Sagna Hails Arteta’s Impact At Arsenal Despite Low-League Position
Former Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has heaped praises on the club’s manager Mikel Arteta, insisting that the Spanish manager has brought back peace at the Emirates for the first time since the departure of former boss Arsene Wenger. The club’s former French boss Wenger ended his 22-year connection with the Gunners and decided to step down as manager for a couple of reasons and has since been replaced by Unai Emery, and now Arteta.
Before the departure of Unai Emery, the Arsenal dressing room reportedly had a lot of issues within it, including players’ disharmony, minor rifts, and some small misunderstandings which all played a role in affecting the club’s negative performances on the pitch. The negative performances were what triggered the club to let go of Emery and then appointing Arteta.
Since Arteta took over at the helm, there has been a notable change in how the players now relate with one another as they now share some laughs more frequently on the training ground, unlike under Emery when the atmosphere was almost always boring and dull.
Arteta has brought about some sort of calmness and unity among the players that they now play in good spirits even though they are not in a very good position in the Premier League table. Following these developments, Sagna has now moved to hail Arteta, insisting that his former teammate has done a really remarkable job that Emery could not do, and that it has reflected on the players’ mindset and mentality.
In an interview with Goal, Sagna said that there was always going to be a huge challenge trying to replace someone like Arsene Wenger and outlined the fact that it was a hard decision for the club before they finally appointed Emery. He also said it was always going to take time to instill a fresh mindset to the players, and that Arteta is doing just that but added that everyone at the club would have to be patient with the manager for things to settle down completely.
Sagna Says Arsenal Can Still Make Top 4 This Season
Former Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna has insisted that he believes that his former club still have what it takes to finish in the top 4 this season despite their recent setback against Manchester City on Sunday. The Gunners have had mixed results this season and have had their chances of making the Premier League top 4 this season ruled out by pundits and fans, but Sagna has revealed that despite the odds, Arsenal can still achieve the feat.
Arsenal are currently the tenth team in the Premier League table and are on 34 points, 11 points adrift West Ham United who are currently in 4th place. With Liverpool and Tottenham suffering slip-ups, they have fallen down the table in recent times after suffering defeats upon defeats, something Sagna believes Arsenal can use to their advantage.
The London club have won just one of their last five games, in the 4-2 home win over Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United. In the other four games, they played out a 0-0 draw against Manchester United, lost 2-1 to Wolverhampton Wanderers, lost 1-0 to Aston Villa, and most recently, a 1-0 loss against Pep Guardiola’s high-flying Manchester City.
Their next five games in the Premier League will see them play away at the King Power Stadium against Leicester City, away at the Turf Moor against Burnley, at home to Tottenham in the London derby, away at West Ham at the London Stadium, and at home to Liverpool. And despite these seemingly tough fixtures, Sagna says his former club can cause an upset.
Speaking on SkySport, former France international defender Sagna said although it looks like a tough task, Arsenal can still finish the season as one of the top four teams. He said other teams will still lose games and if Arsenal capitalize on that, they can climb further up the table.