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A former Arsenal man has rubbished claims he fell out with Mikel Arteta before leaving the club in 2023
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Mikel Arteta has established a positive atmosphere at Arsenal since taking charge in 2019, methodically putting together the best possible playing and coaching staff in order to compete with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. While Arteta is largely considered an amicable manager, there is a ruthlessness to the Spaniard, who has taken on Guardiola’s intensity as a head coach after separating from the Catalan when he departed Manchester City. And there were reports earlier this year that Arteta had fallen out with former assistant Steve Round, who left the club in 2023, following an argument over the signing of David Raya. The goalkeeper joined an initial loan deal before signing permanently last summer, having displaced previous No. 1 Aaron Ramsdale. Round, though, has now publicly dismissed suggestions he fell out with Arteta, and praised the Arsenal boss for his work at the club. “I read a piece about that and that's completely untrue, it’s a load of rubbish, ” Round said, speaking exclusively on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast. “There were no arguments or differences of opinion or anything like that. When I first went in with Mikel, I said to him, when the time is right, I think I'll need to move on when it suits us both. “We had a discussion in that summer [2023] and we said, I think it's time that I went and we were both in agreement with each other. I think I needed to step away from it and have a break. I've been on the front line for nearly 30 years and it was tough. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. “And I think he [Arteta] needed to refresh his staff as well and promote a couple of younger coaches. I'd moved more into the technical director sphere, which is what I'm looking at right now. So I just felt it was the right time. ” On Arteta’s tenure at Arsenal, Round added: “Mikel's a world-class coach. His ability to get his message across tactically and the way to teach that team to play in a cohesive unit is unbelievable. “I was proud of what we did there, of what we achieved, to go in and help turn a club around that was starting to fail. I helped to rebuild and embrace the culture that was Arsenal and put it back on track. ” The assistant manager role at Arsenal is now shared between Albert Stuivenberg and Carlos Cuesta, while Round has yet to return to football. The 54-year-old was recently linked with the Coventry job, but that went to Frank Lampard. Callum is a football writer who has had work published by the likes of BBC Sport, the Independent, BT Sport and the Blizzard, amongst various others. A lifelong Wrexham fan, he is hoping Ryan Reynolds can lead his hometown club to the promised land. 'Be the bigger man': Micah Richards criticises Arsenal star after Sporting win This could be the oddest thing we've ever seen happen inside a football stadium Chelsea captain drops massive clue for HUGE signing for Blues Four Four Two is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. ©
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