“Lots to like” – Arteta impressed as Arsenal hit the ground running

Mikel Arteta was impressed by a dominant display as Arsenal began their Premier League title defence with a comfortable 3-0 win over newly promoted Coventry City.

Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka had the Gunners two up inside 23 minutes, both stroking home cutbacks from the left, before Martin Odegaard put the result beyond doubt with a scruffy finish four minutes after the break.

The home side had plenty of chances to extend their lead, with the impressive Christos Tzolis twice going close, on a night when the Sky Blues were restricted to a single shot on target.

“There was a lot to like in that performance,” Arteta told Sky Sports.  “Right from the beginning we were really dominant, really flowing with the ball, we connected with each other in a really impressive way.

“We scored two brilliant goals; we should have scored the third before half-time as well. After half-time, we scored the third one with Martin, a bit lucky, and then after that we had to manage the game. The overall performance was positive and a lot of big individual performances as well.

On his message to his players at the break, Arteta said: “We need to go for the third goal; this is the Premier League where two-nil doesn’t give you any confidence to close the game. That’s what we wanted to do, and I think we’ve done it, so credit to the team.”

Integral to Arsenal’s performance was the combination play on the flanks. On the left, new boy Christos Tzolis and Riccardo Calafiori appear to have struck up an understanding in double-quick time, while Saka, Havertz and Odegaard looked to have wound back the clock to before their respective injuries sidelined them for long stretches.

“When you talk about connections and chemistry, those three got that,” reflected Arteta.

“Obviously, they played so many minutes together in the past. Last year, we didn’t really use them because of different situations.

“Today, not only that, but even on the left side, you start to see different dynamics with Christos and Ricky. I was very impressed.”

On allowing his full-backs to roam the pitch, particularly Calfiori, who broke the deadlock in Sunday’s Community Shield inside a minute, Arteta added:

“Well, in relation to the opponent’s behaviour, in relation to how the opponent behaves, they need to do certain things to try to cause them problems. Not to be easy to detect, not to be easy to mark and to occupy spaces that can be really harmful for the opponent. They are brilliant.

“They have this intuition, they have those qualities, they are able to occupy different spaces. They are a big threat in the opponent’s box as well, so we need to use them.”

Of course, with so much talent in the squad, not everybody can be used. For the second game running, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli found themselves surplus to requirements and didn’t even make the matchday squad. Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres didn’t get off the bench against his old team, despite the game fizzling out in the closing stages.

With William Saliba, Bruno Guimaraes and Jurrien Timber sidelined by injury, keeping everyone happy when minutes are hard to come by is another challenge for Arteta.

“Winning. I think winning helps always,” he explained. “And making sure that they have the right to play on the pitch, which is the best way to do it.

“Last season, we had an incredible experience because everybody accepted their role on the day. And then I think we scored the most goals from the finishers than any other team.

“So these are the things. If it’s a collective purpose, we know to play for competition every three days. Otherwise, we’re not going to do it. Otherwise, they will complain if they play 55 games on every three days.

“So, we try to keep them happy, but that’s a collective effort, not only mine.”

The Gunners can now sit back and enjoy the rest of the weekend’s action. They don’t play again until a trip to Aston Villa in 10 days’ time.

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