Arteta thinks it was good for Arsenal to 'suffer' against Leeds

Mikel Arteta thinks Arsenal will benefit from having suffered against Leeds United on Monday before his angry half-time team talk sparked an improvement.

The Gunners claimed a 1-0 win at Emirates Stadium thanks to Reiss Nelson's second-half strike against the Championship leaders.

Arsenal were outplayed by the visitors in the first half, with Patrick Bamford hitting the crossbar and Emiliano Martinez making some crucial saves as Leeds fired in 15 shots before the break.

The hosts were vastly improved in the second half and Arteta hopes his players will have learned a lesson from the match.

"Now, I'm really pleased, but we saw two different teams from the first to second half," he told BBC Sport.

 

January 6, 2020

"I tried to tell them exactly what they were going to face and after 32 minutes we had won one duel, I think. We changed our attitude, desire and organisation at half-time and then we were completely different.

"Sometimes they have to experience themselves how tough and how hard it is going to be. I watched a lot of Leeds games and they battered every team every three days. It was good for my players to learn and to suffer on the pitch."

Striker Alexandre Lacazette admitted Arteta had some angry words for his players at the interval after 45 minutes in which they had just 37 per cent of the ball.

"The manager shouted a lot," he said. "He was not happy because we knew they'd play like this and we didn't respect what he had said."

Goalscorer Nelson said they were caught unawares by Leeds' high press in the first half but hopes the Gunners will head to Crystal Palace on Saturday with renewed confidence after recording consecutive wins for the first time since October.