With full sobriety and obviously after much forethought, Arsenal defender David Luiz confidently asserted that their team are now ready to step up to bat and achieve big things under new boss Mikel Arteta after beating Manchester United to carve out a crucial first win. It ended a run of seven home games without victory and was a first success against top-half opposition this term. Nicolas Pepe and Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored the two goals that lifted Arsenal to 10th in the Premier League.
“I believe he [Arteta] can improve every player. Mikel is a great coach and knows football. He was a great player, he brings things and I believe in his philosophy. We are going to do big things in the future, but step by step.”” the 32-year-old Luiz opined.
After two draws and a disappointing defeat, it is easily understandable how a timely win against a primary rival like Manchester United would be rapturously welcomed by the club’s long-awaiting fans at the Emirates Stadium since Arteta’s appointment.
Although aided in no small way by Manchester United’s seemingly lacklustre performance, the Gunners were nevertheless impressive particularly in the first half as Pepe spearheaded the attackand ripped up United’s shaky defence. Mesut Ozil, Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka all equally rose to the occasion and gave their all, with Ozil remarkably covering most ground, 11.54km, among all the players. Sokratis drove in the final nail with his subsequent 42nd minute goal.
Luiz succinctly summed it all up in his post-match interview: “We did a great first half, it was maturity in the second half. We have to be honest and humble to admit physically we are not ready. But where physically you are not there, you have to put your hearts in.
You can’t change from zero to 10 in one day, one week, one month – but it is beautiful to see how these kids start to understand their commitment, their behaviours of what they need to do for big things in life and big things in football. Our season isn’t there. We started very badly, but things can change and there are still some titles to fight for and some improvements for the future.”
Arteta voiced similar optimistic sentiments, saying he believes the players are now buying into his methods, “I said to them: Without you guys, I won’t be able to do it. You have to open the door and believe I can bring something different to the club.”
“We need all the staff to believe as well. If we do that day by day, it will take a long time and the process will not be easy and there will be ups and downs, but they bought into this.”
Arsenal is already gunning up to host Leeds on Monday, 6 January in the FA Cup third round. Hopefully for them, and the hordes of Gunners fans worldwide, this first win over a top-half team in this season will boost the players confidence and regalvanise them.