Mikel Arteta 'assembled Arsenal squad for clear-the-air talks' which led to 'stormy' conversations

Published on: 04 December 2020

Mikel Arteta held clear-the-air talks with his Arsenal squad on Tuesday in a bid to revive their season though the meeting ended in angry conversations, according to reports.

The Gunners have endured their worst ever start to a Premier League season and lie in 14th place after ten games, with Arteta's squad losing half of those matches.

Arsenal face a crucial derby away at arch-rivals Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, with Jose Mourinho's side topping the Premier League table, though the Gunners can cut Spurs' lead over them down to five points with victory.

And according to ESPN, Arteta assembled his squad on Tuesday to address his team's poor start as well as other issues, such as a further investigation as to how news of David Luiz and Dani Ceballos' training ground bust-up was leaked.

Brazilian centre-back Luiz struck on-loan Spanish midfielder Ceballos in the face ina training session during the November international break with Arteta and other members of staff needing to break the players up.

The report also claims that after the Arsenal manager finished the meeting, he left the players to discuss their issues amongst themselves, which led to some finger-pointing and intense dialogues.

The reported intra-player conversation ended amicably, with the Gunners players rejuvenated following their talks which could explain their excellent performance in their 4-1 win over Rapid Vienna on Thursday night.

Arteta's Arsenal won their fifth Europa League match in a row against their Austrian opponents which was played in front of 2,000 supporters at the Emirates Stadium in north London.

The victory ended a run of three defeats in four home matches in all competitions, with all of them coming in the Premier League.

The Gunners will face a difficult test against Mourinho's Spurs, who are unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions and Arteta warned that his players could be demotivated by their rivals admitting supporters into their ground on Sunday.

When asked whether Tottenham will be advantaged by 2,000 fans of their own this weekend, Arteta told BT Sport:  'Probably because this sport without fans is completely different.

'Everything is flatter, the players lose a little bit of purpose and emotion. It is something that you want to share.'

This week, Hector Bellerin defended Arteta's managerial capabilities despite their poor start to the campaign while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang branded the derby with Tottenham on Sunday as a potential 'turning point' in Arsenal's season.

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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