Fabregas reveals how Arteta has changed Arsenal’s mentality as Neville warns of Manchester City title chase
Despite Rashford’s upbeat message, former United captain Roy Keane believes that missing late points against Crystal Palace and Arsenal in the space of a few days has served as a wake-up call for his former club.
‘He’s changed everything,’ says Cesc Fabregas of Mikel Arteta’s mentality at Arsenal, as Gary Neville fears Man City will ‘hunt them down.’
Cesc Fabregas has praised Mikel Arteta for altering ‘everything’ at Arsenal, as the former Gunner revealed how Arteta has transformed the team into championship contenders.
Arsenal enhanced their Premier League title bid with a 3-2 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium.
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Arsenal now leads the Premier League by five points, and they have a game in hand on second-placed Manchester City.
Arsenal are becoming bookmakers’ favourites to win the league, and more and more people believe they can go all the way.
It’s a far cry from Arteta’s early days, when Arsenal finished seventh in the Spaniard’s first full season in command.
Tottenham’s failure to finish in the top four last season was a significant blow, but they’ve recovered nicely this season.
Much of that is down to Arteta, according to Fabregas, who provided fascinating insight into what the manager has done to improve the club’s culture.
“He’s done a tremendous job,” Fabregas said, according to Sky Sports. “We saw in the documentary how he pushed players and how he knows players.
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“He’s done a fantastic job,” Fabregas told Sky Sports. “We saw in the documentary they did; the way he pushed players, the way he understands players.
“We were talking before about the project; Arsenal when they hired Mikel he hadn’t coached anyone before, he was the assistant to Pep [Guardiola]… when you’re the main guy you need to do everything.
“I was lucky enough to be at the training ground recently, it felt like I was never there before because everything changed so much.
“The manager of the training ground told me it’s 95 per cent Mikel, who’s changed the whole thing.
“He’s changed everything. The perception of the club over the last few years, a lot of positive messages around the training ground, much bigger facilities, better equipment, the pitches, you name it.
“I think as well at the entrance you have a symbol of an empty Premier League trophy and he wants to show the message ‘guys, we just need to put it in there.’
“Every day the players go in there, they see it without it only being the symbol so it’s like a message and inspiration every day to go there and prove yourself that you want to put the Premier League there.
“He’s changed the mentality of the club since Arsene [Wenger] left and it’s fantastic what he’s done.”
With 50 points after 19 league games, Arteta’s players are doing better than the previous Arsenal team to win the Premier League, Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles, who had 45 points at the same juncture in the 2003/04 season.
Gary Neville, on the other hand, isn’t confident they’ll be lifting the trophy at the end of the season.
“I don’t see them going on to win the league,” Neville told Sky Sports. “I think Manchester City will win the league because I think Manchester City have got a special run in them.
“I think at a point in the season Arsenal will lose one or two matches and City will be right on their shoulders and it will become very difficult for them.
“But they could win the league and to say that they could; I thought they’d be nowhere near winning the league, Arsenal. I can’t believe they’re in the chat. The fact that they are in the chat for winning the league is incredible.
“It’s not a negative thing for me to say I think City will win the league – we all said that at the start of the season – and I think City will hunt them down.
“But they’re in with a shout and that’s unbelievable for Mikel Arteta. I was really worried about him at the end of last season.”
