Arsenal hailed for Champions League ‘swagger’, with Arteta better than Wenger in one key area

Arsenal have been praised for the convincing manner in which they beat Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, while a former Gunners star has compared Mikel Arteta and Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal made a statement in the early stages of the Champions League’s new format as goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka helped them ease past PSG at the Emirates. This was not a PSG team at its peak, with big names such as Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar having moved on, but the win still shows that Arsenal mean business in the competition and can beat the biggest sides around.

During an appearance on Sky Sports’ Back Pages Tonight, journalist Henry Winter said Arsenal finally look at home again in the Champions League as they aim to win the tournament for the very first time.

“The way they played tonight… the adventure and the set piece threat in the first half. The goal from Havertz, an outstanding header… absolutely an old school No 9 header. That was terrific.

“Then Saka’s free-kick, we know the work that Nicolas Jover does on the training ground, the set piece threat they’ve got. Saka delivered there.

“And then, as we’ve seen in recent games with Arsenal, how well they can defend. It was almost like they were resting their legs for the rigours ahead.

“It was very much a controlled performance, a very intelligent performance. It was the swagger of Arsenal, the confidence. They look like they belong at this level.

“All over the pitch… David Raya in goal, [William] Saliba [was] outstanding, pure Rolls-Royce at centre-half, Havertz up front and Declan Rice was outstanding in midfield.

“Arsenal definitely look like they belong in this elite league.”

Arteta trait superior to Wenger

Meanwhile, ex-Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has suggested that Arteta is better at deciding when to get his side to sit back than Gunners legend Wenger was. Petit also stated that there is a ‘huge difference’ in how Arteta manages to be ‘ruthless’ with his players compared to Wenger.

“Well, I think every time we had to play a game with Arsene Wenger, the target was to win the game, every single time,” he said on talkSPORT.

“At home, away as well, for me that wouldn’t be a surprise if Arsene was in charge for the game against Manchester City, before we enter on the pitch [for second half], he would have asked us to win that game as well.

“But I think Arteta is better than Arsene in terms of management of being ruthless with his players, this is something for me that makes a huge difference.”

Petit added: “The management of Arteta, for example the [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang [situation].

“There is many players as well, it doesn’t matter if you [are] the captain or if you have huge players, if you don’t follow the rules, the vision he [Arteta] has on the pitch, the unity of the team, then you are out of the team.”

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Arsenal boss thriving

The fact Arteta is being labelled better than Wenger in certain aspects shows just how well he is performing in charge of Arsenal.

It recently emerged that PSG had made an approach to see if they could tempt Arteta into managing them last summer, but they were rejected as the 42-year-old wants to see out his Arsenal project.

One of the main reasons for Arteta’s decision is that he wants to become the first Arsenal manager to win the Champions League.

Wenger came closest in 2006, when he saw his side lose in the final to Barcelona, but the Champions League odds for this season have the Gunners as third favourites, behind Manchester City and Real Madrid, to lift the trophy.

It certainly seems Arsenal are well on their way to reaching the latter stages of Europe’s elite club competition, but the Premier League is also in Arteta’s sights after Arsenal lost out on the title to Manchester City in each of the last two seasons.

Arsenal news: Tottenham tussle, rising striker price

Meanwhile, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have all converged on Benfica star Tomas Araujo, as per reports.

Chelsea are eager to sign the Portuguese centre-back but now face serious competition from both Arsenal and Tottenham.

Benfica know they will struggle to keep Araujo from heading to the Premier League and have set his price tag at an achievable €20million (£16.6m / US$22.1m).

Another player Arsenal are interested in is RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko. But with Leipzig tying him down to a new contract and the player starting off the season well, the Gunners will have to pay big money to capture him.

Italian journalist Marco Guidi has claimed that Sesko’s value has reached €70-80m (up to £66.6m / $US88.5m).

When asked about a possible move away from Leipzig, the 21-year-old hitman insisted he is not actively looking to find a new club.