Mikel Arteta responds to Joshua Kimmich dig at Arsenal after Bayern Munich defeat | Football

Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal aren’t the one team using a direct style after Joshua Kimmich accused the Gunners of counting on set-pieces and long balls after Bayern Munich’s defeat within the Champions League this week.

Arsenal ran out deserved 3-1 winners on the Emirates Stadium at hand Bayern their first defeat of the season in all competitions.

Speaking after the sport, Kimmich dismissed the suggestion that Arsenal have been Bayern’s hardest opponent this season and claimed their win against Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month was ‘more a football game’.

‘I feel PSG were the hardest one, especially the way in which they play football,’ Kimmich said.

‘Arsenal is totally different. They depend on set-pieces. They like to play the long balls, they like to fight for the second balls, it was a very different game.

‘Against PSG, it’s more a football game. Today, it was not a lot about football, it was about game management, it was more in regards to the duels.’

When asked about Kimmich’s comments on Friday, Arteta replied: ‘I feel the way in which each teams play, I feel the way in which they played against PSG was very similar.

‘When the whole lot becomes man-to-man and the way in which they’re with their full-backs, the way in which we do what we did by way of rotation, they create a game that has very long sequences of passes.

‘So I do know what he’s saying, in order that’s nice, it’s a part of the sport. I feel the sport is provoked in the style that each teams play, so it’s very comprehensible.’

Premier League leaders Arsenal travel to second-placed Chelsea on Sunday and Arteta was stuffed with praise for Enzo Maresca’s side.

When asked if Chelsea are one of the best attacking team within the Premier League, Arteta replied: ‘The sample now, it’s a bit early within the season, so it’s difficult to say, however it’s one among the teams that I enjoy essentially the most watching, and so they have lots of fluidity, they’ve lots of strength, they’ve lots of individual talent, they’re very clear what they wish to do, and that’s why they’re pretty tough.’

Asked if the sport against Chelsea can be the largest of Arsenal’s season up to now, Arteta said: ‘We at all times have the identical questions, I understand. For us it’s, since it’s the following game.

‘We just live in the current and make one of the best possible preparation to attempt to be higher than them and win the sport.’

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