Arteta: Arsenal mindset key to building on FA Cup success

Mikel Arteta identified the mindset of his players as being crucial to Arsenal taking the next step in 2020-21 after winning the FA Cup.

Arteta took over from Unai Emery as Gunners boss in December and made an impressive start to his managerial career at Emirates Stadium.

He won 16 of his 28 games in all competitions, though he could only guide Arsenal to an eighth-place finish in the Premier League.

However, Arteta finished the season with a trophy as he oversaw a 2-0 win over Manchester City, where he had previously worked as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, in the semi-final and a 2-1 victory against Chelsea in the final.

Asked by Arsenal Digital where the Gunners will be in his long-term project at the end of next season, Arteta replied: “It’s an impossible question.

“I don’t even know where we are going to be on day one of pre-season. I have to look at the players, how they come from holidays, how they come after winning, I want to see that reaction.

“You know, are they going to be a little more relaxed because we’ve done something or are they going to come with ‘Okay, this is nothing that we’ve done. We have to go to the next level, we have to apply ourselves better, we have to improve in a lot of areas and we have to dominate many other aspects of the game that at the moment we cannot control’.

“If that is the mindset, then I am very positive that we will be sitting here in a year’s time really happy. But I hope we take that road straight away.

“I am very positive about where we are. I don’t know if we are ahead of schedule, obviously if you had told me that we were going to win the cup before we joined then I probably would be happy with that.

“What I am very positive and very passionate and encouraged about is what we can do in the future and if we make the right decisions I am super confident that we can bring the club back to the top.”