Ozil Surprised To Have Arteta Back At Arsenal So Soon

Mesut Ozil has seen a welcomed return to form under new Arsenal gaffer, Mikel Arteta who he once played alongside at the heart of the Gunners midfield.

The former Germany International admitted to being surprised to see Arteta at the helm of affairs at the Emirates stadium but welcomes the ideas of having his former teammate as his boss.

Having decided to drop Unai Emery, Arsenal chiefs decided to give their former player the nod.

Arteta, whose only experience in the managerial cadre is being assistant boss under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, is considered to have taken up a big rebuilding project at the North London club.

The Spanish boss has kick started this project on a good note, one of which is welcoming Arsenal’s best playmaker, Mesut Ozil into the first team setup.

The German is happy to have his former teammate running things at the Emirates this time  a move he believes could help Arsenal get back to its stature of old before the departure of legendary manager, Arsene Wenger.

“It is basically getting us back to the old Arsenal virtues. Having the possession, being in control of the game, having the ball all the time.

“These are the things that he is working on with us and you can see it – everyone is smiling, laughing, enjoying their time at the moment and this has made us be successful now.

“We are really enjoying everything at the moment. You can see we have a structure on the pitch now. Everyone knows what their job is on the pitch and we are very happy to have won these two games [against Manchester United and Leeds].”

Arteta, 37, took Ozil by surprise returning to Arsenal’s dugout only three years after he retired in 2016.

“I was a bit surprised [Arteta was appointed at Arsenal] but on the other hand, time flies quite quickly and I remember when he went to work [as a coach] with Pep Guardiola at Man City, it was quite obvious he would become a manager soon. I am really happy that he is here with us at the moment because this is the right time. We are all happy to have him here.

“We have a normal relationship. We were team-mates. We respected each other a lot and he was already a team captain at the time so in general, players respected him and now he has just continued building up on that.

“As a playmaker, I need a lot of space. His playing style allows me to get that space and it is so important to be successful.”

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