Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has applauded the intense exchange between Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko during the club’s Premier League win over Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has expressed his satisfaction with the high standards set by his players, exemplified by an on-field dispute between Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko on Tuesday night.
The incident occurred during Arsenal‘s tense 2-1 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, a game that saw the Gunners solidify their pursuit of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Despite commanding performances from Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka, Arsenal’s victory was almost jeopardised when Taiwo Awoniyi seized on a defensive lapse, hinting at a possible comeback for Forest. The subsequent disagreement between White and Zinchenko highlighted the team’s intolerance for such mistakes.
Arteta, interpreting this as a positive sign of the team’s inner drive, commented, “I love it. They demand more from each other and they are not happy with the way they concede that and they are trying to resolve it.”
“It was a bit heated, but that means it is not enough playing the way we played, the result has to be bigger.”
“That’s pushing each other and being not happy conceding and I have to encourage that and promote it in the right way and a respectful way.”
“Sometimes after the game it’s emotional and heated, but I love that the players are pushing each other and demanding excellence.”
Arteta also saw it as a redemption for last season’s disheartening 1-0 defeat at the same venue, which derailed Arsenal’s title aspirations. “I could feel it; they were talking about it coming to that dressing room,” Arteta said, acknowledging his players’ desire to rectify past errors and build momentum in the league.
“It really reminds you, our brains and bodies are really intelligent and coming to the same situation they know what happened and they were really active and engaged and they were talking about the game with each other.”
“I thought it was really good.
“I am really happy with the performance and the result. We saw what happened last year and we wanted to put it right, we wanted to generate some momentum in the league and I thought we did that.”
“The performance was very good, we completely dominated the game. We had to be patient but we always had an eye to the opponent, we didn’t allow them to run.”
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest, under the stewardship of Nuno Espirito Santo, faced another setback in their Premier League campaign. The loss left them dangling above the relegation zone amidst fears of a points deduction for breaching financial regulations.
Santo, assessing his team’s performance, admitted the need for better ball possession and lamented the manner of conceding goals, “We should have played better,” he concluded.