Mikel Arteta is delighted to see positivity and confidence return to London Colney this week ahead of the game against Leicester City.
Last weekend’s 4-2 win over Aston Villa ended a run of four games without a win in all competitions, which saw us succumb to top spot in the Premier League for the first time since August in the process.
However, after winning again at Villa Park, returning to the leadership of the category and returning the feeling of victory to the squad, Mikel hopes that the well-being factor can help bring about a positive performance against the Foxes.
Discussing the mood at camp in his pre-match press conference, he said: “Confidence is much better, the environment around training is much better.
“The fact that the team has shown the ability to rebuild in a really adverse situation, when you are 2-1 down and you played less than 72 hours ago and everyone expects you to be mentally tired in terms of quality and belief, come back and win the game it’s a big boost for us.
“I said before the game that I believed in the players more than before the City game and that’s why, because I see how they train, how much they react, how much they care and how much they want it.”
While the victory was welcomed by everyone at the club, Mikel admitted there is still plenty to work on in training camp this week after we found ourselves trailing at half-time and looking down the barrel of a fourth unsuccessful Premier League game.
While he has prided himself on his players showing the resilience and fighting spirit needed to clinch a victory against overwhelming odds, the manager is keen to see an improvement against Brendan Rodgers’ side, who he believes have the tactical flexibility to cause trouble.
“I was highly praised (our players) for the way they reacted, but there are also things that in the first half we must do better”, he added. “Mainly because of the way we played and the way we controlled the game that we cannot be losing by 2-1. We have to learn these lessons quickly and we hope to perform more consistently against Leicester because that will be necessary to win the game.
“They’ve been very consistent over the last few weeks in the games they’ve played. It’s true that Brendan has proposed very different games at many different times throughout the seasons and they have this ability to adapt, they play in different formations and they play in different approaches. We prepared for both because it’s possible and we’ll see what they do tomorrow.”
Hear everything from Mikel’s press conference
Copyright 2023 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotes from this article is subject to proper credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.