Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock says the whole Gunners squad believe in new manager Mikel Arteta, despite taking only one point from his first two games.
After a promising start, Arsenal conceded twice in the last 10 minutes at home to Chelsea on Sunday to leave themselves as low as 12th in the Premier League table.
Following Freddie Ljungberg’s struggles as interim boss after the sacking of Unai Emery, the ‘new manager bounce’ appears to be eluding Arsenal – but Willock knows his side are in it for the long haul.
“He’s installed energy, he’s installed being there for each other and different tactics,” Willock said after the Chelsea game.
“I thought we did it in the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half but we pushed back and they got on top of us so it’s really disappointing.
“We all believe in him; we all listen and we all try to put the tactics he does in training on to the pitch.
“It’s evident we tried to do it in the first half, but it’s a long journey, we’ve only had a week with him and we’re all looking forward to working with him.”
Willock, who turned 20 at the beginning of the season, has been an important squad player for Arsenal this season, appearing in all but four of their matches in all competitions.
His promising form has been one of the few positive notes of a dreadful season at Emirates Stadium, and he has four goals to show for his efforts.
He will be hoping to profit from Arteta’s new vision for the club. For now, though, focus is firmly fixed on upcoming home fixtures with Manchester United and Leeds.
"We tried to give a lot of energy and tried to help each other out but unfortunately we lost," Willock added.
“We just need to keep positive, we all believe in each other and we know that we’re halfway through the season and we need to push on.
"We’re looking forward to the next game and hopefully, we can show the energy for a full 90 minutes.”
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