Shkodran Mustafi thinks Mikel Arteta is like a professor in his approach to football management, and it’s nothing like he’s seen before.

Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Everton FC at Emirates Stadium on February 23, 2020 in London, United Kingdom.
LONDON, ENGLAND: Shkodran Mustafi of Arsenal looks on during a Premier League match on February 23, 2020. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Around five months into the Mikel Arteta era at Arsenal, we haven’t seen nearly as much football as we’d like, but Shkodran Mustafi likes what he’s seeing and heading from the new head coach behind the scenes.

“He’s a little like a professor,” Mustafi said. “He knows exactly where he wants the players to be when on the ball and how to react when losing the ball. It’s very special.

“When you are 28 and you play in different countries with other coaches you think you know everything but then he came in and there are things I’ve never known before.

“Sometimes we don’t realise what a difficult job it is. From 25 players maybe 20 agree with the coach and five still think we should play different. Since Mikel has come in he has 25 players on board and this is not easy to achieve.”

One of the main benefits of having Arteta as head coach is that he’s bringing something new to the table. That’s why Arsenal fans got excited about the prospect in the first place.

We all know what an Ancelotti or Mourinho brings to the table, but Arteta is something new. The lack of experience is the obvious negative, but that’s why he brought in a more experienced team of assistants.

Clearly, the players also support the current direction, which is great to hear. We have to take the comments with a pinch of salt, as it’s not exactly uncommon to hear gushing praise about a new manager at first. Let’s hope it carries on that way this time.