'A shift': Sam Allardyce shares the change he's noticed with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal recently
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Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side are flying high again this season.
The Gunners are unbeaten in the Premier League so far this season, picking up 10 points from a possible 12, and they're on course to once again challenge for the title.
However, this Arsenal team is slightly different to the one that initially challenged Manchester City two years ago.
Indeed, speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Sam Allardyce has noted a change he's noticed in Mikel Arteta recently, claiming that the manager is now more defensively sound and not afraid to use spoiling tactics to get results.
Sam Allardyce has noticed a change in Mikel Arteta
Allardyce spoke about the Arsenal manager and what's changed.
"There's been a shift in mentality from Mikel Arteta on how good he plays defensively," Allardyce said.
"They're reluctant to mention it at the moment, but you can see a more steely defensive, determined side at Arsenal that we haven't seen for a long time. They did it last year for a 0-0 draw against Man City.
"He did it to beat Tottenham 1-0. Not that I saw all that game, I just read, someone said it was ugly, but they were very good both ways, defensively and attacking wise. So I can see a lot of that spoiler tactics again with not wanting to lose first and then seeing whether he can nick the win."
Defence is the best form of attack
Mikel Arteta has become a very defensively astute manager, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Arsenal know that there is more than one way to skin a cat in the Premier League, and sometimes, shutting up shop is your best bet.
Jose Mourinho was incredibly successful at Chelsea playing in this way, and Arteta seems to be following suit these days as he focuses more and more on clean sheets rather than blowing opposition teams away.
Arteta has become more defensively sound as a coach, and that change could carry Arsenal to a league title.
