Mikel Arteta is confident of quick Arsenal start

Jim van Wijk,Pa
Friday 02 September 2011 10:49 EDT
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Arteta expects to settle quickly at Arsenal
Arteta expects to settle quickly at Arsenal (GETTY IMAGES)

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Mikel Arteta is confident he can fit right in at Arsenal as they look to finally deliver some long overdue success in 2012.

The 29-year-old Spaniard is said to have accepted a pay cut to force through his £10million deadline-day switch from Everton.

And while Arteta does not claim he can fill the void left at the heart of the Arsenal team by the sales of captain Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, the midfielder is confident he can have an impact for Arsene Wenger's men as they look to first recover from the 8-2 mauling at Manchester United, and then win a first trophy since 2005.

"I know Arsenal's philosophy is always having possession of the ball and to be a really nice passing team, it's the type of football I like to play, so I can't wait," Arteta said on Sky Sports News.

"I am going there to help the team to make things better and to see if we can win something.

"Fabregas has been a terrific player, one of the best in the Premier League and [replacing him] is a big ask.

"What I want to do is start helping the team, start showing my abilities and see where we go from there."

Arteta, though, admits it was not easy to leave Everton after six-and-a half years on Merseyside.

However, the midfielder believes his sale will help ease the financial burdens which currently surround Goodison Park.

"It has been hard saying goodbye to everyone at Everton and seeing some of the reaction of people with whom I've shared so many good moments," the former Rangers man said.

"I think the club is in a situation where they need to sell someone.

"They don't want to put the team and the club in a situation when in one or two years time this club is in bits."

Arsenal were one of the busiest clubs over the final days of the transfer window, as deals were concluded to bring in South Korea captain Park Chu-young - who netted a hat-trick in today's 6-0 World Cup qualifier win over against Lebanon - and defensive duo Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos.

Israel captain Yossi Benayoun was another arrival, joining on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Wenger also had plenty of other irons in the fire, with Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas claiming the Gunners made a late bid for attacking midfielder Yaroann Gourcuff.

Arsenal may have secured a place in the group stages of the Champions League with a play-off win over Udinese, but have lost two of their opening three domestic fixtures.

Czech winger Tomas Rosicky, however, is in no doubt his side, who host new-boys Swansea after the international break, will soon be back to form.

"We are at the very beginning of the season and there is still plenty of time to turn things around completely," Rosicky told the Czech newspaper Blesk.

"Up until now we always had good starts and finished badly. Maybe it will turn around and we will have a successful season. We must shake it off and respond in the next game."

Rosicky admits the squad will analyse just what went wrong in "the worst hammering I have experienced in football" when they return to London Colney next week.

"There is probably no sense in commenting on the game after such a hammering. The best you can do is to forget and start from the scratch," the 30-year-old added.

"We will definitely discuss it when everyone returns from international duty and there is no point about speaking about it now."

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