Ezri Konsa validated everything Arsenal fans felt about Mikel Arteta
To say Mikel Arteta divides opinion would be an incredible understatement. Outside of the Arsenal echo chamber, he is one of the most disliked coaches in football (which is ironic, considering every move he makes is copied by other coaches whether they realise it or not). At Arsenal, though, he is already considered a club legend, and he's only just getting started.
Arteta is unorthodox, which is why he isn't universally adored. Nevertheless, it's for the same reason that he's far from ignored.
Say what you want about Arteta, nobody can deny what he's achieved at Arsenal. It is his first managerial role, and Arsenal fans already hope that it's his last.
Ezri Konsa said what Arsenal fans were thinking about Mikel Arteta
A huge part of Mikel Arteta's success is that he would stop at nothing to improve his players. We've all heard about the strange methods Arteta uses - from deliberately making his players uncomfortable in pre-season to hiring pickpockets to improve their retaliation - we can all point and laugh, but the proof is in the pudding.
What's not spoken about enough is how Arteta forms a close relationship with his players. He is obviously an astute tactician, but it's not at the expense of the rapport he has with the squad. Too often, managers are separated between their love for the game versus their love for coaching the game - Arteta strikes the perfect balance.
"Speaking to the boss beforehand and the plans he had for me," Ezri Konsa attributed as one of the reasons he joined Arsenal. "The role he wanted me to do here was a no-brainer for me. I was ready to take the next step in my career, and I thought this was the best place to do it."
We hear players talking all the time about the personal conversations Arteta has with them before they sign. When it becomes a theme, it becomes a method worth praising.
We don't know whether players would sign with or without Arteta; that's something only they can answer. However, when players consistently praise Arteta as the reason they joined, particularly when they all go into detail about how Arteta explains their future role at Arsenal, it seems obvious why Arsenal wanted to keep him under contract.
Arteta isn't just someone who decides the lineup; he's someone who decides how the squad looks, how players view their worth in it, and what the future looks like for Arsenal. That's not the typical behaviour of a manager in their first role, but it sure is the behaviour of a manager who wants it to be his last.
"[Mikel Arteta's] a very intense coach. A perfectionist, from what I've seen since I've been here. His attention to detail is second to none. His passion for the game, his love that he has for us players and not just us, but the staff. He's just a great person to have around the training ground and a great person to learn from."
You can see that the Arsenal players are happy to be playing under Arteta, and ultimately, nobody cares what social media has to say when his players are the first to praise him.
