Mikel Arteta’s appointment as Arsenal manager may have initially raised a few eyebrows, but Mesut Ozil believes that he is ‘the right man’ for the club, and has explained how he is trying to restore the clubs ‘virtues’.
Arteta was appointed as Arsenal manager last month despite having just three-and-a-half years experience as an assistant coach, the former midfielder having worked under Pep Guardiola at Man City.
However, following the club’s dismal start to the season, Arsenal turned to their former captain to replace Unai Emery, and despite having won only one of his four Premier League matches in charge, there have been a number of promising signs from the Gunners performances.
The Spaniard seems to be immediately getting his idea’s across to his Arsenal players, with the first-half performance in their New Year’s Day win over Manchester United particularly impressive, while they ran out of steam against Chelsea after a similarly impressive display a few days previous.
Under Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery, Mesut Ozil was widely criticised for his lack of work rate, though the former Germany international surprised everyone after he racked up the most miles of anyone on the pitch against United, and the 31-year-old has spoken in glowing terms of his new boss and how he is trying to get the best out of the side.
“He can show us everything he has learnt his long career so he knows exactly what we need to do, and so we know what we need to do as well,” Ozil told arsenal.com. “He just pushes us far to get there so we can play successfully.
“He knows what to say to us, how to give us a positive attitude and how to make us be successful. I can see he is really hungry, but at the same time he is very down to earth and that is a very good characteristic to make us be a successful team.
“It is basically getting us back to the old Arsenal virtues. Fighting and having possession, being in control of the game, having the ball all the time. These are the things that he is working on with us and you can see it – everyone is smiling, laughing, enjoying their time at the moment and this has made us be successful now.
“I think he is the right man at this club.”
Next up for Arteta’s men is a home game against the impressive Sheffield United, Chris Wilder’s Blades having beaten the North London club up in South Yorkshire back in October.
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