Mikel Arteta Categorizes Arsenal Players As Dressing Room Battle Tenses

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted he is battling a dressing room split and categorized them.

“You have two types of players – fighters and victims,” the under-fire Gunners boss said.

“You just want fighters. You don’t need victims. Victims bring excuses, negativity. They start to blame things that happen around them.

“You need people who give everything for the cause in these moments. Do I have enough fighters? Yes I do. But some of them can doubt at any moment.”

Arsenal have gone seven games without a win, scoring just three in that time.

His players? Clearly more uncertain.

“There are people that are very contagious and can transmit a certain level of energy,” he said, in an acknowledgement of the dressing room splits which have undermined his efforts to rebuild.

“When you have a lot of them it is very easy.

“You always have some on one side, some in the middle and some completely on board. And then you have to drag as many people as you can into your side, to the fighting side.

“The ones that are not interested or unable to do it, they have to stay behind because if not, they are pulling us right back.

“Some of them can doubt in any moment, you know, because when you find yourself in this situation, you are tempted to go to the other side.

“You start to say, ‘We’ve scored an own goal’, or ‘We cannot play with 10 men’, or ‘We don’t have the crowd’ or ‘The referee made this decision’. But I’m sorry, we don’t need any of those.”

This post was first published on GoalBall.