Arsenal supporters will be curious to see Mikel Arteta’s team selection for Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup third round tie at home to Bolton Wanderers.
After a busy week of three away games in a row across the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, could Wednesday’s 7.45pm kick-off at Emirates Stadium represent the chance for more squad rotation?
In his pre-match press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Tuesday, our manager was coy about the availability of specific players, but hinted that this game is a great opportunity for those who have played fewer minutes to show what they can do.
“I always prefer the facts than words or supposing things, so let’s see who’s available tomorrow,” he said. “Unfortunately, there will be a few players who are not available. Tomorrow, you will find it as soon as I give the line-up. We have to wait on one of them.
“It’s a great opportunity for any player to show what they are bringing in the games who haven’t had the ability to play much yet, to transform what they’re doing in training to give us the right reason and perform on the pitch.
“We want to win the game tomorrow. We have to start with the first game. We have to understand what is the best team, the strongest team that we can put out to perform in the way that we need to to be better than Bolton and beat them.”
Raheem Sterling is one of our summer signings waiting for his first start in an Arsenal shirt, and Mikel has been impressed by the forward in his substitute appearances and in training so far.
“Very good,” he said. “He has had a few minutes already and tomorrow he has another opportunity. He is ready, he is really hungry to add more minutes and impact the team in the way that he can, and hopefully tomorrow we can see that.”
Youngsters Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly are also among those hoping to get more minutes under their belts after playing away to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City respectively, and Mikel shares the pride of our academy coaches to see them settling into a first-team environment.
“I’m very proud of them,” he said. “They are dealing with a situation that probably they didn’t expect. They have had the chance to play in two of the most historic and difficult grounds in the Premier League and they both responded really well.
“What I have seen is that they have grown up in a really positive way, to influence others, to raise the standards and they are responsible to carry others as well now. Their attitude has been superb. It’s not easy when you have spent five weeks with the first team, and then you have to start to play at a different level. But this is where they are at the moment, and they are going to get more chances because they have conducted themselves in the right way in that sense as well, and that’s a really important thing.
“Those two are really pushy, really demanding! They want everything! They want more and more information. They love it, you can tell them, they are so passionate about everything. They see the opportunity and want to grab it with both hands. They are great to work with.”
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
