'We had to': Mikel Arteta shares what he told his Arsenal players at half-time after Trossard was sent off vs City
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left frustrated once more yesterday as Leandro Trossard’s red card changed the entire game at The Etihad. Trossard saw red...
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left frustrated once more yesterday as Leandro Trossard’s red card changed the entire game at The Etihad.
Trossard saw red for kicking the ball away just before half-time in a decision which incensed the Arsenal players, staff, and fans.
While Chris Sutton slammed Trossard for what he called stupidity, the decision did anger Arsenal more as Jeremy Doku was allowed to stay on for similar earlier in the game.
Of course, the red meant Arsenal had to sit in and defend for the second 45 and also meant a change of team-talk from Mikel Arteta at half-time.
And discussing that half-time break, Arteta has revealed just what he said to his players.
Mikel Arteta’s message to his Arsenal players at half-time v Man City
Speaking after the game, Arteta was questioned on the message he gave his team at half-time.
And the Spaniard admitted that he needed to explain the context of the game to his team and admitted it was going to be impossible to get everything right.
“We had to adapt to the context, explain the game that we have to try to play, and how we could prevent certain things, not all of them – that’s going to be impossible for 56 minutes, especially mentally,” Arteta said.
“We had to be ready to be so disciplined, and make a lot of defensive actions because we knew the game that was coming.
“We came here to win, that’s the reality. And within the difficulty, obviously we were thrown an aspect that we didn’t think about. But we got at least a draw, and we have to move on.”
Arteta proving himself as Guardiola’s equal
The red for Trossard did completely change this game and while the Belgian can have few complaints, you can see why it annoyed Arsenal.
However, it also allowed Mikel Arteta to show his managerial worth and the way he set up his team at the break and nearly saw things through was admirable.
Few can measure up to Pep Guardiola and while Arteta needs to win trophies to go alongside the City coach at all, he is proving himself.
Certainly, in terms of the Premier League, Arteta is as close to Guardiola as we’ve seen for some time.
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