Mikel Arteta Says He Wants Arsenal to Become Winning 'Addicts'

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he wants to instil a mentality into his side that turns a winning habit into an addiction. 

The Spaniard spoke ahead of the Gunners' third-round clash with Leeds United on Monday in the FA Cup, the competition in which Arsenal have enjoyed the most success in recent years.

Per Goal's Charles Watts, Arteta said:

"Winning brings togetherness. When you have beautiful experiences together and win trophies those experiences stay within the group. You like more the people you work with, you believe in them, you share some fantastic moments. That stays.

"That habit of winning, winning, winning. When you win you don't want to stop. You become addicts to that. We have to try to implement that at this football club."

The Gunners ended a nine-year trophy drought when they won the FA Cup in 2014, and they won it again the following year and in 2017, as well as all three subsequent Community Shields.

Arteta, who played for Arsenal when they won the first two of those titles, spoke of the importance of winning cup competitions when they weren't able to challenge for the Premier League.

He added that ending the dry spell, which had endured since 2005, was a "massive relief" and it brought "really good belief and unity" to the squad that helped them win further silverware.

They lost their last cup final under Arsene Wenger, though, in the 2018 Carabao Cup, and last year they lost the UEFA Europa League final under Unai Emery.

Arsenal are into the knockout phase of the Europa League again, but they're out of the Carabao Cup and are 10th in the Premier League, so the FA Cup is once again their only other hope of salvaging the domestic campaign.

Arteta has been in charge for just three games, and after a draw with Bournemouth and a defeat to Chelsea in the first two, he guided his side to an impressive 2-0 win over Manchester United on New Year's Day:

His impact on the team's intensity has already been noticeable. Even playmaker Mesut Ozil—whose work rate is often criticised—has bought into the approach:

Arsenal blogger Tim Stillman and Football.London's James Benge have been impressed with Arteta's ability to convey his plans to both his squad and the media:

It bodes well for their prospect of developing a winning mentality once he gets them fully up to speed in time.

The 37-year-old has seen firsthand how effective such a mentality can be from his time as an assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. During Arteta's time with the Sky Blues as a coach, the team won back-to-back Premier League titles and FA Cups as well as the Carabao Cup.

Leeds are the Championship leaders, so Monday's match won't be easy for the Gunners, but the Premier League team will hope to capitalise on the fact their opponents have won just one of their last five matches.