Three things that Mikel Arteta has already improved at Arsenal in one month

Arsenal appointed Mikel Arteta as their new head coach at the end of December 2019 after the club had parted ways with Unai Emery. Mikel Arteta was brought in to stabilise the North London club which seemed to be in total chaos with Emery and Freddie Ljungberg who was appointed as the interim head coach had failed to add stability at the club. Mikel Arteta has been at Arsenal for a month now and so we take a look at three things that he has already improved.

1. ARSENAL’S DEFENCE HAS MASSIVELY IMPROVED

Even though Arsenal’s only two clean sheets since Mikel Arteta came in have been in Arsenal’s 2 nil win over Manchester United and the recently 0-0 draw with Burnley, there’s no denying that the gunners have improved in this department as they now are no longer conceding a huge number of shots as they did in the past, and have instead been let down by mistakes like that of Leno in the 2-1 loss to Chelsea.

Sokratis and Luiz who were constantly criticized by the Arsenal fans have started gaining back the trust of the gooners since they have improved under Mikel Arteta. The gunners have conceded eight goals in Arteta’s first nine matches and even though it’s not good stat, it might slightly be better since Arsenal was conceding two goals per match before Arteta came in.

2. ARSENAL ARE CREATING MORE CHANCES UNDER ARTETA

BURNLEY, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 02: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal takes on Charlie Taylor of Burnley during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Arsenal FC at Turf Moor on February 02, 2020 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal failed to defend and attack during Unai Emery this season but Mikel Arteta has already started working on this as the gunners are not only improving defensively but are also creating more chances since he has been brave enough to play more attacking minded players.

As seen in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Manchester United, Arteta answered for cries of the fans in wanting to see Ozil, Pepe, Lacazette and Aubameyang start together in a match and those four worked well in tearing down the Red Devils. The gunners later lost Aubameyang after he got suspended but they have still been creating many chances but their finishing has been poor but they can fix that in the coming weeks.

3. ARSENAL NOW HAVE A BETTER STRUCTURE HENCE PLAYERS IMPROVING

BURNLEY, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 02: Lucas Torreira of Arsenal is challenged by Ashley Westwood of Burnley during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Arsenal FC at Turf Moor on February 02, 2020 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal’s new boss Mikel Arteta has managed to implement a structure at the club and this has helped some players like Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira to start performing since they now know their defined roles and don’t get confused since the new coach doesn’t change his system in each and every game. Mesut Ozil has also spoke of how Arteta has brought a structure and praised him saying that he wants to bring back attractive football at Arsenal.

There’s other players who have benefited from this new structure such as Bukayo Saka who has been filling in at left back and him not being familiar with the position hasn’t affected the gunners a lot since Arteta’s structure makes Xhaka fill in for him when he goes forward. Ainsley Maitland-Niles has also been fantastic ever since Arteta arrived since as he has helped him feel comfortable in the right back position and in the new system/structure, he sometimes drifts into the midfield where his comfortable when the gunners are building from the back.