of breaking back into the top six of the Premier League. ‘We’re a bit low on confidence and it’s been a difficult time we’re going through, but we won away at West Ham and that was the first time we won away since the first day of the season at Newcastle.
‘That changed us a little bit. Now here, we kept a clean sheet and got a draw away from home. We feel a bit stable.
‘For me, the important thing is that we’re Arsenal Football Club, we need to have possession. We should be keeping the ball and dominate. ‘I know Everton were really strong from their long balls, their throw-ins and their set-pieces. ‘That was difficult but that’s what I’ll take with us. I know Mikel is a great coach and he will make us even better.’
Hopefully, Freddie is 100% right and Arteta does turn out to be a great coach, he is certainly giving off that sort of vibe.
It makes sense that Arteta had something to say, waiting on protocol and respecting Freddie’s position is, of course, important but it would have been madness if Arteta did not make his presence felt yesterday.