‘He helped me a lot’ Arsenal loanee reveals just how good Mikel Arteta has been as Arsenal manager

Mari latest to be full of praise for Arteta

And, speaking to Spanish outlet

mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-pablo-mari-mikel-arteta-26167703″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Radio Marca

, Mari was full of praise for his Arsenal boss in the aftermath of his Udinese debut.

‘Arteta is one of the best managers I’ve come across. He helped me a lot to understand football better’, Mari said. ‘It’s an idea very similar to Guardiola’s, but with its subtle differences.’

The Spanish defender is one of few players who can lay claim to having been managed by both Guardiola and Arteta, having spent 4 years at Manchester City, albeit with just a handful of days actually at the club in between loan spells away.

Like at Manchester City, Mari left Arsenal in search of first-team football in January, completing a loan switch to Udinese in Serie A, where he kept a clean sheet on his debut to help the Italian side to a stoppage-time victory over Torino in their most recent fixture.

Prima partita e vittoria!! 🔥 Felicissimo per la squadra e contento di aver esordito con @Udinese_1896 ⚪️⚫️
Grazie a tutti per il vostro supporto 👏💪#ForzaUdinese #AlèUdin #SerieATIM pic.twitter.com/5saINgpWY7

— Pablo Mari Villar (@PabloMV5) February 6, 2022

And, quizzed on why he made the move, he revealed that he felt his position in the Arsenal squad had come to a head, and that he needed to plan for his own future.

‘I haven’t had any luck at Arsenal, but when I’ve been on the pitch, I think I’ve given a very good level. In the end, there comes a point where you have to make decisions’, he told the radio. 

And he is not the only one

Mari is far from the only Arsenal squad member to be found praising Mikel Arteta to high heaven, despite fan arguments that they have improved little from when he took over in 2019.

In March 2021, Kieran Tierney revealed he felt that the manager was a genius, telling sky sports:

‘The manager is a genius. A football genius. You can see we are all loving working under him and me especially, I love it.’

Kieran Tierney of Arsenal during the FA Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on January 9, 2021 in London, England.(Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

‘Every day I’m learning, he has shown me a new light onto football. I’m seeing it a different way now and I’m watching other teams and looking at tactics and that’s just because of the way he has made me think about it.’

Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka, who has flourished in the last two years, put much of his improvement down to the Spaniard, telling LadBible:

‘Since he’s come in he’s improved me a lot as a player – a lot of my improvement I have to thank him for.’

Safe to say, Arteta is building up quite the following among his squad. He will be hoping that this translates onto the pitch for the rest of the season.

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Wolverhampton vs Arsenal Result/Both teams score	Yes	No
Wolverhampton	13/2	9/2
Arsenal	4/1	12/5
Draw	7/2	15/2

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Premier League table

#	Team	MP	D	P
1	Manchester City	23	41	57
2	Liverpool FC	22	39	48
3	Chelsea FC	24	30	47
4	Manchester United	22	6	38
5	West Ham United	23	10	37
6	Arsenal FC	21	8	36
7	Tottenham Hotspur	20	2	36
8	Wolverhampton Wanderers	21	3	34
9	Brighton & Hove Albion	22	0	30
10	Leicester City	20	-3	26
11	Aston Villa	21	-4	26
12	Southampton FC	22	-8	25
13	Crystal Palace	22	-3	24
14	Brentford FC	23	-12	23
15	Leeds United	21	-16	22
16	Everton FC	20	-11	19
17	Norwich City	22	-32	16
18	Watford FC	21	-17	15
19	Newcastle United	21	-22	15
20	Burnley FC	19	-11	13

Player	Team	Goals
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	16
Jota, Diogo	Liverpool FC	10
Vardy, Jamie	Leicester City	9
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	8
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	8
Ronaldo, Cristiano	Manchester United	8
Son, Heung Min	Tottenham Hotspur	8
Smith-Rowe, Emile	Arsenal FC	8
Raphinha	Leeds United	8
Mane, Sadio	Liverpool FC	8
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	7
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	7
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	7
Maupay, Neal	Brighton & Hove Albion	7
Sterling, Raheem	Manchester City	7
Silva, Bernardo	Manchester City	7
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	6
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	6
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	6
Maddison, James	Leicester City	6

Player	Team	Red Cards	Yellow Cards
Salisu, Mohammed	Southampton FC	0	7
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	0	6
Neves, Ruben	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	7
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	0	6
Rice, Declan	West Ham United	0	6
Westwood, Ashley	Burnley FC	0	6
Alonso, Marcos	Chelsea FC	0	6
Norgaard, Christian	Brentford FC	0	6
Tarkowski, James	Burnley FC	0	6
Laporte, Aymeric	Manchester City	1	5
Mings, Tyrone	Aston Villa	0	6
Llorente, Diego	Leeds United	0	6
Bissouma, Yves	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	6
Maguire, Harry	Manchester United	0	5
Ward, Joel	Crystal Palace	0	6
Skipp, Oliver	Tottenham Hotspur	0	6
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	0	4
Gallagher, Conor	Crystal Palace	0	5
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	1	4
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	1	4

Player	Team	Assists
Alexander-Arnold, Trent	Liverpool FC	10
Salah, Mohamed	Liverpool FC	9
Robertson, Andy	Liverpool FC	8
Bowen, Jarrod	West Ham United	7
Jesus, Gabriel	Manchester City	7
Pogba, Paul	Manchester United	7
Mount, Mason	Chelsea FC	6
Cancelo, Joao	Manchester City	6
Antonio, Michail	West Ham United	5
Dennis, Emmanuel	Watford FC	5
Fernandes, Bruno	Manchester United	5
James, Reece	Chelsea FC	5
Kovacic, Mateo	Chelsea FC	5
Redmond, Nathan	Southampton FC	5
Mahrez, Riyad	Manchester City	4
Saka, Bukayo	Arsenal FC	4
Benrahma, Said	West Ham United	4
Doucoure, Abdoulaye	Everton FC	4
Barnes, Harvey	Leicester City	4
Rice, Declan	West Ham United	4