Newly-appointed Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has warned the under-performing footballers and said the players who don’t fetch him desired results will not hang around for long. Speaking at the first press conference Gunners manager, he also said that there are a lot of things at the moment that needs to be changed.
“Everybody has to respect each other first of all, and I want people who are accountable for what I’m asking for them to do. I don’t want them hiding, I want people to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club,” Arteta was quoted as saying on the official website of Arsenal.
“Anyone who doesn’t buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture. There are things to change, absolutely, because they’re not performing at the level that we expect them to,” he added.
The former Manchester City assistant manager talked about the importance of building a culture where the players understand what the club want from them.
He said, “The first thing is a little bit to change the energy. Last week I was here with Manchester City and I was a little bit down after the game when I felt what was going on. So we have to try to engage everybody, I have to try and convince the players about what I want to do, how I want to do it, they have to start accepting a different process, a different way of thinking, and I want to get all the staff and everybody at the club with the same mindset.
“We need to engage them, we need to be able to transmit with our behaviours, our intentions, what we want to bring to this football club. I think that’s the only way, where we give them a little bit, they give us a little bit, and suddenly we feel that connection because when plugging these two things together, it is so powerful.”
He also spoke at length about Mesut Ozil, who remained a highly out-of-favour candidate under the last boss Unai Emery, and said the former Germany international is an important player for the club.
“He’s a massive player for this football club. As I said before, what I want is to understand how they are feeling and what they need. It’s not so much about what I need,” Arteta said.
Notably, Arteta has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract by taking the reins from Freddie Ljungberg, who served as caretaker manager since Unai Emery was fired on November 29.
The 37-year-old Spaniard, who played for Arsenal from 2011-2016, has spent the last three years as an assistant to Pep Guardiola with two-time defending Premier League champions Manchester City.