Mikel Arteta says he was pleased that his players had the chance to stretch their legs in friendly games with Brentford and Charlton and that the matches, both played behind-closed-doors, provided valuable experience of football’s new Covid-19 protocols.
The Gunners hosted the Addicks and Brentford at the Emirates last week as they stepped up their preparations for Wednesday’s clash with Manchester City; our first competitive action in over three months.
Speaking to the media on Zoom ahead of the trip to the Etihad, the boss took positives from the game time, even if the results were mixed. He was quick to make clear that a couple of weeks with his players wasn’t the same as a pre-season, even if it may have looked that way from the outside.
“It was a really nice practice for us to get a little bit of a feeling in what it is to compete again in a match, how it feels to play without any crowd and the protocols that we have to go through in order to be in a safe environment to compete,” he said.
“Physically we haven’t played a game of football for three months and we wanted to give the players some minutes. We managed to do that without any injuries so it was a really positive test.”
He went on: “It wasn’t exactly a pre-season! I didn’t have the players for six weeks but we tried to use everything that we could.
“If you ask me ‘what have you learned most?’ then it has probably been using different ways of communicating and using technology is one of them.
From my side, it’s hard to communicate with players and talk to them and try to get into them as well without touching them, without seeing them, so that has been a challenge.
“But we’ve been trying to do everything that we could to help them to understand better what we are trying to do, to convince them that it is the right way for them to enjoy their profession and let’s see if we’ve done a good job or not.”
The boss was also asked if he’d garnered anything from the resumption of action in Germany, Spain and Italy. He seems to think that the lack of supporters will affect the usual ebb and flow of the Premier League.
“I watched some aspects that I think we can take some advantage of, but I think you have to experience it,” said Arteta.
“I’ve watched some games from the Bundesliga, but then when I was at the Emirates and there is no crowd and you cannot steal that energy, push or drive, the game is different.
“The intensity has dropped a little bit and I think the physical state of the players is not as it was three months ago, so you can sense that as well, and that urgency doesn’t exist anymore from the crowd and how passionate the crowds are here in England, but we have to adapt.
“We have to experience it and find ways to motivate our players in moments. Let’s see how it goes!”
I think Arsenal will thrive in this situation because Mikel is good at inspiring the individual and in this situation he’ll be in their ear when he need be, not micromanagement of course, just the right effective cheerleading . My money on Arsenal thriving
Our remaining league fixtures are foreboding: M City A, Brighton A, South A, Norw H, Wolv A, Leic H, Tottingshit A and Liv H TBA. All of these are against teams with something to play for. I think we’ll struggle to get many points from these games, maybe 9 or 10. Whatever business we do this summer/Autumn, it needs to be diligent, otherwise we’ll end up a team of youth and perennial under performers. We need a 30-40 million centre back, hopefully Partey or another athletic centre midfielder and probably a striker if Auba goes. To do that we have… Read more »
Why would they sell Holding or Chambers? They both still have potential, and how many buyers do you think there will be for CBs either just recovering from knee injury, or still out? I doubt there are many, or much to be made off them. Probably not much to be made off Sokratis, Mustafi or Kolasinac either.
Holding and Chambers are not good enough for arsenal, period. if we can sell them, then good.
We are still talking about potential for both Holding and Chambers ?
One is 24 and the other 25 and they have been at the club for 4 & 6 years respectively. By now, they should be showing exactly what they’re capable of and be first team regulars.
How much longer should we be waiting for their potential to emerge?
How about waiting until they’re injury free?
My point is that you aren’t getting much for players who are injured or just coming off injury. And I am not sure about Holding, but I think Chambers is good enough. He has looked good but has been unlucky with injuries. And if he isn’t good enough for Arsenal – which is almost a mid-table team at this point – what big club is going to swoop in and provide fees large enough to affect a reinvestment in the team?
Could home advantage be controlling the tannoy at your home ground?
Imagine being able to incessantly boo Karry Hane everytime he touches the ball