Mikel Arteta arrived with a mission in London, to revolutionize Arsenal to return to being a great of England on the field of play and not only on paper. In its first months managed to lift two trophies, the FA Cup and the Community Shield, in addition to orchestrating a tremendous makeover in terms of staff. The dynamics seemed to change, but the team maintained its irregular dynamics during this season that has led them to finish ninth in the Premier.
In the last winter market, in January, he continued, together with Edu (sports director), breaking stone and players like Özil or Sokratis came out, accompanying the Guendouzi or Mkhitaryan who had done it before, either with the release letter under their arm or in the form of an assignment. Of all this, in addition to internal problems such as the 'Aubameyang case' or his own failures that lead to negative results, he has spoken in an interview with Sky Sports That came after a victory against Tottenham (2-1), with the defeat against Olympiakos in the Europa League still latent (the first-leg result, yes, was enough to go to the quarterfinals).
Loss to Olympiakos: “It is not acceptable. Our internal and individual demands have to be much higher. We cannot accept simply losing a game. We are qualified, we are happy. But we know that if we continue like this we will have problems.”
The importance of discipline and the decision to leave Aubameyang out: “When you have clear ideas and principles, it's about applying them. There is no point in simply telling people what we expect of them, and then not making decisions when that is not achieved. (…) It is our platform, it is the way we live together. If there is no respect, if there is no trust, if there are no values that we represent every day, we will not achieve anything that we want to do. “
Bad streak between October and December (10 league games without winning): “I think it was necessary. Sometimes you have to reach those levels to get an idea of why you are there and to see who will react when those difficult moments come., because there will be them in a season. You want to see who says: 'I'm ready to push' (…). Then you can make some decisions. I am very proud of the way we handle that situation because there were many things happening, and not only in the field“.
Hectic transfer markets: “I believe that what we did in January is unprecedented. If you look at how many changes we have made in 12 months, it is incredible. That also has consequences, because you need stability. You have to get to a point where you can do two or three things (in a transfer window) and they get done (…). We are no longer 32 players, something that was impossible to manage. We have some players who have given us a great boost. I speak of the young players, but also of the veterans who began to raise their level “.
Future plans: “Still we have to do a lot of things to dobut I hope we get to the point, hopefully, where there are just a few things to do. You have to look for stability, because that is needed to be consistent and competitive. “
Youth explosion: “It's about getting things done at the right times, when they can shine, when to protect them and when to put the right players around them. It's not about lining up all the young players in every game. We are creating a plan all together, so that they have their space. We have the right flow between players so that they can be really important in the club. That path is being created. “