Arteta calls Arsenal's defending ‘naive' after Villarreal loss
Arsenal, who started their preparations for the new season with victories over AC Milan and Newcastle United before losing to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, found themselves trailing 2-0 inside 33 minutes against Spanish side Villarreal at the Emirates on Wednesday.
'Today I think the result is painful. I think they were super efficient but we've been naive, especially the way we have defended in open spaces and that's something that, especially the way we play, we have to absolutely nail,' Arteta told reporters.
'Today we haven't been good at all in that department and that has cost us the game for sure.'
Arteta, however, was pleased with what he saw from striker Viktor Gyokeres, who completed his 63.5 million euros ($74.14 million) switch from Sporting last month, after handing the 27-year-old Swede his first start in an Arsenal shirt.
'I think it was very important for him to start a match and start to have the feeling and the connection with the team,' Arteta said.
'He's been with us only a week or so, but I really saw a lot of things and a lot of purpose, especially the way he was attacking certain spaces.'
Arteta also heaped praise on highly rated 15-year-old attacking midfielder Max Dowman, who won a penalty for Arsenal.
'He continues to impress, without a doubt. The impact he had in the game again today, the efficiency that he shows in every attack and action, it's incredible,' the Spaniard added. - Reuters
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
Rodri will not make Manchester City return till September
MANCHESTER City midfielder Rodri will not be at full fitness until after September's international break, Pep Guardiola has revealed. The 2024 Ballon d'Or winner missed most of last season due to ligament damage and without him City failed to mount a strong defence of their Premier League crown. The 29-year-old Spanish international fought his way back to fitness but suffered a groin injury in City's defeat to Saudi club Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup in the United States last month. 'Rodri's getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al-Hilal and for the last five or six weeks,' Guardiola said in comments released on Saturday. 'He's training right now and in the last two or three days is better. Hopefully maybe the international break is when he will be really, really fit. 'Hopefully, in the games (prior to that) he can play some minutes but the important thing is to not have pain because we don't want him to be come back and injured, come back and injured. 'We will try desperately to avoid that but he's training the last two or three days with us and that's good.' The City staff are also nursing Phil Foden and Mateo Kovacic back to fitness and both players joined Rodri in being left out of a pre-season game in Sicily this week. City face Wolves in their first Premier League game of the season next weekend and then play Tottenham and Brighton before the September internationals. - AFP
The Star
10 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Revamped Manchester City ready for new era without talisman De Bruyne
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Round of 16 - Manchester City v Al Hilal - Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida, U.S. - June 30, 2025 Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola talks to his players before the start of extra time REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Manchester City will embark on a new era this season in their first in 10 years without talisman Kevin De Bruyne as Pep Guardiola looks to make last term's third-place finish a distant memory and restore his revamped outfit to their former glory. They face a tough task against champions Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea -- all big spenders in the transfer window -- but the anticipated return of Ballon d'Or winner Rodri and scoring machine Erling Haaland to top form give reason for optimism. City were tipped last season to win a record-extending fifth consecutive Premier League title, but a mid-season nose-dive saw them fall well off the pace and miss a top-two spot for the first time since 2016-17. They finished third behind Liverpool and Arsenal with their worst points total under Guardiola, their nine league losses were more than their two previous seasons combined, they crashed out of the Champions League and League Cup early and their FA Cup final loss to Crystal Palace meant no silverware for the first time in eight years. Rodri was sidelined for most of the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament against Arsenal in September. Guardiola's men showed how much the Spaniard was missed when they went on a woeful run of nine defeats in 12 games across all competitions. After leading the Premier League in scoring for two successive seasons, Haaland's 31 goals across all competitions in 2024-25 remarkably constituted a drop in performance, although he still showed his lethal scoring ability in what was considered an off-year for the Norwegian. He will be keen to prove a point this season and put himself back in the running for the Golden Boot. Guardiola began his rebuilding last term, splashing out 180 million pounds ($241.72 million) on Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez and Vitor Reis. Marmoush had an almost immediate impact with a 13-minute hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Newcastle United in February. City's manager has further galvanised his squad by signing Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Rayan Ait-Nouri, winger Rayan Cherki and goalkeeper James Trafford in the close season to push City's spending for 2025 past the 300 million pounds mark. Ait-Nouri was brought in to reinforce the left-back position, while Reijnders and Cherki were signed in the hope that they could replace De Bruyne's creative spark in midfield. SQUAD POSITIVITY While City boast one of the best strikers in the game in Haaland, the fight to support the 25-year-oldruns deep with Marmoush, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Oscar Bobb and Cherki all in contention. Guardiola said that while there is a lot of positivity in the squad, he did not expect this season to be smooth sailing. "I'm pretty sure it'll be good, but it won't be a red carpet season, there'll always be problems, it's how you overcome those situations," the Spaniard said at a sold-out open training session earlier this week. "The expectation at the beginning of the season is always, let's go and try to do our best, win the first games, get confidence and move forward. Of course, we want to try and do better than last season, especially with consistency." The manager, who is under contract until June 2027, is not setting any targets for the season, saying it is difficult to determine what a successful campaign would be. "When the (players) give good spirit and fight and run and give their best, sometimes you can do your best and the opponents are just better," he said. 'It depends on ourselves, this is what we have to try to do. We challenge against ourselves, this is the target for the season.' A cloud continues to hangover the club as they face 115 charges of breaking Premier League financial regulations. City, who have always denied any wrongdoing, werecharged with the alleged breaches in February 2023. British media expect a verdict during the October international break. ($1 = 0.7449 pounds) (Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
