Former Arsenal star claims Mikel Arteta’s current side are better than the ones he used to play in

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Mikel Arteta was successful as a player and as a manager at Arsenal, having led his sides to FA Cup glory in both roles.

Arteta was a solid but unspectacular player, who was signed by Arsene Wenger to help replace Cesc Fabregas, and he ended up moving to a deeper midfield role and flourishing.

The sides Arteta played in challenged for the title and consistently finished in the top four, whilst he also won two FA Cups, including one as captain.

His former teammate Theo Walcott was a huge part of these sides, having notched up 108 goals for the club, but despite the quality in some of the teams they were in together, he has now claimed that the current Arsenal side are a level above.

Theo Walcott claims current Arsenal side are better than his were

Speaking to Arsenal media whilst on pre-season tour, Walcott praised the job Arteta has done as manager, and claimed that his side are a different level to what he was used to during his playing days.

“The managers that Mikel has worked with and the players that he’s played with, he’s learnt so much from and is feeding it into this younger generation who will just take on that knowledge. You’re going to want to perform for him and it’s shown in the league performances,” he stated.

“When I was at Arsenal I thought we were incredible, we were in the Champions League every year and challenging for the title, but not like this team are now.

“They are more serious contenders every year, especially the last couple and that’s credit to Mikel and his staff and everyone at the club who have changed the culture of what Arsenal should be.”

Mikel Arteta’s current side are more complete than his previous Arsenal teams

Some of the teams Arteta played in were full of superb individual quality, with the likes of Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez winning trophies.

This current Arsenal side are perhaps the best-rounded as a team, with the side scoring the most and conceding the least out of any Arsenal team in Premier League history last season.

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However, Arteta’s team now need to add silverware to back their strong performances and separate themselves as a genuinely elite team competing at the highest level.