PREMIER LEAGUE MOYES? HE’S TRICERATOPS

Arteta: My old boss is no dinosaur.. he’s always moving with the times

MIKEL ARTETA claims David Moyes is no dinosaur — and revealed he spoke to the West Ham boss before taking the Arsenal job.

Arteta spent seven years playing for Moyes at Everton and admits the seeds of his coaching career were sown at Goodison Park.

The two men face off against each other at the Emirates today with some Hammers fans convinced the Scot is stuck in the past.

But Arteta said: “David is always trying to evolve, always trying to get the latest thing to his players and his club.

“And he is not someone who sits down and says, ‘I used to do things like this 20 years ago and I am still going to do things like this’.

“I really enjoyed playing for him. I spoke with him a few times before I took the job. He has always been very supportive.” That support extended to Moyes’ pre-match press conference, with the Hammers boss confident Arsenal have got the right man in charge.

“It is pretty strange to face him as a manager – it probably tells me that I am getting a bit old,” said Moyes.

“He was a great player for me, he transformed the way we were because of the type of player he was. Arsenal are a good fit for his style and you can see his impact already.”

Arteta knows the Gunners will face a physical battle today – not least because he once got into one with Moyes himself years ago!

At Everton, Moyes tried to break up a training-ground bust-up between Arteta and defender Tony Hibbert. Former team-mate Leon Osman revealed in his autobiography how: “There were arms flailing and the three of them rolled around on the floor. At one stage there were about seven or eight people rolling around.”

These days Moyes is fighting a relegation battle but he has West Ham believing again after a fine 3-1 win over Southampton.

Arteta said: “I worked with David for seven years. He will put a team out there that’s physical and organised.

“The thing I admire most is the person, the values, how well he treats people and deals with creating a culture and a chemistry.”

With Olympiakos knocking them out of the Europa League, Arsenal’s players are under pressure to finish in a European spot this season.

Arteta said: “In December nobody talked about Champions League.

“We’re helping the players to focus just on what they have to do on that pitch and the rest will come naturally.”

Arteta says he learned a lot from playing under Moyes at Everton