Mikel Arteta was pleased with Arsenal’s draw away to the stadium of light on Boxing Day. Bournemouth had taken the lead in the first half after a quick counter-attacking play stretched and exposed the Gunners’ defence. Aubameyang would restore parity in the second half but neither the Gunners nor the saints could get over the line for the winner.
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The Spaniard was appointed head coach last week Friday although he had to endure Arsenal play a goalless draw from the stands against Everton that weekend with Interim Freddie Ljungberg leading out the side.
It’s the first managerial outing of any kind for the former Arsenal midfielder who went straight from retirement to join coaching legend, Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff and quickly rose to become his assistant. Three years and a bit on, Mikel is in charge of one of the biggest clubs in Europe. An apprenticeship under Pep Guardiola on his CV was enough for him to land the job.
In his first post-match comments as a manager, the new manager had these to say;
“I’m very pleased with some of the things I’ve seen, in terms of attitude, character, the passion we showed, and the fight and spirit the team showed,” the new boss said, via Arsenal.com.
“It was spot on,” he added. “Probably better than I expected over 90 minutes. A lot of things that happened in the game, we prepared. They understood them and they tried to take them on board. We lacked the final product at the end.”
The new head coach joins a shortlist of a handful of managers who landing a coaching job at this level without prior coaching experiences but it appears the man is not fazed.
“I’m quite used to [substitutions and tactical changes] because I always suggested things that happened during the game,” he said. “I have really good people around me to give me advice as well with things that happened. I felt comfortable.”
Having been with Arsenal in his playing days he understand the lack of fighting spirit that plagues this current generation or better put that crept into the current generation from the former and admitted he was “worried” how his team will respond should they concede first but was pleased his men uped their game and responded well to the setback.
“They came in at half-time and their faces, their reactions [were spot on]. It was about how much they wanted it.
“Normally, when you are in this process and you concede a goal, the confidence goes down and a lot of things that have happened in the past can come back. It didn’t happen, it happened in the complete opposite sense and that’s a really positive thing to take on board.”
The Gunners next hike down to the Stamford Bridge to take on rivals Chelsea in a classicly contested derby.