Mikel Arteta admits he’d have preferred the same amount of time to prepare for Sunday’s match with Manchester City as the schedule afforded Pep Guardiola’s side but he’s looking forward to it all the same.
After drawing 0-0 with Atalanta in Italy on Thursday night, Arsenal flew back to London in the early hours before undertaking a recovery session today. They’ll then spend tomorrow morning on the training ground before heading north for the top-of-the table clash.
In contrast, City played at home against Inter Milan on Wednesday and have enjoyed an extra 24 hours of rest.
In his pre-game media briefing, Arteta said: “We wanted the same as them, we’re not getting it, so we have to adapt and make the most of the time that we have today and tomorrow and on the morning of the match to prepare in the best way to go there and win the game.”
In the absence of captain Martin Odegaard, the Gunners have looked somewhat disjointed in attack in the last couple of days, but after securing clean sheets in Bergamo and last weekend’s north London derby win, the mood in the camp is “very good” said the boss.
He added: “We played two very competitive matches away from home in the last four or five days and we have a massive one on Sunday as well, so we’re looking forward to it.
“We played against two very different teams but both of them are really tricky to play against away from home. We had a positive result last night. We wanted to win the game, but if you cannot win it, don’t lose it and there are things to improve but as a team we are showing a lot of consistency.”
From the moment the fixtures were released in July, the Gunners knew they faced a tricky start to the campaign. While the football hasn’t been the prettiest, the fact his side remains unbeaten after five games is a testament to the work done during the summer.
“We’ve been preparing for this since pre-season,” said Arteta. “Obviously, we knew the schedule and we knew that it’s extremely rare to play in these conditions with three massive away games in six days, but it was what it was so we have prepared for that, both physically, mentally and tactically.
“We’re making sure that everyone is ready for it, because we’re going to need them, especially with the injuries that we had from the international break.
“I enjoy a lot of time in the office and on the training ground, but it is what it is,” he added.
“We want to be in the position we’re in, we dreamed of this years ago and were in this position right now. Let’s make the most out of it and let’s enjoy it.”
On the team news front, it sounds like the Gunners escaped Bergamo without adding to a list that still includes Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney.
“Not really [any fresh injuries],” confirmed the boss. “Straight after the Atalanta match, we need to recover, sleep, eat well and everyone is looking forward to the match. We know what it means, we know what we’re fighting for and it’s a great opportunity for the team to show what we’re capable of.”
For what it’s worth City’s talisman Kevin De Bruyne limped off on Wednesday and is a doubt for Sunday. Arteta played down the Belgian’s absence pointing out mentor Guardiola has plenty of other options.
“They have the option if he doesn’t play of Gundogan, Bernardo, Phil Foden, Kovacic,” he said.
“They’re all world-class players. We have a few missing as well and we have to adapt, but certainly those kinds of teams don’t rely on one individual which is extremely important for them.”
What a mockery of the sport that a team can lose arguably the best #10 in world football over the past few seasons and have as options to replace him.
Fuck $ity, fuck €hel$ki, and fuck the FA for allowing this farce in the first place.
To be fair, you could chop off Arteta’s leg and tell him he needs to perform Riverdance and he would say, “It’s a beautiful challenge”.
I, on the other hand, get the sniffles and declare myself out of action for 3 to 5 days and will only return to work pending a fitness test and painkilling injections.
I watched Man City v Inter and thought Inter were clearly the better team. Of course, either side could have won it, but I was a bit surprised at how easily Inter took control of the midfield. De Bruyne was especially ineffective; Pep said–and I believe him–that he was planning to replace him at half time even without his injury. Obviously that doesn’t mean we are going to have an easy time. For one thing, I expect Kyle Walker will play against us. But I think we need to do what Inter did–treat them like a very good team, not… Read more »