‘It’s a club we can learn a lot from’ – Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reveals ‘admiration’ for one side

Mikel Arteta was keen to praise Brentford as the Arsenal manager spoke to the press ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners are riding high after beating Real Madrid in the Champions League earlier this week, but it’s back to the bread and butter of putting points on the board this weekend.

Responding to a question about how much respect he has for Brentford boss Thomas Frank, Arteta said: “A lot. More than respect, it’s probably admiration. He’s done it with a football club where everybody shares the vision, they have a very clear identity.

“It’s a club, a team that we can learn a lot from because the way they did it is very, very clever, in my opinion, and then the way the model has sustained and evolved as well is really well-timed. Look at the results that they had away from home in the last six matches as well, we know what it’s going to require from us to beat them.

“They have many [threats]. They are really aggressive in the high press. If they turn the ball over in transition, they are really good, really well-organised. When they go really deep, they have runners from deep as well to help you in that situation. Any restart of play can become a set-piece, and they play from that and create a lot of chaos, so you have to be very well prepared.”

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Arteta was also pressed on how he goes about dealing with the Bees.

“Just with normality – this is our context. We play every three days and in different competitions. The biggest stage is playing in Europe, and then we come back to the Premier League and have a completely different game, completely different opposition and context around the game.

“If you want to become a team that can win in any of those, you have to do it every three days, regardless of what the scenario is.”

One of the major talking points with this tough test being sandwiched between Champions League duties is team news. Arteta shared some positive news and discussed having an open mind with regards to team selection.

“We’ll look now at how the players have recovered because it’s not only about this game; it’s about the schedule that we have in the next few weeks as well. Whoever plays will be very competitive.

“With Dec and Bukayo, they’re both fit. It was just a matter of two kicks, and they recovered well, so they are available for tomorrow. Ricky’s progressing really well. I think to give you a timeline is difficult because he needs to step up, especially having more people around and how then he reacts after that, but he’s in a good place.”