Mikel Arteta's door is always open for those Arsenal players that need advice, according to midfielder Joe Willock.
Willock, often introduced off the bench as an attacking midfielder or even a false nine last season, started his first match of the new season in unfamiliar circumstances at the King Power Stadium as part of a midfield pivot with Mohamed Elneny.
The duo had last started a game together in May 2019 but looked to settle alongside each other swiftly in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Leicester City in the third round of the EFL Cup. Elneny tended to stay deeper, recycling possession and keeping the Gunners ticking, whilst Willock provided dynamism and pressing high up the pitch.
The 21-year-old, one of five academy graduates in the Arsenal side last night, was at pains to praise Arteta for the pointers he had given him in the build-up.
"The manager has very key principles," Willock said, "things that we have to do and there is nothing we can't ask, we can always ask him to help us.
"That is what I did before the game - slotting into midfield I asked him a few pointers and I thought I did well.
"As players for Arsenal Football Club we always want to win games, that is what we need to do and to get back to a level where Arsenal should be we have to win these sorts of games. We came here and won and I feel like it is good for the team."
Willock has struggled for consistent game time under Arteta and has started just two Premier League games since the Spaniard's appointment in December.
Currently he likely sits fourth in Arsenal's midfield pecking order behind regular starters Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos as well as Elneny, who has impressed since returning from a loan with Besiktas.
Willock could find opportunities even harder to come by if Arsenal successfully sign either Thomas Partey or Houssem Aouar before the transfer window closes. But after 16 years with the Gunners he is not about to give up on his hopes of establishing himself as a regular under Arteta.
"My personal goals are just to get into the team and play regularly for the team," Willock said. "I love playing for Arsenal and that is where I want to be so every time I get a chance I need to make the manager have questions about whether to put me in again and that's what I tried to do tonight.
"As players, as youngsters, we're always trying to make it difficult for the manager to make a decision who plays on the weekend so that is what we're trying to do, we're all trying to push each other to be better and play as good as we can."
