Mikel Arteta’s arrival at Arsenal has benefitted everyone at the club, says Shkodran Mustafi, with the Spaniard’s “aura” considered to have the Gunners heading in the right direction once more.
Testing times have been endured by those at Emirates Stadium over recent years.
A humbling slip out of the Premier League’s top four is yet to be reversed, with the 2019-20 campaign shaping up to be another in which the north London giants are left on the outside looking in.
Arteta has, however, been brought back to familiar surroundings in a bid to turn the tide.
He is a managerial rookie, having only previously worked as assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, but has offered cause for optimism through the early months of his tenure .
Mustafi, whose personal form has improved on the back of a change in the dugout, is among those who believe that a new boss will recapture former glories for the Gunners .
The German defender told Arsenal’s official website of Arteta: “Each one of us has benefitted from this arrival.
“He has brought a very clear identity and a very clear idea of how he wants to play football, but at the same time he gives you space to make your own decisions because you are on the pitch and you know exactly what the coach wants from you.
“I think as well he has been listening into the changing room and listening to the players to find out why things were not working out before. Sometimes we don't realise how difficult it is to be a coach because you have so many people that you have to make follow your idea.
“Sometimes players are happy, sometimes players that don't play are not so happy, so it is not easy to have all on board and all agreeing with your ideas and philosophy. But he has managed to do that and in this short period it has been something very difficult to do, but he has done it. That is why we created a bit of momentum and we are heading in the right direction.
“I have benefitted from his arrival and his coaching. When you are 28 years old, you think you have heard everything and then a coach comes in and you still learn and hear things that you have never heard before.
“He has been incredible since his arrival. He has shown his aura and his personality just shows that he is so convinced of the way he thinks football should be and how he wants his team to play."
Prior to English football shutting down amid the coronavirus outbreak, Arteta had guided Arsenal into ninth spot in the Premier League table and through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.