Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has a big admirer in the form of Sam Allardyce after leading the Gunners' pursuit of their first Champions League campaign in five years.
The London side enjoyed a good weekend despite not playing in the Premier League, with a number of their top-four rivals dropping points, and Allardyce's comments come after co-owner Josh Kroenke called for fans to trust the process.
Arteta's side are benefiting from the lack of European football this term to improve on last season's eighth-place finish, with only four teams conceding fewer goals than Arsenal at this stage in the season.
The defensive work hasn't gone unnoticed by former England boss Allardyce, who has spoken highly of Arteta while questioning the defensive approach of fellow top-four chasers Manchester United, but there is more behind his impression of the Spaniard than what has been happening on the pitch.
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"Arsenal are a good young team who seem to be improving all the time," Allardyce, who saw his West Bromwich Albion team beaten 3-1 by the Gunners last season, told Ladbrokes.
"Mikel Arteta has faced so many challenges in such a short time as a manager, and he’s dealt with them head-on. He’s decided that he’s going to be strong, which you have to admire; I certainly admire him for that.
"He’s had a lot of big, senior players who haven’t been pulling their weight, and personally I think he’s dealt with those situations very well."
Allardyce made specific reference to Arteta's treatment of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who left for Barcelona after being stripped of the Gunners captaincy before the turn of the year.
"That incident showed everyone at the football club that it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter how big you think you are – if you’ve been honoured with the captain’s armband for a club like Arsenal, to disrespect that, to disrespect the manager, and to disrespect Arsenal Football Club, I can’t sympathise with how Arteta deals with you," the 67-year-old said.
‘"He dealt with that magnificently well, because it shows the rest of the team that there’s a certain level of expectation when it comes to discipline, and if you’re not going to adhere to that, you’re gone."
While Man Utd were able to keep a rare clean sheet in midweek, beating Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0, they have conceded 32 goals to Arsenal's 25 this season and are by no means assured of a fourth-place finish.
"It doesn’t matter what position you’re in in the table, you can’t underestimate the value of a strong defence," Allardyce said, suggesting the form at the back is what cost former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job.
"I know that traditionally you’ve got to attack, attack, attack at Man United, but no team can attack without great defensive work.
" Manchester City and Liverpool have the best defensive set-ups in the league, and it shows, because look at where they are in the table."
