BergMan
Betrayed by Xhaka
The whole thing
Arteta:
“I think the squad wanted to evolve to another level and be more dominant and have more resources in the final third to attack and to score more goals. We needed to make that change.”
“I spoke to [Xhaka] at the end of the season and said:
“‘I need to unlock something in your brain because you’re so comfortable and confident playing in this area that you have forgot what is actually going to win us the game and the team now demands somebody here,
so unless you unlock that I’m going to have to do something about it.
“He took it straight away. He’s very intelligent, he came to pre-season fitter than ever, slimmer than ever & knew if we wanted to take the team to a different level we had to change his role.”
“[Xhaka] knew that was coming [role change]. We believed he has those qualities, those qualities were there to be exploited and they were hiding. The team needed those qualities very much.”
“As I said, [Xhaka] is extremely intelligent, he has the physical capacity to constantly threat and occupy those spaces and recover his position quickly enough to have the balance we need. He’s been really consistent, the way he trains, the way he practises.”
Carragher then asked why it is that despite criticism every manager has always trusted Xhaka even going back to Wenger, if it because of his leadership etc.
Arteta replied:
“He’s a special person. He’s very straight, he’s very honest, he’s very loyal and very passionate about what he does. So when you have someone like that you want to help him, you want to protect him, you want him to fulfil the talent he has”
“He’s made some mistakes and he’s learnt from it, but he has always faced adveristy and difficulty and he’s never run away from it. This is what all managers wants from their players.”
“You know you can count on him, he will fight and break walls for you. This is what we expect from our players.”
Arteta:
“I think the squad wanted to evolve to another level and be more dominant and have more resources in the final third to attack and to score more goals. We needed to make that change.”
“I spoke to [Xhaka] at the end of the season and said:
“‘I need to unlock something in your brain because you’re so comfortable and confident playing in this area that you have forgot what is actually going to win us the game and the team now demands somebody here,
so unless you unlock that I’m going to have to do something about it.
“He took it straight away. He’s very intelligent, he came to pre-season fitter than ever, slimmer than ever & knew if we wanted to take the team to a different level we had to change his role.”
“[Xhaka] knew that was coming [role change]. We believed he has those qualities, those qualities were there to be exploited and they were hiding. The team needed those qualities very much.”
“As I said, [Xhaka] is extremely intelligent, he has the physical capacity to constantly threat and occupy those spaces and recover his position quickly enough to have the balance we need. He’s been really consistent, the way he trains, the way he practises.”
Carragher then asked why it is that despite criticism every manager has always trusted Xhaka even going back to Wenger, if it because of his leadership etc.
Arteta replied:
“He’s a special person. He’s very straight, he’s very honest, he’s very loyal and very passionate about what he does. So when you have someone like that you want to help him, you want to protect him, you want him to fulfil the talent he has”
“He’s made some mistakes and he’s learnt from it, but he has always faced adveristy and difficulty and he’s never run away from it. This is what all managers wants from their players.”
“You know you can count on him, he will fight and break walls for you. This is what we expect from our players.”
