Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Arsenal duo Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have been humbled under Mikel Arteta, as he told his own YouTube channel.
The former centre-back also added that both players are showing leadership skills that Arsenal have previously ‘lacked’.
Arsenal are in a strong vein of form, both in their performances, results and the manner in which individual players are playing.
Lacazete and Aubameyang are two of those players, as their experience, added with the youth around them, is starting to show the progression Arsenal fans have been crying out for in North London.
Whilst there is still a long way to go, the Gunners are finally on a track that is making them look like a top-quality outfit.
And Ferdinand likes what he sees from the whole team, including the above players and how they have changed under Arteta.
“What I liked about the team is that I saw a humbleness in Aubameyang and Lacazette,” said Ferdinand. “In the way that they played.
“They dropped back into a system. Again, they dropped back into a structure and they played for that team. Led by example.
“I think they have lacked that leadership on the pitch when I have watched them, at times. Those two showed that in that game (against Leicester).
“That was a big part in how they played. I thought they were hard to play against. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but a positive one.”
It has been a long time since Arsenal fans have felt this way and the signs are now starting to show that the process can be trusted.
There is now a style of play to the Gunners, that attacking flair that the club used to showcase on a weekly basis under Arsene Wenger.
Then there is the old grit and fight they used to show under George Graham and that ability to weather the storm from a defensive standpoint.
Added with that, individual players are improving, from Emile Smith Rowe to Bukayo Saka, and new signings are thriving.
It’s just a start, but at least it’s something to cheer about for the Arsenal fans because they haven’t had much to shout about of late.
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