The German knows the Arsenal boss well thanks to their time together all those years ago.
Lukas Podolski spoke to Gunners legend Ian Wright on his YouTube channel about Arsenal’s performances under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners parted ways with Unai Emery back in November last year and appointed the Spaniard almost a month later. Arsenal have looked a lot better under Arteta and the decision to bring him in seems like a good one so far.
Podolski spent three years at Arsenal alongside Arteta and knows the Spaniard well. The German has seen the positive change in his old club under the Spaniard but he has set his former teammate a challenge.
He said: “Yeah I see it, like you explained, the level going up depends on running, fighting spirit. You see there’s more of a team on the pitch [under Arteta].”
“With the fans, Arsenal is like one of the big five teams in the world. With this potential, we have to play every year Champions League and fight for the title, every year.”
Challenging for the title every year seems a bit far fetched considering where Arsenal are at the moment. The Gunners were in the bottom half of the table when they parted ways with Emery but they have looked a lot better under their new manager.
Arsenal have been harder to score against despite their terrible defence which is a very good sign. The attack has never really been an issue and Arteta’s system suits the players a lot more than Emery’s did.
With proper investment in the right areas, Arsenal could easily return to the top soon and Arteta will then be in a better position to take on Podolski’s challenge.
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