Mikel Arteta swerved the media’s questions about Oleksandr Zinchenko’s error during Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Wolves by insisting that he ‘loves the Ukrainian how he is’. The Spaniard has shown once again that he doesn’t bash members of his squad when speaking about them publically.
But behind the scenes and during the game, Arteta is very vocal when his players have done something wrong and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. A great example of this came during Saturday’s trip to Molineux Stadium when Arteta lambasted Leandro Trossard for some lackadaisical play.
The winger lost possession while attempting a piece of skill which angered his manager. Arteta ran to the touchline and demanded that the Belgian tracked back to recover the ball. Yet after the game, it was all smiles as he embraced the former Brighton star.
Arteta has proved during his time at the helm that he is an excellent man manager. Whether it is an arm around Kai Havertz’s shoulder or a dressing room scolding after a poor performance against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup – as seen in Amazon Prime’s All or Nothing – Arteta has a gift for bringing out the best in his players.
So when Zinchenko came under fire for getting the ball nipped off his toes as Wolves pegged a goal back it is no surprise that Arteta defended him in the face of the media. “You have to love him how he is,” Arteta said about Zinchenko.
“He has strengths and weaknesses and Alex has got many more strengths. This happened, it can happen to any player, we have to learn from it. In those areas it’s a big no to play especially after certain things on the previous phase and that’s it, we will get better.”
Speaking about his team’s performance as a whole, Arteta added: “I can only praise the players. They were excellent. We played against a really good side and generated so much and conceded almost nothing.
“The scoreline should have been very different. We were very unlucky because we hit the post three times I think. At the end we made an error close to the goal – in the Premier League you get punished big time for that. Then at the end, it’s game on. Overall I’m really happy with how he performed again.”
