Sport
Did Mikel Arteta’s angry reaction to pre-season loss hint at underlying issues for Arsenal?
Having watched his team suffer a second successive pre-season defeat, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta puffed out his cheeks and exhaled. “Finally, all my players are back tomorrow,” he said with a wry smile on his face. It’s been a long summer for the manager of the defending Premier League champions.
It’s a sign of Arsenal’s quality that so many of their players were involved in the latter stages of the World Cup. Mikel Merino, David Raya and Martin Zubimendi were all part of the Spain squad that won the whole thing. Declan Rice was a lynchpin for England while Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke also played key roles.
The frustration for Arteta, however, is that it wasn’t until Monday that these players could join pre-season with the start of the competitive season on Sunday with the Community Shield against Manchester City. The Gunners will play one final pre-season game against Como on Wednesday, but their preparations have been disrupted.
This was evident in the nature of the two performances against Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund. Arsenal lost both matches in front of their own supporters. Even more unusual than that, they conceded six times in the process. This was an Arsenal side that kept 19 clean sheets in 38 league games last season.
“They’re very angry, they took it very badly. They’re fuming, but this is good. It’s what we need,” said Arteta when asked to assess the performance against Real Betis when the Gunners were repeatedly cut open by their La Liga opponents who relished their trip to North London.
“The important thing is to win and we didn’t manage to win, so I’m obviously disappointed with the result. It’s true that we used 25 players, so we have to put the game in context. There are positive things to take away from the game and, sometimes, a bad result is good to further fuel the hunger.”
There have been some positives. New signing Christos Tzolis has settled in quickly. The Greek international might not be Vinicius Junior, but he will offer something different down the left wing after the departure of Leandro Trossard. Tzolis could be a useful squad figure as Arsenal aim to compete on multiple fronts.
Some of Arsenal’s attacking play has been slick. Viktor Gyokeres scored a freekick in the loss to Dortmund that hinted the Swedish striker might still have more to offer after a fruiftul, if somewhat uneven, first season in the Premier League. It’s not all doom and gloom for Arteta.
Nonetheless, Arteta’s demeanor suggests he fears underlying issues. William Saliba will miss the first two months of the season after suffering a back injury while playing for France at the World Cup. Saka still looks short of sharpness and struggled to find his best form over the summer for England. It’s been a while since he was truly impactful for club or country.
Then there’s Rice who played over 5,000 minutes for club and country last season. Thomas Tuchel started the central midfielder in the World Cup third-place game when Arteta surely would have preferred that one of his most important players be given a rare rest. Will Rice be able to play so regularly this season?
Arsenal have the depth to compete for several titles and trophies while not running their best players into the ground. Bruno Guimaraes has justa arrived from Newcastle United. He will surely ease some of the burden on Rice and Zubimendi at the base of the midfield. The Gunners could also add more depth in a handful of positions before the window closes.
Successfully defending a Premier League title, however, isn’t an easy thing to do and Arsenal could experience the difficulties of staying at the top this season. Arteta might be thankful his best players are finally back in training, but the real challenges might still be coming.
