Arsenal players deeply ‘concerned’ over Arteta’s backroom team
Arsenal’s London Colney training ground is far from a harmonious place at present, with reports that some players are not happy with Mikel Arteta’s staff.
It’s only a month ago that the first sign of cracks at reportedly appeared with the squad unsure over Arteta. That was the verdict from The Sun, who had an exclusive which revealed “growing resentment from players” with the Gunners boss. It was the first time really the spotlight has fallen on the Spanish boss after arriving from Manchester City 16 months ago.
The pressure is certainly on Arteta. The club were recently bundled out of the Europa League and sit way off the pace in the Premier League.
And wow, according to The Athletic, a number of players have been left “concerned” with the Spaniard’s backroom team.
The appointment of Bruno Mazziotti has not gone down well in north London. The former Paris Saint-Germain physio has apparently had a number of disagreements with Arsenal’s existing medical staff. But further to that some Arsenal players have concerns over goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana.
Cana, 45, arrived just a few days after Arteta in December 2019. He moved from Brentford to join the Gunners and replaced respected figures Sal Bibbo and Andy Woodman.
But the report claims some of the players are not sure about the Spaniard’s suitability at the club.
Arteta has said he respects the opinion of Cana. In September he said: “When it comes down to the goalkeeper, he [Cana] has a big say on how we are going to implement our methodology, how we are going to train them and how we are going to treat the goalkeeping position in the short, medium and long term.
“Obviously at the end it will be me who makes the decision [as to which goalkeeper we buy].
“I have big faith in Inaki as I do with the rest of the staff that are here.”
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Runarsson out of his depth
Cana, who worked with keeper Runar Alex Runarsson previously, is understood to have recommended the signing of the Norwegian.
However, the signing from Dijon last summer has struggled at The Emirates.
He has not started a game for the Gunners since his mistake in the 4-1 defeat by Manchester City in December. In fact he was almost offloaded in January with Arteta admitting he was looking to “find a different solution”.
Arsenal of course then drafted in Mat Ryan as Bernd Leno’s backup in the January transfer window.
And the signing of Runarsson, who was dropped from the Europa League squad in February, has left several players worried over the credentials of Cana.
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