Arteta 'developing quicker than a lot of other people have'
- Published
Arsenal's Champions League win over Porto will turn boss Mikel Arteta into "a better man and a better manager", according to former striker Theo Walcott.
The Gunners had to come back from a 1-0 deficit in the first-leg and through a penalty shootout to reach the quarter finals for the first time since 2010.
Walcott feels the experience will benefit not just the players but the manager too.
"Arsenal need to learn very quickly and they are going to learn a lot from this match, especially Mikel Arteta," Walcott told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast. "I think it is going to turn him into a better man and a better manager than he already is.
"I think he is developing quicker than a lot of other people have, he has learned a lot through Pep Guardiola and as well with himself playing in the Champions League.
"He's learned that side of it and now it is about implementing that into his team which I feel like he is doing slowly. It is about them breaking the pattern of if Arsenal can go all the way and win something big. Only time will tell of course, but this experience is going to set them alight going towards the end of the season.
Walcott made 59 appearances in the Champions League for the Gunners scoring 15 goals, and feels this version of Arsenal has made great strides under Arteta's tutelage.
"Looking from the outside and also having been there, it shows the hard work of the people you don't see," he said. "They see the side of the players that none of us will see and are in it every day working to get these players to perform at certain levels, mentally and physically.
"[The performance] was beautiful - it really was."