The Star
10 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Champions Liverpool armed with new weapons but repeat act will be tough
LONDON (Reuters) -Armed with around 260 million pounds ($348.56 million) worth of new signings, Liverpool have spared no expense in trying to ensure last season's Premier League title marked the dawn of a new age of domination in English football. The post-Juergen Klopp era began with Dutchman Arne Slot's side wrestling control from Manchester City and turning the title race into a procession as their rivals imploded. Winning back-to-back titles for the first time since 1984 is likely to prove a rather more arduous challenge. Premier League clubs have already splurged in excess of two billion pounds with the likes of Arsenal, City and Chelsea all flexing their muscles with statement signings. Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will surely improve drastically on woeful domestic campaigns last season while the likes of Aston Villa and Newcastle United will again be making themselves heard at the top table. While Liverpool won't care, last season's Premier League campaign was not a vintage edition, with the title sewn up early, the relegation victims all too predictable and the main interest being the jostle for European qualification. Hopes are high that the new season will offer more intrigue. LIVERPOOL READY TO DEFEND CROWN It will be a sombre occasion as Liverpool and Bournemouth kick off a 380-match Premier League slog on Friday with the Anfield faithful remembering Diogo Jota, the club's Portugal forward who died alongside his brother in a car crash in July. While Jota will forever have a place in the hearts of the Kop, new heroes are ready to emerge, none more so than German midfielder Florian Wirtz and French forward Hugo Ekitike. Liverpool smashed their transfer record when they paid Bayer Leverkusen an initial 100 million pounds to sign the 22-year-old Germany international, who scored 57 goals and provided 65 assists in 197 appearances for the Bundesliga club. Allied with the pace and power of 23-year-old Ekitike, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial 69 million pounds, Liverpool will have more cutting edge this season. They have also upgraded in defence with highly-rated left back Milos Kerkez set to challenge Andy Robertson and Jeremie Frimpong to fill the hole left by the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid. "I think there's always room for improvement in every department," Slot said after Liverpool beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 in a pre-season friendly. "We've added a few extra weapons." The Dutchman was also quick to point out that Liverpool's rivals have not "stood still", especially Arsenal and City. CAN ARSENAL TAKE FINAL STEP, WILL CITY HIT BACK? Under Mikel Arteta, Arsenal have been agonisingly close to a first Premier League title since 2004, twice pushing Manchester City hard and last season emerging as Liverpool's sole rivals before falling away. Fans have long-lamented the lack of a genuine goal poacher but their prayers may have been answered with the signing of Sweden's Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting as part of a near 200 million pounds outlay in the close season. The 27-year-old scored 54 goals in all competitions last season and should he come anywhere near the level of club record scorer Thierry Henry, whose number 14 shirt he will wear, the 63.5 million euros ($73.93 million) fee will seem a bargain. Defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi arrived from Real Sociedad while Noni Madueke made the short trip across London from Chelsea to offer attacking support to Bukayo Saka. While Arsenal, who visit Manchester United in their opener next Sunday, trailed in 10 points behind Liverpool last term, City were 13 adrift as their stranglehold ended. Pep Guardiola's rebuilding job began last season and with talisman Kevin de Bruyne gone, that has accelerated with the signings of Dutch midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, Wolverhampton Wanderers left back Rayan Ait-Nouri and winger Rayan Cherki. City visit Wolves in the late game next Saturday. Fresh from winning the Club World Cup, Chelsea will also be expected to mount a challenge with striker Joao Pedro their standout signing of another busy transfer window. The Blues start their season at home to Crystal Palace next Sunday. FRANK FACES TOTTENHAM CHALLENGE Former Brentford manager Thomas Frank takes charge of a Spurs team that finished 17th but won the Europa League under Ange Postecoglou and are back in the Champions League without talisman Son Heung-min who ended his 10-year stint this week. Quite what the Dane will make of the jigsaw puzzle he has inherited from the sacked Postecoglou is anyone's guess, but fans will expect to see a vast domestic improvement as they get under way at home to promoted Burnley next Saturday. Likewise at Manchester United where Ruben Amorim begins his first full season in charge with the pain of their worst league campaign since 1974 still painfully fresh. PROMOTED CLUBS AIM TO BUCK TREND For Daniel Farke, Scott Parker and Regis Le Bris -- managers of promoted trio Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland -- the brief is simple - survival. The omens are not good with the last six teams to gain promotion to the top flight going straight back down. Leeds open their campaign at home to Everton two days after Sunderland welcome West Ham United next Saturday. ($1 = 0.7459 pounds) ($1 = 0.8589 euros) (Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
