Arteta says Arsenal are in a good position and will make no excuses

It is very nice to hear that Mikel Arteta is very happy with our preparations for Arsenal’s first game after the restart against Man City. We couldn’t have got a much more difficult match to begin with, and the players will have to cope with many restrictions as well as no fans in the stadium, but our coach thinks that there are some changes that could work in our favour as well.

“I watched some aspects that I think we can take some advantage of, but I think you have to experience it,” Arteta told Arsenal.com.

“I’ve watched some games from the Bundesliga, but then when I was at the Emirates and there is no crowd and you cannot steal that energy, push or drive, the game is different.

“The intensity has dropped a little bit and I think the physical state of the players is not as it was three months ago, so you can sense that as well, and that urgency doesn’t exist anymore from the crowd and how passionate the crowds are here in England, but we have to adapt.

“We have to experience it and find ways to motivate our players in moments. Let’s see how it goes!”

“It’s been a challenge for all of us,” he said. “It’s been a challenge since I joined, because of the situation that we were in, but I think we made a lot of steps forward.

“We tried to change the energy that we had around the place, even our stadium with the players and with the staff as well and I was very positive in the way that we were developing things.

“Obviously, we had a big turning point with the coronavirus and being away from each other for three months, but we’ve been trying to keep going in our direction, being close in contact and communication with our players and our staff and I think we are in a really good position to move forward.

“We have some uncertainties that we cannot control and we do not know how the players are going to respond now, playing every three days after three months, but most of the clubs are in the same position.

“We will try to adapt and to make the most out of it. We don’t try to find any excuses. We’ll go for it and enjoy it because I think we’re all missing football so much that we’re all desperate to get back playing.”

It is good to have such positives vibes from our Spanish boss, and it helps that we can actually understand what he is saying as well. But if he has the players feeling just as positive, and going by what Bernd Leno said the other day, it sounds like he has instilled that feeling in his squad, then let’s just sit back and enjoy the positive vibes!