Arsenal: Hector Bellerin the embodiment of Mikel Arteta ‘spirit’

After Arsenal’s remarkable 2-2 draw with Chelsea, Mikel Arteta praised the ‘spirit’ of the team. No one embodied that fighting spirit more than Hector Bellerin, who was sensational upon his long-awaited return from injury.

When Mikel Arteta arrived at Arsenal, his one publicly stated clear aim was to reinvigorate the team, to instil an intensity, energy, and enthusiasm and reunite the team to the supporters, a relationship which was previously fractured under Unai Emery.

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For all of the tactical focus, discussion about coaching, training sessions, philosophical changes, high pressing and clever combinations, Arteta’s focus was on something far more archaic: attitude, personality, character, application, spirit.

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Well, he would have been most pleased with what he saw on Tuesday night, then. Arteta watched as a ten-man Arsenal battled back from one goal down to snatch a 2-2 draw against top-six rivals Chelsea. Despite being soundly dominated while it was 11 on 11, the Gunners dug deep, leaned on a makeshift back four, scrapped and scraped their way to the draw, scoring with both of their two shots.

After the match, Arteta revealed just how pleased he was with his team:

"“I am [proud]. The spirit they showed, the character, the fight and the leadership was there as well. You have to really stand up. When someone makes a mistake, it can happen in football, so someone has to take a red card for him. It can happen. What cannot happen is that afterwards we don’t stand up for him. Every single player did it with belief as well. I could sense it at half-time that they believed they could get back in the game. I wasn’t expecting Hector to score with his left foot obviously, but I’m very pleased.”"

There were plenty of individuals who were crucial to Arsenal’s embattled, hardened performance. Granit Xhaka slotting into centre-back. Lucas Torreira’s running his tail off in central midfield. Gabriel Martinelli and his 26 sprints, 12 more than any other player on the pitch. But if you wanted one individual who wonderfully embodied that ‘spirit’ that Arteta so glowingly talks about it, look no further than the captain on the night, Hector Bellerin.

It was 367 days ago that Bellerin tore his anterior cruciate ligament. This was his first appearance suffering a hamstring tear among complications with his return. He would not have been fully match-fit. There was a clear plan to withdraw him on the 75-minute mark when Arteta instructed for Ainsley Maitland-Niles to prepare, but with Chelsea pressing hard, Arteta instead moved Bellerin into a right-wing position and introduced Rob Holding to close out the game. Bellerin responded with an extra surge of energy, and, of course, that remarkable left-footed equaliser, bening a beautiful finish into the far corner.

Throughout, his offensive threat was somewhat subdued. Even when the numbers were even, those searing, overlapping runs were rarely seen. But he stuck to his defensive task dutifully, kept Willian in check for the most part, and dug deep in the latter stages to both find something special offensively and make several crucial defensive interventions at the other end.

This Bellerin doing what his head coach instructed: digging deep, fighting for every ball, committing everything he had to the cause. He was the perfect embodiment of the Arteta ‘spirit’, and it was wonderful to watch.