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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Alex Milne

Mikel Arteta explains biggest change he's made at Arsenal since Unai Emery exit

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said one of the main differences between himself and Unai Emery is that he does not tend to focus so much on the opposition, but rather on his own side.

Arteta replaced Emery as the Gunners' head coach last month, and has appeared to have a positive effect on the team so far.

The 2-0 victory over Manchester United last weekend was his first since he has been in charge, and Arsenal fans will hope their side can reach the fourth round of the FA Cup with a win over Championship side Leeds on Monday.

Arteta revealed that although he considers the potential dangers opponents can possess, he is currently more interested in implementing his philosophy on his players.

Mikel Arteta will take charge of his fourth game when Arsenal face Leeds on Sunday (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

"We have three analysts here that look a lot at the opposition," Arteta said. "I do it myself as well, I like my assistants to look at it.

"But at the moment I'm focusing much more on our principles, our way of playing, the way that we want to play rather than the opponent.

"I don't want to give them too much information about them and us, we don't have much time to train."

Arteta also believes the backroom staff at the club make a huge difference, and has praised the influence they can have on the players.

Arteta appears to be relishing moving from assistant to manager at Arsenal (Getty Images)

"The staff are very, very important," he added. "The players don't live alone at the training ground, they are constantly interacting with a lot of people in the staff.

"Their feedback, their mood, the way they transmit their ideas and talk to them has a lot of impact, much more sometimes than just players talking to players.

"The leadership, sometimes, has to come from a lot of people in that building."

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