Mikel Arteta has claimed that his new-look midfield will look much better when they have a chance to play more ofren together after they flattered to deceive in their first outing together.
The Gunners have spent £170m on new midfielders, with Declan Rice arriving from West Ham in a british record transfer and Kai Havertz also arriving from Chelsea in a deal worth £65m.
The pair began the pre-season clash with Manchester United in the USA, but looked off the pace and couldn’t prevent the north London side from falling to a 2-0 defeat to their Premier League rivals, courtesy of goals from Bruno Fernandes and Jadon Sancho in the first half of the encounter.
This angle of Bruno Fernandes’ goal vs. Arsenal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ToXdBrd7gw
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 22, 2023
In the process, the new-look midfield (which featured both new signings and skipper Martin Odegaard) came in for plenty of criticism on social media, with claims that Chelsea had scammed the Gunners for Havertz and that a more reserved midfield trio was required.
Understandably though, Gunners boss Arteta jumped to their defence and insisted that they will only get better with time ahead of a season in which the north London side are expected to challenge for the Premier League title.
“When they play 55 times together, it will be better, it will flow better, they will understand each other better and we will be more dominant. But things take time to glide and we have to respect that”, he explained.
They face Barcelona and Monaco before Arteta’s side kick off the new campaign at home to Nottingham Forest.
