Arsenal Vs Bournemouth: Mikel Arteta focusing on mentality

In his press conferences, Mikel Arteta has spoked extensively about the mentality of the Arsenal players. That did not change after the Boxing Day draw with Bournemouth, but is it the right approach?

Arsenal’s new head coach, Mikel Arteta, will undoubtedly bring the Pep Guardiola approach to the club. He was the Manchester City manager’s assistant for three-and-a-half years in his only coaching role. He developed at Barcelona as a boy, played under Arsene Wenger, two organisations and individuals who emulate Guardiola’s style, and is steeped in possession-based, tika-taka football.

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As a result, there has been extensive talk about the tactics that Arteta will implement, the coaching the individual players will receive, the overall footballing philosophy that the club will work under.

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However, since his time as the new head coach, Arteta has not spoken extensively about tactics, stylistic choices, philosophy or his footballing approach. Rather, Arteta’s focus has centred on the mentality of the players, the culture of the squad, and the commitment that is shown.

In the post-match press conference following the Boxing Day draw with Bournemouth, which was his first match in charge, Arteta was keen to praise the attitude of the players:

"“I’m very pleased with some of the things I’ve seen, in terms of attitude, character, the passion we showed, and the fight and spirit the team showed. It was spot on.”"

He later added:

"“I was worried what would happen if we conceded a goal. We did and I was very pleased with the character they showed. They came in at half-time and their faces, their reactions [were spot on]. It was about how much they wanted it.”"

And it is not just Arteta. Club captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang spoke extensively about the attitude of the team also:

"“Everybody was working hard. We had a good attitude and we were trying to play how he wants to play, how we want to play. We are on a good way. Hopefully we can improve. We know the next games are quite hard but we are confident.”"

Arteta has been pushing this message from the moment he arrived in north London. He said the following in his pre-match press conference when asked what the priority of his coaching would be:

"“The priority, as I said before, is what we are going to transmit on the team, is a reflection of the demands we are going to put on them every day in training. That’s commitment, accountability, aggression and passion to play this sport and to represent this football club. This is the basic  I am going to demand from them, and from there we can start to build things and improve all the things, obviously, that have to be done as quickly as possible, but if we don’t have this in the right manner, I think it will be difficult.”"

Rightly or wrongly, Arteta is prioritising the mentality and commitment of the team and players. Before he implements any plan or strategy or tactics or approach, he wants to know that the players are fully committed to executing it. On Thursday, those players showed a strong response, but can they now follow through throughout the Arteta tenure?