Here are your Arsenal headlines for the evening of Friday November 27.
Former Arsenal star praises Mikel Arteta for improving defender
Alan Smith has highlighted Mikel Arteta’s role in getting the best out of Gabriel Magalhaes following the Brazilian defender’s arrival at Arsenal in the summer transfer window.
Gabriel has quickly become a dominant force in the Gunners’ backline since signing from Lille and Smith has praised Arteta for the way he has integrated the new arrival in a short space of time.
“Well, you want to buy the right players for the right positions, but it’s about buying good players,” the former Arsenal player told Jack Fealy on YouTube.
“The likes of Gabriel, Arsenal do need to be creative, sometimes it’s more of a gamble. Taking more of a gamble rather than getting somebody readymade who you know is going to be good at this level.
“But it comes down to improving players when they come into the club, the coaching that the likes of Gabriel get, and that comes down to Arteta and his coaching staff.”
Arsenal given transfer boost as Aouar is axed from Lyon squad
Houssem Aouar has been axed from the Lyon squad after refusing to train according to reports in the French media, potentially giving Arsenal a transfer boost.
The 22-year-old was the subject of intense speculation over the summer, with Aouar strongly linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium as Arteta searched for a new creative midfielder to add to his squad.
Arsenal, however, refused to meet Lyon’s asking price for the player, with Aouar staying put. Now, the 22-year-old has been punished for refusing to warm down after Lyon’s win over Angers on Sunday.
According to L’Equipe, Aouar was not happy with the condition of the pitch after being an unused substitute. The midfielder will now be omitted from Lyon’s squad for this weekend’s fixture against Reims.
Arteta says Europa League highlight domestic under-performance
Arsenal manager Arteta believes his side’s positive performances in the Europa League this season shows the extent to which they are under-performing in the Premier League.
The Gunners have won all four of their Europa League group games so far, qualifying for the last 32 of the competition with two matches to spare. Meanwhile, Arsenal have won just four of their opening nine league fixtures.
“At the end the boxes are defining what you do in game,” Arteta said, attempting to provide some explanation for the stark difference in form.
“It's true that in the opponent's box we haven't been as resilient and ruthless as we have to be and we've paid for that with some results.
“And as you've probably said in the UEFA we've found ourselves with more flow, with more creativity in the final third I would say and a more 'let's go for it and express ourselves’. But obviously the opponent some days is not the same but yeah something to look at.”
