LONDON - Granit Xhaka guaranteed Mikel Arteta that he would remain at Arsenal. Although not directly, this was shown by the midfielder when his team beat Manchester United 2-0, Wednesday, January 1 evening.
Xhaka has reportedly agreed to a move to Hertha Berlin in the January transfer window. His future at Arsenal has been in doubt since he reacted angrily when he was substituted against Crystal Palace (2-2) last October.
But after losing 1-2 to Chelsea at the weekend, Xhaka started 2020 in a positive way. His strong performance saw his team win over the Red Devils on New Year's Day.
After the match, Arteta assured reporters the 27-year-old Swiss player had given him the assurance that he would stay at the Emirates Stadium.
"Yes, that's right," said Arteta, launching BT Sport. I think he will stay here. I like it very much. If we make him comfortable, he can be an extraordinary player for us. "
That full-time reaction 😁 # ARSMUN pic.twitter.com/H7L3D9vGaY
- Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 1, 2020
In that match, first-half goals from Nicolas Pepe and Sokratis Papastathopoulos helped Arteta to his first win since taking over as head coach from Unai Emery. He also praised the improvement in his team's performance.
Arteta explained that there was still a lot that his players had not shown because they were not at the fitness level he expected.
"Everything we tried to do against them worked very well," said Arteta.
"I think we had enough chances to make the game faster and in the second half we knew that physically we were going to go down: at the moment we are not ready to maintain that level of intensity for up to 90 minutes," continued former assistant coach Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. .
But continued Arteta, the passion, commitment and desire played by his players at this time is very great.
Meanwhile Gunners defender David Luiz echoed his coach's comments, and indicated that Arteta's arrival had changed spirits at Arsenal.
"We have to be honest and humble to admit: physically we are not ready," said Luiz. "We showed that in the second half against Chelsea, and we showed it (again) today."
The former Chelsea defender added that Arsenal are in the process of changing things. They realize that they can't go from zero to 10 in one day, one week or one month.
"Mikel (Arteta) is a great coach. He knows football, he is a great player. I believe in his philosophy and he can improve every player, and in life when you are happy the results can be very different."
"If you work happily, believe what you are doing, it is completely different," he concluded.
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