Mikel Arteta watched his side blow Atletico Madrid away in the Champions League in midweek and admits even he has been take aback by some of his side’s recent performances
Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal are playing some of the best football of his six-year reign. And the Gunners boss has hailed Brazil defender Gabriel as world class after his performances have helped take Arsenal to the top of the Premier League and among the best in Europe.
Arsenal blitzed Atletico Madrid in the Champions League this week when Gabriel scored and assisted which Arteta says was one of the best 45 minutes of football since he took over in December 2019. They have become the first team in Europe’s top five leagues to score ten set-piece goals this season while they are also on course – having conceded just three goals in the Premier League – to challenge Chelsea’s defensive record of only conceding 15 in the 2004/05 season.
Arteta even admitted that elements of their stunning win over Atletico took him by surprise but they are now in-hot form and producing some of the best displays of his reign.
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Arteta said: “Probably one of the best because when we looked at the fixtures that we had at the start of the season, it was very difficult. We have a lot of new players, which is very exciting.
“But at the end as well, those players need to glide and get settled and start to perform in the team. And that process has been quite fast and very efficient.
“So it gives us a good platform for the rest of the season. And now it’s OK, building and maintaining that momentum because that’s very important in football.
“To be honest, actually in what we delivered against Atletico, it was very unexpected because to score that many goals against Atletico in 96 minutes is very difficult to do it in the period that we did even more.
“So it’s a element of surprise. An element of surprise that caught me. Surprise because then I was thinking about the subs and I wanted to set a sub and at that moment we scored a goal. And then I was thinking, maybe I’ll do something else.
“And when I had: ‘OK, I think this is better, we’ll score another goal.’ So then I didn’t have a clue what to do! We had a really strong performance.”
Brazil defender Gabriel was a huge part of that win because of what he produces at both ends of the pitch.
Arteta added: “I think it depends what you want from your centre-back. If you ask me, I want somebody first that dominates both boxes and masters that. And then, yeah, he can do that, he can do that. But the first two things are them.
“And then Gabi as well, he’s grown. When you look at his presence, the way he leads the team, the way he talks to people, when you look at his body language, there are a lot of things there to like. It’s not a coincidence that he has evolved into one of the best centre-backs in the world.”
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