Arsenal star speaks out on how even the unhappy players have benefited from Arteta’s arrival

Arsenal announced in December that Mikel Arteta had become their new head coach after a month of speculations about who would be the person to replace Unai Emery. Arteta has had a lively start to life as the manager of Arsenal as they have won eight of the 15 games played under him and Shkodran Mustafi has immensely praised him.

Arsenal looked set to go into a relegation battle when Unai Emery was still in charge and the appointment of Freddie Ljungberg as the club’s interim head coach did not help as the gunners continued to sink until the club decided to appoint Mikel Arteta as their new boss. The gunners started off with a draw with Bournemouth and later a loss to Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge but Mikel Arteta has however finally settled the club as they are now a few points off UCL spots with a game in hand.

A lot of players looked unhappy under Unai Emery since he showed that he didn’t want Arsenal to play possession football like they were used to while others had been excluded from the starting elevens that would play in the Premier League like Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi. Mustafi says that Arteta has brought them a clear identity that they can easily follow and claims that the Spaniard has also been able to make players not playing also become happy.

“Each one of us has benefitted from this arrival. He has brought a very clear identity and a very clear idea of how he wants to play football, but at the same time he gives you space to make your own decisions because you are on the pitch and you know exactly what the coach wants from you.” said Mustafi as quoted by The Mirror.

LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 16: Shkodran Mustafi celebrates the 4th Arsenal goal, scored by Alex Lacazette during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on February 16, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“I think as well he has been listening into the changing room and listening to the players to find out why things were not working out before. Sometimes we don’t realise how difficult it is to be a coach because you have so many people that you have to make follow your idea.”

“Sometimes players are happy, sometimes players that don’t play are not so happy, so it is not easy to have all on board and all agreeing with your ideas and philosophy.”

“But he has managed to do that and in this short period it has been something very difficult to do, but he has done it. That is why we created a bit of momentum and we are heading in the right direction.”