Mikel Arteta was full of praise for AFC Bournemouth’s performances this season in his pre-match press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday afternoon.
The Cherries travel to Emirates Stadium for Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off with their highest ever Premier League points tally (48) confirmed following last weekend’s 3-0 win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
It wasn’t plain-sailing for the south coast side at the beginning of Iraola’s tenure though, as Bournemouth started the season without a win in their first nine league matches, a run which included our 4-0 victory at Vitality Stadium.
“They had a really difficult start in terms of fixtures as well and that was a huge factor,” Mikel said, “but you could see that the team was always close to getting a result and creating a lot of problems for the opponent.