Christian Norgaard, the Denmark international who joined Arsenal in a £12million deal from Brentford this past summer, has confessed that playing under Mikel Arteta is unlike anything he's experienced before in his football career. The move to Arsenal ended Norgaard's six-year stint with Brentford and his long-term association with then-boss Thomas Frank, who also left the club to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham.
Frank had signed Norgaard for Brentford back in 2019 after they had already worked together at Brondby for three years. In September, Norgaard praised Arteta's demanding approach, saying: "It is different than what I've been used to, but it's brilliant how his mind works and the way he wants us to play," He admitted that Arteta's tactics are physically and tactically demanding, adding: "So sometimes I still don't know exactly the things I do, but of course being out there, trying to execute it will always help."
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After missing the first month of the season due to injury, Norgaard returned to action in mid-September.
Norgaard's remarks echo those made by Declan Rice just a month after his £105m transfer from West Ham to Arsenal in 2023. Before making his Premier League debut for the Gunners, the England star confessed that Arteta's guidance had already altered his perspective on football.
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Despite having been coached by David Moyes and Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham, Rice acknowledged that Arteta's tactical acumen was on "another level". He explained: "Tactically, on the ball, off the ball.
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"I'm happy to know I'm learning so much because I'm trying to push myself to learn. Since the Community Shield, I feel I've taken a big step; everything is starting to click. I was blown away [by Arteta]; and working with him day-to-day, it's just another level."
Before his first league match in Arsenal colours, Rice told TNT Sports: "In the last four weeks, I've grown so much already and learned so much about football that I hadn't seen before. I'm honestly seeing the game in a completely different way already.
"Seeing how he works, how his mind operates, picking up stuff, seeing how he goes into detail on the opposition, and how he wants to improve us as players, individually and collectively, is really impressive.
"It's just the finer details of what he goes into, so there are no excuses on matchday. You can't say, 'we've not worked on this or that'. You're given everything and it's literally down to you to go and perform. The finer details you go into are on another level, and I've never seen that before."