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Arsenal start their Premier League campaign against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates Stadium on August 17, and Mikel Arteta spoke about the team and fitness of the players during a press conference a day before the match.
Arteta's side lost the Premier League title last season on the final matchday against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, and the goal will surely be to go one better this season. Therefore, Arteta will want to make sure that they don't trip on a potential banana skin against Wolverhampton Wanderers and get off to a winning start.
Speaking ahead of the match, the Arsenal boss commented on the fitness of the players and the mindset of the team as they prepare to start the new season. Arteta was asked about the fitness of three players in particular, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jurrien Timber, and Kieran Tierney.
Talking about Tomiyasu and Tierney, he revealed that the two will still need a few weeks to get back to their best shape. However, Jurrien Timber is expected to be in the squad for Arsenal's first league game, according to Arteta. It remains to be seen if he will be in the starting eleven or will come on as a substitute.
Mikel Arteta also highlighted the mindset of the players before the start of the season.
"It was the same evening [last day of last season] and everybody was talking about the same thing that we’re not going to stop here and we want much more. We know how we want to evolve and how the players can evolve. Those margins are huge and we have to fill them," commented the Arsenal manager.
He continued:
"Since the last day. I think we had a gathering together with all the club players and the players said to me we’re going to be better, we want more."
Arsenal finished last season's Premier League on 89 points, just 2 points behind champions Manchester City. Their goal is clear this time around - go win the title.
Mikel Arteta likely to give more game time to three Arsenal youngsters in the 2024/25 season
During the press conference on August 16, Mikel Arteta raved about the pre-season performances of Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Ayden Heaven, and revealed that they will likely get more time in the first-team in the upcoming season.
“Myles has played a lot of minutes, Ethan as well, Aiden as well, in pre-season. It’s given us a big platform for them to understand how good they are and the options that we have in the squad right now, and for sure they’re going to be training with us,” commented Mikel Arteta.
All three of them are youth players for the Gunners and Mikel Arteta stressed the importance of developing talents from the academy. According to Arteta, players need to be purchased from other clubs only if the youth academy is unable to fill a void in the senior team.
