Arteta felt 'a lot of disconnection' at Arsenal when he arrived | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta felt there was "a lot of disconnection" when he took over at Arsenal late last year.

A former captain of Arsenal, Arteta was named head coach in December last year, replacing Unai Emery.

Arteta, who oversaw eight wins and six draws from 16 games in charge before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, said it was difficult to find the club in the position it was in.

"Obviously coming into the club in that moment wasn't easy, but you mentioned a key word which is energy," he told club great Ian Wright in an interview for Adidas.

"I felt that the energy at the training ground, the stadium, wasn't right for this magnificent club and I've been here.

"I was lucky to play here so everybody has to feel first of all in that way and there was a lot of disconnection in many areas and I wanted to bring everybody together.

"First, to understand how lucky we are to be here and then a very clear direction of where we want to be."

Arsenal were ninth in the table, eight points adrift of fourth, when the Premier League season was suspended due to COVID-19.

Arteta said he was eager to return to action, but feels education around coronavirus would be key.

"I think the hardest thing is going to be to educate the players and everybody involved at the training grounds and matchdays that this is different," he said.

"We have to be very strict with the protocols. Common sense will dictate when we can go to the next step and the next step and the next.

"We cannot rush it, we are all aiming to play, we need to play, we are willing to play, it's important for us, for the society, for the economy.

"We have that responsibility so we just have to be ready whenever they say go ahead, open that door and hit the gas."