How Mikel Arteta turned Arsenal from a 'mess' to Premier League title challengers 

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been speaking with Guillem Balague in a wide-ranging BBC interview 

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has recalled the 'mess' he inherited at the club, when he first took the job back in December 2019.

When the former Gunners captain assumed the reins at the Emirates more than five years ago, the club were mired in 10th place in the Premier League and playing under interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg after sacking Unai Emery the previous month following a poor run of form that culminated in a home Europa League defeat by Eintract Frankfurt. 

However, Arteta was a breath of fresh air at the previously moribund club, and went on to lift the FA Cup trophy in his first season in charge.

While the acclaimed Gunners manager qualified Arsenal for Champions League lasst season, not to mention the last two seasons competing for the league title.

"You get the opportunity straight away to go to Arsenal Football Club, which is in a moment that is very complicated, very divided," he told Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague in an exclusive interview for BBC Sport.

"The energy, it's difficult to manage problems with ownership, problems with supporters. It is not a real clear identity of how the team wants to build the squad or wants to play the game and results are not going your way. I'm hearing a lot of things but I left three-and-a-half years before that and I knew it was happening.

"So I said 'listen, this is not about the quality of the player or who is going to play better as a winger or that system or that formation or that training methodology. The issue is much deeper than that. The issue is in our roots'.

"So I get everybody together in one room one day and I put the whole room down. It was all a mess.

"I said 'this is what I hear and this is the perception of you guys from the outside. So if you want me to help you, you need to put this together and then we can start to work. We're going to try to have fun and enjoy together'."

The Arsenal role was Arteta's first as a manager having previously spent three years as an assistant coach under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Click here for the full BBC interview