Mikel Arteta expressed his delight after watching all five summer signings make a big impact in the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, praising how quickly they’ve adapted and impressed.
Martin Zubimendi shone with the first brace of his career, opening the scoring with a stunning volley, while Viktor Gyökeres added his name to the scoresheet once more, finishing off an Ebere Eze assist.
Noni Madueke tormented the other flank all game, while Cristhian Mosquera impressed once again, anchoring a third clean sheet in four matches as the gooners cruised past Ange Postecoglou’s Forest.
Mikel heaped praise on his fellow countryman, saying:
“He was unbelievable, the two goals are very difficult to score. Martin is bringing such a presence, composure and understanding of the game that makes the team flow and play better. And on top of that, he’s adding goals and assists, so that’s the trajectory that we have to maintain with him”.
“It’s not easy to adapt to the league, to adapt to a new way of playing, but Mosquera is a great example. I think what he did against Liverpool, being thrown out there after three minutes at Anfield in your first exposure in the Premier League, is very difficult to do”.
“I think he was superb today again, and the rest were the new ones. So, again, let’s use that, learn from them. They are giving us a lot of information at the moment to make sure we use it in the right way.”
The routine win came despite Arsenal’s new-look squad only regrouping 48 hours before the game due to the international break, yet they still delivered an excellent performance to bounce back from their sole defeat of the season at Liverpool.
Arteta is excited by the new weapons at his disposal and eager to keep working with them, determined to help them dovetail seamlessly as he aims to elevate Arsenal’s game to the next level.
“It’s a very good afternoon because after the players have been travelling the world for the last 10 days with different national teams, different coaches with different habits,” he added. “It’s always a bit uncertain how we’re going to play, how we’re going to connect, the timings of everything, especially when we have only one day to prepare the game”.
“But overall, I think we were very dominant throughout the game, created some big chances, scored three goals, and had another clean sheet, which is always very good. Another positive thing was the new relationships that we are building and the way they are connecting, which I was very pleased to see today.”
