David Luiz has fired a dig at former Gunners boss Unai Emery by conceding that Mikel Arteta has brought happiness back to the club after their win over Manchester United on Wednesday.
First-half goals from Nicolas Pepe and Papastathopoulos sealed a 2-0 victory over Ole Solskjaer and a first win for Arteta since he became coach last month.
Emery was sacked while the club were on a run of just one win in 11 matches, while that record was extended to 15 games after the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Sunday.
But Luiz insists Arteta has restored confidence since his arrival and believes the mood among the team during Emery’s reign played a key part in their poor run of form.
‘We have to be honest and admit physically we are not ready, but you have to show heart and this team is ready to change a lot of things,’ Luiz told BT Sport after Arsenal’s win over Manchester United.
‘We showed that today and we are going to do big things in the future but step by step.
‘Mikel Arteta is a great coach, he knows football, he was a great player. ‘He brings things and I believe in his philosophy. I think he can improve every single player.
‘In life when you are happy the results can be totally different. Mikel Arteta can improve every Arsenal player, says David Luiz
‘I always like to use the mantra, if you sleep happy you can sleep for hours, it’s better than sleeping sad for eight hours.
‘If you work with happiness and believing what you are doing it is totally different, so I’m happy with everybody.
‘But you need to understand our season is not there, we started very bad, I have to be honest, but things can change and there are still some titles to fight [for] and improvement for the team for the future.’
