Arsenal started the 2023/24 season with a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium.
Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka grabbed the goals on an afternoon when the manager had to apologise on behalf of the club for a delayed kick-off caused by defective digital turnstiles.
Here’s a round-up of quotes you may have missed…
Eddie Nketiah on his goal and Saka’s contribution…
It was a great bit of skill by Martinelli to get through and when it [the ball] came it was about being calm and getting that half yard, obviously it was a good strike so I’m happy it went in. [Saka is] Unreal! We know he’s got that kind of quality, we’re really happy to have him in our team and we’re delighted to get the win & help him contribute as well.
Source: TNT Sport
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William Saliba on making his first league appearance since March…
I’m really, really happy. I’m not 100 per cent at the moment but I give everything to come back, because it’s been a long time. I didn’t play as I was injured, and I’m so happy to be with the team. The team and the staff helped me to get better and get back to my best. It’s always better [to play in front of our supporters]. You don’t feel pressure, you don’t feel any pain, it’s good.
Source: Arsenal.com
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Mikel Arteta on fans having trouble getting in…
I apologise to all of them for what happened. In relation to the club as well, as a speaker, we apologise. We will look at what happened, try to improve it – as well, thank you to everyone for their patience that they had, thank you as well to the referees and Forest for allowing kick-off to be delayed so that we could have the atmosphere that we deserved to play a Premier League match in.
Source: Post-game press conference / Hayters
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Mikel Arteta on Saka’s stunning strike…
You need those moments in games like that when you are attacking that low block with 10 players behind the ball, very little space that’s so well organised, we’ve done that with two beautiful actions.
Source: TNT Sports
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Bukayo Saka on what he wants to improve and playing in the Champions League…
I have a lot to improve, dealing with different games, for instance, playing two against one, how I’m going to manage myself. And other games where I don’t have a lot of shots, I want to try and leave the game with more shots, because then I’ve got a chance of scoring, also my right foot, my heading, there’s a lot of things.
It’s definitely a new challenge [the Champions League], but I like challenges. Obviously, everyone dreams of playing in the Champions League, it’s going to be my first time, I’m more excited than I am worried [about playing lots of football].
Source: TNT Sports
Saka’s attitude is so incredibly amazing
If he improves his tight foot and headers we’ll soon have a player of Messi/Ronaldo proportions
The star boy hits all right notes. He’s destined for greater heights.
Yep…A straight A’s student as well! Credit to his folks… interesting match…the new players fit in well…looks like Tierney’s time is up as natural centre backs are preferred back up on the left….that timber chap is a rolls Royce of a player…our game plan fell apart as soon as we lost his ability to invert and join the midfield…..Kai havertz off the ball was incredibly fast and aggressive! ….. we’re still prone to counter attacks and it’s an interesting experiment with partey starting at right back….. Nketiah ‘s performance probably seals balogun issues….Squad depth is impressive now overall….
My love for Bukayo knows no bounds.
I could be way off here, I usually am. But Saliba played last season with a niggle and we lost him for the run in. TP5 played with an injury in the NLD the season before and we lost him for a long period. Timber today had a problem which looks to be exacerbated by his inclusion in the second half. Maybe none of this is connected. But I always believe erring on the side of caution is a good idea and I do wonder if we could manage these issues a little better. Over the moon with the three… Read more »
So true. I remember so many crap first days to the season, villa about 5 years ago and coventry with mickey quinn spring to mind. Today, we won. On we go.
I forget who said it, but most professional athletes are rarely ever ‘fully fit’. Even when they are ‘fit and cleared to play’ there’s probably some aches and pain they manage. I say this because, compared to our previous managers, I actually feel like Arteta is very careful in managing injured players and tries not to bring them back too early. Esp for long term injuries. Martinelli and ESR comes to mind. Also if I were to hazard a guess, Wenger would have probably tried to manage Saliba towards the end of last season. There were whispers that he could… Read more »
The goal was world class.
This is a reminder to myself.. we have to go easy on Havertz! I hope we don’t get too obsessed with him and get majorly divided when the goal is way bigger than whether a transfer was right or not. Let’s give him till xmas and a couple more months if we are still in a title run.. I’ll hold my hand up and say I didn’t want him when we were linked but let’s be honest If worst case he turns out to be another ozil at least this team can carry him for a bit whereas ozils team… Read more »
The ozil comparison is a bit much coz I know ozil was magnificent at times and awful so not looking for a debate.. a better way to look at it is if he doesn’t work out and Declan and timber do that’s a pretty realistic return on transfers
If he achieves half of what Ozil did in his first few years. The fastest player to 50 assists and helped us win 3 FA Cups in 4 years.
Ozil was magic for the first few years. For me something broke in him when he got all the crap he did when Germany had the bad world cup. Perhaps under different management, or different circumstances our supporters could have been more supportive when he came back. But he just got more shit from us
Ozil was magic and a wonderful player, but also cast in a role as our best player and supposed talisman that he really wasn’t suited to, and also like everyone else in our club at the time coached with way too soft a hand by Wenger and co. and not held accountable enough which meant he (like everyone else) got slowly worse. Not his technique and wonderful creativity mind you (because that never needed coaching) but everything else that contributes to winning – tactics, defending, tracking back, fitness, mental toughness and so on. I think that’s also part of what… Read more »
I felt the same way at the time–and remember the attacks were all about whether he really was “German.” An I don’t think Arsenal covered itself in glory either when it made it clear the club did not support him when he criticised China’s treatment of Uighurs (actually, he criticised Moslem countries for their failure to criticise China). I think these incidents really affected his attitude to football.
Not to be too negative about Balogun but I do wonder based on some of the thing’s he says, And what arteta says about Eddie that attitude is the main reason Arteta prefers Eddie and why he seems open to letting balogun leave
I agree completely.
There are several other factors at play in this case. Wouldn’t necessarily put Flo’s ambition down as bad attitude.
Yeah, probably MA was referring to him by “other players”.
Very often we speak about talent like it’s god-given and in some ways it is. Few players have the agility and stamina of Bukayo Saka. Equally important though is the willingness to apply oneself relentlessly. This is especially true when they are able to do so from such a young age. That’s what separates players who go on to have a “hall of fame” type career from the “enigmatic” or inconsistent talents like Nico Pepe. I’m not trying to hate on Pepe but it’s such a perfect comparison given that they played the same position for the same club at… Read more »
Off topic but I see Sp*rs are in 8th place already. Having achieved mediocrity what will they do for the rest of the season?
Caicedo for 115…have robbed West Ham?