Speaking on the Kelly and Wrighty Show, Ian Wright has been discussing Arsenal’s win over Manchester United at the weekend and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The Ukrainian has been an absolute revelation since joining Arsenal in the summer, and now, Wright has noticed something rather interesting about the left-back.
Indeed, the pundit says that he has noticed that during the Gunners’ team huddles before a game, Zinchenko is often the one that will be leading the conversations and geeing up his teammates, while club-captain Martin Odegaard is taking a bit more of a backseat role and letting Zinchenko lead.
Zinchenko the leader
Wright spoke about Zinchenko’s role in these huddles.
“I think what is interesting as well is that you can see when they’re doing the huddles and they’re talking. As much as Odegaard is the captain, Zinchenko is the one leading those talks. Like you say, they’re very excited and very calm. They’re level in how they speak and not getting carried away with it,” Wright said.
Huge influence
Arsenal look to be transformed into a team of winners this season, and you have to wonder just how much Zinchenko has played a part in that.
Coming from Manchester City, the left-footer was brought up around a winning environment that brought the best out of every single player on a weekly basis, and it sounds as though he’s no imprinting that mentality on Arsenal.
Don’t underestimate just how important it is to have winners in the dressing room. It can be the difference between being a champion and being a runner-up, and luckily, Arsenal have players in Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus who know what it takes to get over the line in these situations.
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