Sokratis Papastathopoulos has said Arsenal have found fresh confidence and expression in Mikel Arteta’s playing structure as he reflected on Wednesday night’s home win over Manchester United.

Arteta’s players were aggressive and decisive in the first half, when they built up a 2-0 lead which they defended successfully after the interval, moving the ball with speed and menace within a well-balanced 4-2-3-1 system.

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The manager said two weeks ago when he took over from Unai Emery that there were “quick wins” he could put in place which were “related to the passion and attitude more than other things”. Against United, the work rate and desire of Arsenal’s players appeared transformed from the final, unhappy weeks of Emery’s tenure.

Sokratis, who scored the second goal, did not want to criticise Emery but said he is enjoying the fight of the team under Arteta, particularly after the blow of conceding two late goals to lose 2-1 against Chelsea last Sunday.

“We played very good and we deserved the win,” Sokratis said. “After the result against Chelsea we spoke together and said we have to fight more and to try to give everything. This was one of our best performances of this season.

“Against Chelsea, the performance for the first 35 minutes was very good and against United, we struggled again in the second half. But it is important when these moments come that we stay compact together and fight. I think with the structure of the team now, the players feel confident. There is a lot of space to improve and we have to try every day to improve things.”

The captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, said: “As soon as Arteta got here, he put things on the table. He made it clear what he expected from us and that it was non-negotiable. Everyone has got to work. Everyone wanted to make an effort because we have pride there, too. We wanted to regain the taste for victory and please our supporters.”

Aubameyang has put talks over a new contract on hold and, with 18 months to run on his existing deal, there are fears he could leave in the summer. “For now, I’m here, I’m 100% here,” he told RMC radio.

Nicolas Pépé, who scored the opening goal, said Arteta was overseeing a lot of “video during training” to prepare thoroughly. Video analysis was also a feature of Emery’s work. Pépé added: “It is all new for us. A new system, new instructions. We are adapting quickly. We performed well against United. We were solid defensively and good going forward. This will really do a lot for everyone’s confidence levels. Now, we have to go on a run to get to the top four.”

The buzzwords of Arteta’s early tenure are structure and energy, and the way that he drew fine performances from the midfield three of Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Mesut Özil against United boded well. All three had hit the wall under Emery. At the back, meanwhile, there was resilience and organisation – which is not a sentence that has been written too often about Arsenal of late.

“We spoke all together and said we cannot look behind,” Sokratis said. “We know this season has not been good for us because as a team we have to be in a much better place. We have to start to improve and to show we have the capacity to do this.

“Arteta is a very good manager. Of course he likes to do some new things, like his style. Everybody has to give 100% to back him and to try. This doesn’t mean that also the manager that was here before was not very good. This season we didn’t start well so now it is a new year and we have to start every day to show we are a better team.”