Interview

Arteta - Building a bond is like a puzzle

The team celebrate
The team celebrate

Step by step, Mikel Arteta is seeking to put the foundations in place to achieve long-term success at our club.

He acknowledges that there will be setbacks along the way such as the defeat to Aston Villa last time out, but insists this process will pay off if it is handled delicately.

"You cannot build something new [quickly], when something has been damaged and hurt badly, that you can see a big split between even our own fans and the team," he said. "When you were in that stadium 10 months ago, I was shocked. 

"You have to rebuild that [bond]. In order to do that you have to build some foundations, and afterwards start a process. You have to prioritise that process at the start, and where you are going to get to. 

"To do that you need some pieces that have to fill in there, and you have to start to create a puzzle and try to manage it because there will be bad moments and you don't want to break it. 

"All the time you have to be very alert because it takes very little to break what you are building."