Arsenal: Mesut Ozil, like others, beginning to copy Unai Emery

Mesut Ozil has commented how he and his Arsenal teammates are still working hard, despite the good run of form. He, like others, is beginning to copy Unai Emery.

As Granit Xhaka lunged to the floor to scoop a clear the ball from a racing Mohamed Salah on Saturday, Unai Emery turned to the crowd, double-fist pumped and raucously celebrated as if Arsenal had just scored a 90th-minute winner. It was always going to take time, but change has come to the Emirates.

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Arsene Wenger would never have performed such enthused celebration over a defensive action — he rarely celebrated with any semblance of passion over anything, nevermind a tackle. It is an emblem of the change that Emery is implementing.

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And now, three months into the first season without Wenger on the sidelines, the players are beginning to buy in. Look at this answer from Mesut Ozil in an interview with the Daily Mail this week when asked about life under Emery and the recent prosperous form of the Gunners:

"“… It’s a process — every coach has a different strategy or philosophy and we can feel it. It’s a tactical thing with the new coach. We are learning from him, we are trying to give our best on the pitch every day and every hour. But we have to keep being hungry, and keep progressing. It’s not like we are done now [because we have gone 14 games unbeaten]. It’s like we are just starting. We are doing well for now, but that doesn’t mean we stop.”"

It is a very Emeryan response.

Speaking of things like a ‘process’ is something that Emery has been obsessing over throughout this season. ‘Project’ was the keyword for both Emery and Ivan Gazidis during the introductory press conference in the summer. Emery has repeatedly spoken of the need to ‘progress’, rather than setting numerical targets for his first season in charge. This same speak is now being reiterated by Ozil.

Similarly, Ozil implies a growing relentless attitude within the squad: ‘we have to keep being hungry’; ‘we are just starting’; ‘that doesn’t mean we stop.’ Emery, too, throughout this run of good form during September and October, has continually spoken about the areas that this team still needs to improve in, focusing on an incessant pursuit of perfection, rather than resting on the laurels of mediocrity.

And Ozil is not the only player to speak in this way in the past few weeks. Shkodran Mustafi, in a press conference this week, spoke about the attention to detail that Emery is implementing on the training pitch. Bernd Leno highlighted the defensive improvements of late, while also recognising that there is still more to be found.

The Arsenal players are beginning to copy the philosophy of Emery. It is slowly settling in, becoming entrenched in the mindset of the squad, and establishing the personality of this team. There may be many more tackles to celebrate in the weeks and years to come.