Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed what shocked him upon his return to the Gunners as manager, and not in a positive way.
It has been a difficult couple of years since legendary manager Arsene Wenger left the north London club in 2018, and was replaced by former Paris Saint-Germain boss Unai Emery.
The Spanish tactician was then sacked in November 2019, before ex-Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg stepped into the role as interim manager. Arteta was appointed a month later, and he has now admitted that he returned to the club to find a huge divide between its supporters and the team.
"You cannot build something new (quickly), when something has been damaged and hurt badly, that you can see a big split between even our own fans and the team," he told the Gunners' official website.
"When you were in that stadium 10 months ago, I was shocked. You have to rebuild that (bond).
"In order to do that, you have to build some foundations, and afterwards start a process. You have to prioritise that process at the start, and where you are going to get to.
"To do that, you need some pieces that have to fill in there, and you have to start to create a puzzle and try to manage it because there will be bad moments and you don't want to break it.
"All the time, you have to be very alert because it takes very little to break what you are building."
Arteta won the 2019/20 FA Cup with Arsenal, beating Chelsea in the final, and picked up the Community Shield trophy just weeks later after a victory over Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.
