Mikel Arteta

JazzG

Still no word from the boss after winning the title, have to say am loving this silence. The way the media in this country treat him is an absolute disgrace and he should keep them waiting and only speak when he wants to. Think he has a press conference today. He has put the focus on the players rather being like some coaches who make it about themselves.

This season isn't over, one of the most important games in this club's history awaits us. Mikel Arteta what have you got for us.

daredevil

JazzG

If I had to guess - our main man is preparing for the CL final.

I have no idea what line up I would go with and I'm sure neither does he - given how he mentioned in the past against Atletico he had numerous different permutations and just went with his gut.

Sicario2

JazzG conference for Palace game will be tomorrow

FEBravo

They have a media day for the CL final today, so I'm sure we'll hear from him then.

They had the one for PSG yesterday. Luis Enrique was very complimentary of Arsenal and said he was preparing a plan both offensively and defensively for us. Called us the best team in the world without the ball. Seems like a class act.

IBL

Who mentioned somewhere that whilst the players were celebrating Tuesday evening Arteta was watching PSG games and taking notes...probably just trying to distract himself from nerves and jitters.

JazzG

IBL Think it was a joke going round, he did join them at Tape club later that evening.

Sicario2

This is quite endearing. He was too nervous to watch the game. Shows how much it meant to him.

This means if City got a winner we wouldn’t have beaten Palace on the last day. Thank fuck for Bournemouth.

Qwiss

Sicario2 getting me right in the feels talking about his son coming to him crying.

JazzG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcOlbhb2chg

Full interview there

Sicario2 This is quite endearing. He was too nervous to watch the game. Shows how much it meant to him.

This means if City got a winner we wouldn’t have beaten Palace on the last day. Thank fuck for Bournemouth.

I'm not sure about that, this is a game which could define his time at the football club and he has absolutely no control over it at all. I think that would be a difficult watch because you'd be so invested in Bournemouth getting a result. He said he didn't want to watch with the players, probably didn't want the players to see him like that.

JazzG

We never recognise the support family members give. Wenger talked about this once about how he neglected his wife and daughter because of football and you could see he regretted that. As a player you have more time but as a coach/manager the game can take over your life and you need that support network around you..

Burnwinter

JazzG We never recognise the support family members give.

For sure. Arteta is evidently an emotional bloke and likely on the spectrum (even autistic as old mate @speedy used to say). The neurotic focus he gives to his work is going to correspond to moments of private dysregulation and boilovers, so he's going to rely on having someone understanding at home. The story that circulates about how he went after his wife is quite typical of these cases in fact.

JazzG

Meatwad

About our defensive game.

"I thought, could we score a hundred goals today, with the resources we have? With the players that have been out or the manner that we have been performing? The answer is NO. Can somebody score 35 goals? No. So how are we going to win 40 odd games to achieve what we want? And that's our biggest strength, so ok this one we need to be the best in the world at doing this. And the other ones we're going to have to be very close to being the best in the world, but we are not the best. So I make sure the boys understand this is our biggest strength and if we do that the probability of winning the game is going to be so high."

TambourineMan

Meatwad the fact that he's acknowledged we're lacking in attack is a huge positive and would suggest he'll be hyper focused on improving in that regard next season.

FEBravo

I have never been his biggest fan, and I doubt I will ever love him as much as other players/managers, but what he has achieved has been impressive. He came with his vision, was allowed to see it though, and in the end delivered, perhaps a bit later than we (and he for sure) would have wanted. But that's all irrelevant now. He deserves all the plaudits he gets, and I particularly liked towards the end he seemed to be learning from his mistakes. If he can keep on doing that and improving, there is another gear that club can go to.

Now If he can just sit in the dugout for 90 min, smile and laugh through the Palace game, without any antics, he will truly win me over!

Well done super Mik

Rohit

FEBravo Now If he can just sit in the dugout for 90 min, smile and laugh through the Palace game, without any antics, he will truly win me over!

If the bit about Eze taking the lead and speaking with Arteta about time and space is true, this will happen soon. Arteta will learn, he is so young still. I don't want him to change, it is who he is and it is what makes him click but I am so happy to hear that player feedback was taken constructively and it helped. I am sure he will relax a bit after this season with the title in the bag and especially if the elusive CL is won too.

MistaT

Rohit -- what's this about? source?

Klaus

I think Arteta listens to the players. He signed Eze because the others were raving about training with him for England, for instance.

It takes him a while to change because he's pretty rigid, but he has also shown that he's willing to sign and deploy players who can give him something different than what he already has. He gives them time to adjust to the team and then he starts to adjust to them. We've seen how Eze and Gyökeres have been used recently to supercede the controlball tactics. Same with Myles in midfield: we needed a point to turn the game on instead of playing every ball all the way back to Raya, and he found a perfect one in the most press-resistant player in the squad.

Give Arteta some time and he'll take new things on board. I think we're going to see a lot more vertical play next season for one thing.

Sicario2

Don Pacifico

Just thought but does 'trust the process' still feel like a joke?

JazzG

Don Pacifico Listening to the Arsenal vision podcast and they said last four seasons nobody has more points than Arsenal, this title win validates that. It proves that this wasn't all for nothing. We were so close but for various reasons fell short but the most important thing was we were doing the right thing and this title win justifies that. Sometimes it happens straight away and sometimes it takes a few goes but we kept going.

Sicario2

Don Pacifico this was only 4 years ago. Makes you appreciate how far we have come even if this season was do or die for a lot of us