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Mikel Arteta, frustrated, warned that there would be consequences for any Arsenal employee who leaked information about an alleged altercation on the training ground between Dani Ceballos and David Luiz during the international break.
The two players were reported to have suffered blows at the end of a practice session a week ago, with David Luiz said to have objected to a challenge from his teammate and hit him on the nose. Ceballos tweeted that the story was “false” and Arteta, who said that any problems had been “resolved immediately”, claimed that there was no problem between the players. But the manager was concerned that the fact that such a story could emerge from his side could undermine the spirit he is trying to instill.
“I don’t like it at all and I’ll find out where it comes from,” Arteta said. “And if that’s the case, that goes completely against what I expect from each other, the privacy and confidentiality that we need, and there will be consequences.”
It is another headache in fifteen days that has brought several new problems to Arteta’s path. Willian presented yet another disciplinary conundrum by undertaking a trip to Dubai, which was explained as a business trip to fulfill image rights obligations, but since he was photographed outside a restaurant on social media, he did not present a good appearance amid Covid-19 travel restrictions. Arteta did not elaborate on whether Willian had been punished, simply saying that the situation had “been dealt with in the right way” and that the couple “had a conversation and I explained what I expected.”
Willian should be available for Sunday’s game in Leeds, but Sead Kolasinac and Mohamed Elneny will not be there after testing positive for Covid-19 on international duty. Elneny’s absence is a special blow given that her colleague, midfielder Thomas Partey, has yet to overcome a thigh injury he suffered against Aston Villa on 8 November. Partey’s prognosis is unclear and Arteta said it was “an area where we have to be a little careful and protective.”
Losing at home to Villa, having won at Old Trafford the week before, highlighted the inconsistency that haunts Arsenal 11 months after Arteta’s reign. He accepts that any honeymoon may be over and admitted that it was difficult to absorb such a harsh defeat at home without an immediate opportunity to fix things.
“When I lose a football game, it takes me a week to get through it, so I need another game to go there,” he said. “When we lose him like we lost him to Villa, it’s even more difficult because it makes me think of things from the past that I hated and don’t want to see again. There are many things to change and improve. It’s going to be a bumpy road; I said that the first day. “
