LONDON -- Mikel Arteta desperately needed a result to back up his rhetoric, and Arsenal beating Chelsea 3-1 on Saturday, is precisely it.
It is a popular refrain among managers attempting to arrest a decline to cite the importance of hard work, but you suspect Arteta means it more than most given his taskmaster style and the lack of application that epitomised the end of the Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery eras. With the Gunners seeking their first Premier League win since Nov. 1, Arteta packed his lineup with grafters urging them to show the unity and spirit he insists is in everyday plain sight at the club's London Colney training base but has been lacking on the pitch of late.