Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is unhappy that news of Dani Ceballos and David Luiz’s training-ground clash was leaked, and has warned there will be consequences when he discovers the source.
News of a fight between Ceballos and David Luiz in training last Friday was reported on Thursday afternoon.
Arteta has since revealed there is “no problem” between both players, but he is unhappy that the bust-up was made public.
The Spanish manager is planning to address the squad and staff to learn the exact source of the leak – and has insisted that there will be consequences.
“I don’t like the fact that the incident comes out at all,” he said. “And I will find out where it is coming from and if that is the case, that goes completely against what I expect from each other, the privacy and the confidentiality that we need, and there will be consequences.”
Ceballos’ row with Luiz is the latest altercation the Spanish midfielder has been involved in this campaign, after squaring up to Nketiah during the warm-up to the game against Fulham on the opening day.
However, Arteta is not worried about the incidents, and believes the important thing is how players move on from flare-ups.
“Well, whether it’s a coincidence or not it doesn’t change things much, it’s just the competitive levels that we demand and the standards we want to set,” said Arteta.
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“But obviously it’s a very thin line, where it’s a competitive issue and where it goes somewhere else that we obviously we don’t support and don’t want.
“But it’s a contact sport and incidents are going to happen, it’s about how you resolve them within the team and individuals and how you move from there.”
Arteta will hope Arsenal can bounce back from the shocking defeat to Aston Villa as they head to Leeds United on Sunday.
“I always feel the same pressure, because the demands and the standards that I set to the football club, to myself and to the players are always to be the best, and when we don’t do it, even when we win I am not satisfied,” Arteta said.
“Most of the time I’m not satisfied. The ‘honeymoon’ is a consequence of when you do things right.
“The way we compete with our resources and where we are as a team. I have been here 11 months, but actually how long I have been training with these players and competing is a completely different story – how many breaks we had within that.
“When I lose a football game it takes me a week to go through it, so I need another game to go there.
“It is going to be a bumpy road. I said that on the first day. But the optimism that I have, the belief that I have in where we are going to get, how lucky I feel with the people I have around me to support what we are trying to do, is great.”
