Interview

'We know exactly what we have to do'

Sokratis says Mikel Arteta has already made a big difference since returning to the club.

We have lost just once in our head coach's first five games and although we surrendered a lead against Crystal Palace on Saturday, Sokratis is encouraged by what he has seen from the man in charge.

"The first half we start very good," he said. "We had the possession, we know exactly what we have to do. Of course after 20 minutes we change a little bit.

"The pressing they did I think was more aggressive, it was more difficult until we understand what we had to do. We reacted well, but second half we had to show more in the first 10 or 15 minutes and improve.

"We are disappointed because I think that we play much better, especially the first 35 minutes when we played really good, we did what the manager asked from us and what we’d worked on the last few days.

"We switched off for the first 10 minutes of the second half and the final five minutes of the first half. Of course we took also an unlucky goal because until this moment I think they’d had maybe one shot. We took an unlucky red card and after it was difficult.

"We had to fight more, to show more spirit and to give everything. In the end, one point I think we are not happy with, but it’s not also the worst."