Arsenal stars ‘galvanised’ after Arteta news confirmed in last 24 hours – pundit
The Arsenal squad may be galvanised by the absence of Mikel Arteta when they face Man City on Saturday (1 January), according to Danny Mills.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Man City and England defender claimed Arteta’s absence could create a “siege mentality” within the Arsenal dressing room.
The club confirmed via a statement yesterday (29 December) will miss the visit of the Premier League champions after testing positive for Covid-19.
It is the second time the Spaniard has contracted the virus after his positive test back in March 2020 sparked the shutdown of English football.
“It’s been interesting to see that some teams have coped really well with it and other teams have struggled,” Mills told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“Going back to when David Moyes was out last year and West Ham were saying ‘Please keep him out, we don’t really want him back’. They were doing so well in that period.
“Other teams have struggled and it hasn’t worked as well for them.
“In a one-off game, it can galvanise the players and create a siege mentality. ‘Poor old us, let’s pull together for this one game and get it done for the gaffer’. You can get away with it.
“If it’s just one game or so you can probably get away with it. If you go beyond that you might get into a little bit more difficulty.
“With technology and everything else you expect him to be able to give directions and everything else across to his team.
“He’ll be disappointed because sometimes you want to make changes immediately in games but for a one-off game they will be alright.”
In other news, a finance guru has revealed Arsenal are fighting a losing battle after an ‘unprecedented’ boardroom ‘power play’.