Mikel Arteta has revealed that he told his Arsenal players at half-time to ensure they didn’t drop their guard, labelling Leeds United as the most relentless team in the Premier League. The Whites found themselves 3-0 down at the break following a poor first-half at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta Said: “Yes, I’m very pleased with the result and very, very happy with the performance, especially in the first half, against a fantastic team that makes life so difficult for you. It really puts very high demands in every action, whether it’s with or without the ball, I think we handled the difficult situation very well and created some big problems for them. At half-time, I said to them if there is a team in the Premier League that is never going to give up and throw everything at you, it’s Leeds because of their character and belief. That’s what they did, they threw everything at us, we scored the fourth goal but they made it hard. Every action, you have 45 minutes, you have to be focused and pay so much attention. A 15-minute break and another 45 minutes and if you don’t take the game like that, then you’re in big trouble. Every situation they try to take advantage of it.”