Arsenal: 3 ways Mikel Arteta is impressing everyone during COVID-19

2. He is a superb communicator

Consider this passage from David Ornstein’s report of Arsenal’s agreed pay cut:

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

“After a crucial intervention by Mikel Arteta, as revealed earlier on Thursday, a majority of the Arsenal squad are prepared to accept pay cuts of up to 12.5 per cent a month over the next year, making them the first Premier League club to do so.

The head coach’s involvement on Wednesday night is understood to have been vital to getting the deal over the line, with one source describing the head coach as an ‘extraordinary man.’

It appears the 38-year-old managed to strike the very delicate balance between promising his players he would back them, whatever they decided, and supporting the club at which he has only been in charge since December.”

For all of the focus on Arteta’s tactical developments and coaching acumen, his communication is superb. In press conferences, in training and meetings, per many of the Arsenal players, and now in tetchy discussions that are awkward and easy to misjudge, the Spaniard has excelled because of the clarity, the empathy, and the surety of his speech.