Thomas Frank has broken down the main reason why Arsenal battered Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby.
The clash at the Emirates on Sunday was completely one-sided. The Gunners absolutely dominated the game and deservedly picked up all three points.
Eberechi Eze’s stunning hat-trick has been seen as the reason why Arsenal won, but Frank believes it’s something else.
Thomas Frank says Arsenal beat Tottenham because they won 36 duels
Winning duels is a massive part of Mikel Arteta’s philosophy.
Arsenal have become one of the best teams on the planet over the last few years, and their manager’s demands are the biggest reason why.
Every Arsenal fan will remember the All or Nothing documentary, where Arteta lashed out at his team for losing against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.
“When I lose a duel, I am upset,” Arteta screamed at his players.
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Mikel Arteta hates losing duels!😡
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Everyone at Arsenal is well aware of those standards now, and that was evident when they smashed Tottenham in the North London Derby.
After rewatching the game, Thomas Frank has revealed that the Gunners won 36 duels compared to his side’s 17. He thinks that is the reason why Arteta’s men won the game, and we’re sure the Arsenal manager will love that stat.
Frank told Tottenham’s official website: “I watched the game back, that was a hard watch. We were not good, bad performance, not running away from that in any way. The biggest thing was that there was plenty of intent and what we wanted to do, but we just couldn’t execute it on the day.
“The biggest thing for me, the most disappointing thing, was that we were not able to compete, and I was convinced that we could compete on the day. That didn’t happen.
“We had 53 situations where it was like a duel, a second ball situation where Arsenal went long, we went long, like in a normal football game. We came out on top in 17 of those and lost 36. If you don’t do that, that is the basic, then it’s very difficult to win a football match.”
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Mikel Arteta changed one long-standing problem at Arsenal
Arteta has transformed Arsenal in many different ways over the years, but one of his biggest successes is how nobody can bully the Gunners anymore.
There was a time under Arsene Wenger when teams that were overly physical against Arsenal managed to take points off them.
That happened so many times, and it was infuriating to watch.
Now, thanks to Arteta, no side in world football is capable of doing that to Arsenal. Every player in the squad is up for a fight these days, which is also the reason why they are so dominant in duels.
Frank was wrong to even think his side could win more duels than the Gunners. He learned that the hard way in the derby on Sunday.