Mikel Arteta says he was happy with his team’s performance at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday against Lyon and ultimately their pre-season campaign as a whole.
The Gunners got off to a fast start and took a 2-0 lead in the first thirty minutes of the first half, despite the heat due to headers from Gabriel and William Saliba.
Arsenal could have scored more, says Arteta
“It was a tough test with some challenging conditions, especially because of the heat, but I thought the team started brilliantly,” Arteta reflected.
“In the first 30-35 minutes, we were incredible”.
“We should have scored many more goals, we left the game a bit open with the score being 2-0 but, in the end, I’m really pleased collectively and individually and I think we looked really good.”
Both headed goals came via Declan Rice’s precise cross from the corner, moments that would have come as a delight to set-piece coach Nicolas Hover.
“Yes, for sure,” Arteta agreed.
“It’s something that we obviously practise, we generated a lot of set-pieces today and it’s another way of scoring. We should have scored many goals in open play as well, but today we lacked the sparkle or quality in the final touch and final pass.”
Summer signing Riccardo Calafiori also made his debut for the Gunners in the second half of the match.
“We are managing them, it’s a lot of new things for him,”Arteta continued.
“It’s a big step up, but he’s so willing as you could see, for the 20 minutes that he played, he’s so energetic, so passionate, a really intelligent player. He’s going to give us a lot.”
When asked how the preseason had gone generally, from North London to California and Pennsylvania, Arteta was very positive.
“We had four or five different groups, so it’s been quite challenging, in terms of the schedule for everybody and playing everybody,” he added.
“But the staff have put some unbelievable work [in], I think the club has as well in the way that they have organised all the games and the tour.
“Thank you everybody for the contribution and I think overall it’s a really positive pre-season for us.”
Arteta will now be hoping his Arsenal side start the new campaign on a high when they take on Wolves at the weekend to start their 2024/25 Premier League season.
“Absolutely, we’ve done all this work now to be in the best possible position to start the season in a really strong way, and we start here,” Arteta concluded.
