Oleksandr Zinchenko says wins against Sevilla and Burnley have put Arsenal “back on track” following difficult results away at West Ham and Newcastle.
The Ukraine international, a scorer in Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Clarets, also believes the attitude of Mikel Arteta’s squad during the last couple of weeks suggests the club continues to move in the right direction.
“We have an amazing squad and good competition in every single position,” the full-back told the Evening Standard.
“I think it is definitely a positive sign. We are on the right way. We are working so hard as a team, the coaching staff as well. Every single day we give our all and the energy of our fans gives us a boost that we have a bright future.
He added: “I don’t know any team in the world that didn’t lose a game, but it is important to react well from the defeats and it gives you your confidence back.
“We did well and worked so hard in this period. We knew we had to be back on track and that is what we have done.”
Manager Mikel Arteta seems similarly impressed by the consistency shown by his squad, especially given the absence of several key men.
“The level and the consistency the team is showing, how we are playing, how the team is competing, we are always there,” the Spaniard told Arsenal.com on Saturday.
“The team is showing real maturity as well as a lot of hunger to be there and show a bit of bite and teeth in the right moments.”
When Premier League action resumes on 25 November, Arteta will be hoping to have at least three key players back from injury. Ben White was rested on Saturday after an issue was detected by the medical team and the full-back joined Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe and Jurrien Timber on the sidelines.
Despite not playing for Arsenal for three weeks, it’s reported by the Evening Standard that Jesus has travelled to Brazil to be assessed ahead of World Cup qualifiers with Colombia and Argentina. The Gunners are adamant the player isn’t fit enough to play but interim head coach Fernando Diniz seemed keen to flex his muscles on the issue.
Fingers crossed the striker doesn’t do further damage to a body that has taken a pounding in the last year.
Am I the only one who thinks we have yet to play well this season? I feel like we are doing well in spite of not playing well, and certainly not as buccaneer as last year.
Arsenal is preserving the best for last. The EPL is a marathon not a sprint. We gassed out last season doing it like a sprint but not this time. All we have to do is keep up with the chasing pack and do a dash in April/May a la City and win the league.😀
I agree, I think Arteta is responding directly to how we lost our way at the end of last season to make sure we are more resilient this time. We seem to be in a period of transition that the players are still getting to grips with. We are definitely more solid defensively. We allow an incredibly low number of chances per game, even against big teams (see Man City), and that’s a significant improvement on last season and one that will make sure we remain competitive for the whole season, barring further long-term injuries. However, we need to improve… Read more »
😜👍💪.
Couldn’t be better said! We’re defensively solid but yet to produce our best attacking fluency….feels like we’re still yet to find the perfect solutions to the absence of TP5 and Xhaka’s automatisms….
Misfield is the main issue. Xhaka is gone and Harvetz is not playing well, missing lots of scoring opportunities.
That’s because they’re a bunch of misfields.
Yes but I think it is about finding a balance. The more we play, the more I accept that we are going through a new stage of the process which is probably wholly necessary. I yearn a little for the chaotic days of last year but that is probably not a sustainable way to win this league. It’s a way to entertain and finish in the top 4. We want to win the league. Learning how to balance control with risk will take time (probably at least half a season) and of course it really helps when you have your… Read more »
We have played a lot of games without our best 11. In fact, I don’t think we have played a single game this season with our best 11.
Raya
White Saliba Gabriel Timber
Partey Rice Odegaard
Saka Jesus Martinelli
Are you seriously saying Raya is better than Ramsdale?
Arteta seems to think so and I trust him. He’s asking more of Raya than he was of Ramsdale.
Missing Zinchenko there. We would never have the fluency without Zinny. I think Timber was bought as a competition to Ben White and back up to Saliba.
This Gabriel Jesus thing is getting on my nerves
We are one point behind. You would never know it from all the gloom. In real terms, I think we are actually in a better position to win the title this year than we were last year at this time. We have more talent overall than last year (we have lost one important player, Xhaka, and gained Rice and Havertz as well as the January arrivals of Trossard and Jorginho) and we have more depth. City, I would say, are slightly weaker than last year (though still probably the strongest team in the world once De Bruyne comes back) and… Read more »
Agree with you about almost everything, city aren’t weaker imo, they lost a couple of great players but they had so many they can afford to lose a couple, and not sure if it will hold but so far Doku looks like maybe the best winger on the planet. It will be tough as hell to beat them but you’re right that we’re slightly more equipped to do so.
Doku looked very impressive, though much less so against Chelsea. But I don’t think you can say he is an improvement on Mahrez (different styles, but Mahrez was a threat every time he played). And no one has replaced Gundagan. So, as I said, still the strongest team but probably not quite as strong as last year.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – the voice of can-can football.