Mikel Arteta says Arsenal draw was ‘better than I expected’ as he takes positives from performance

New Arsenal manager believes there were enough signs to be pleased with their 1-1 draw at Bournemouth as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reveals what caused half-time turnaround

Mikel Arteta is the new man in charge at the Emirates (EPA)

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal must learn to take their chances after watching a wasteful 1-1 draw at Bournemouth in his first match as manager.

The Spaniard had to deliver his first integral team talk as Arsenal went behind to a first-half Dan Gosling goal at the Vitality Stadium, though saw enough positives in their performance that he told his players to keep at their game plan and the goals would come.

In the end though they only managed an equaliser through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, leaving the side 11th in the Premier League table and eight points off the top four.

Regardless, the former Manchester City assistant manager was pleased with his side and believes there was enough on display on the south coast to work with in the hope of securing their European status this season, with an almighty uphill battle on their hands over the course of the second half of the campaign.

"I am pleased with a lot of things I've seen today,” Arteta said afterwards. “A lot of things that we practised that actually happened in the game.

"I'm not happy, because I would only be happy if we won the game. We had enough chances to put it to bed I think, but it was a good start I think.

"We have some areas where you have to make certain decisions, and it's part of the process to learn when 'yes' and when 'no', when the picture is clear, and when the picture is not clear. And we have to take our chances.

"In terms of attitude, desire and creation and commitment, it was better than I expected to be fair.

"They're not used to playing this way, but a lot of the things I saw in terms of attitude were terrific."

Arsenal’s rough patch of form threatened to get even worse when Gosling struck from close range to beat Bernd Leno and put a struggling Bournemouth side in front, but striker Aubameyang revealed afterwards that Arteta’s message was to keep faith in the game plan that he is trying to instil.

"He just said to continue with the same engagement, and to try to play, to respect our plan,” Aubameyang said.

"That was working in the second half. We missed a lot of chances in the second half. We should get the three points today but that can happen.

"I think the attitude of the boys today was great, and we have to improve on our chances."

"Everybody was working hard, was aggressive and trying to play as he likes and as we like.

"I think we are in a good way, and hopefully we try to improve. We know our next games are quite hard but we are confident."

Arteta wants to get a better understanding of his players this week (Getty)

Arsenal now face a tricky double-header against Chelsea and Manchester United that will go a long way to determining what Arteta’s side are challenging for in 2020, given that they have tumbled down the table over the course of the last two months.

However, Arteta will not allow their current predicament nor their upcoming fixtures to cloud his rebuilding project in north London, with the new manager set to use the two-day break until the Chelsea clash to try and get a better understanding of his players.

"My only aim now is to review the game, find solutions to do it better, to attack better, to concede less on the counter-attack, to defend better and to prepare a good training session to improve them,” Arteta added.

"That's all, I don't look at the games against Chelsea or Manchester United, it's now. At the moment, the audience is now and we need an impact now."