Arteta: “It’s unbelievable what Iraola has done"

Mikel Arteta was full of praise for AFC Bournemouth’s performances this season in his pre-match press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday afternoon.

The Cherries travel to Emirates Stadium for Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off with their highest ever Premier League points tally (48) confirmed following last weekend’s 3-0 win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.

It wasn’t plain-sailing for the south coast side at the beginning of Iraola’s tenure though, as Bournemouth started the season without a win in their first nine league matches, a run which included our 4-0 victory at Vitality Stadium.

“They had a really difficult start in terms of fixtures as well and that was a huge factor,” Mikel said, “but you could see that the team was always close to getting a result and creating a lot of problems for the opponent.

“We spoke after our game. When you’re in those periods, sometimes you want to speak to nobody! But we had a little conversation there about my experiences and what I’ve been through and sometimes that helps.

“Credit to him, he has stuck with his beliefs, he’s a really good coach, a great person, and I’ve known him since we were very little and I wish him all the best.”

As Mikel alluded to, he and Iraola were childhood teammates for Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea in San Sebastián during the 1990s, so it’s no surprise that our manager feels a sense of pride in the job that Iraola has done this season.

“Fantastic job,” he said. “To come into the Premier League and do what he’s done, huge credit to him, the coaching staff and the players obviously. They had a difficult start, they kept going with what they believed in and huge credit to him.

“It’s unbelievable what they’ve done in the manner that they’ve done it in as well which is, in my opinion, very important as well. Congratulations because it’s a fantastic achievement.”

Click here to read every word of Mikel's pre-Bournemouth press conference.