Mikel Arteta looked like a dead man walking a month ago, but since then Arsenal have won five matches in row and now the mood at the North London club is upbeat. Arteta spoke to media before their game against Crystal Palace and spoke about the turnaround, top four credentials & injuries in the squad.
Mikel Arteta said ” (Partey injury) Absolutely and because obviously we are able to watch him in training. And who he is as well. I think he’s got a different presence. I think he brings something different to the team. It’s not just about his talent it’s not, about his physicality, it’s who he is as a person. He makes players better around him and that’s a big quality. It’s incredible that we are in January, we signed him in the summer and we only played him twice. So, we haven’t really seen the impact that we believe he could have on the team. Obviously, we have missed him. On the other hand we’ve seen players stepping in as well. When that happens they give us some really positive news as well. But I think it’s going to be a big bonus if we can keep him fit. I think so. I think the teams are not as consistent because everything around is not as consistent. We have to change everything, all the protocols. For example, to start our season with a pre-season, it didn’t exist. We had two training sessions before we play the Community Shield, and then we started to play the league. The squads that we have to manage this year are bigger than ever. The restrictions we have for training to preparation they are stranger. There is no crowds. There is a lot going on. And maybe you can sustain that for a few months, but when it goes down to 10, 12 months it’s more complicated. Well today it’s not because we haven’t won those games. But that we know we’ve got the capacity to win those games, we’re going to be looking at the season a completely different way. And this is where the motivation and now the positivity has to keep going to really go for it.”
