Arsenal host Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon, with a win for the Gunners set to pile pressure on league leaders Liverpool with just seven games remaining. Mikel Arteta is looking forward to the tough test, though his attention is also partly on next Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash against Real Madrid after his side picked up a 3-0 lead in Tuesday’s first leg.
“It’s been an unbelievable energy. It was a very special night. That’s over and now the full focus is on Brentford because that game will require the best of us,” said Arteta.
“This is our context, play every three days and playing in different competitions, the biggest stages, playing in Europe, then coming back to the Premier League and having a completely different game, completely different opposition and context around the game. If you want to become a team that has the capacity to win in any of those, you have to do it every three days regardless of what the scenario is.”
Declan Rice scored his first-ever competitive free kick on Tuesday night, a moment that Mikel Arteta hailed as a special achievement, while also highlighting the midfielder’s other key attributes, including his leadership and technical quality.
“That’s something that we discuss a lot. I mean, the different ways that he can create moments in and around the box, whether it is to assist, whether it is to score because he has all the qualities.”
“He can run into the box, he can eliminate people by dribbling, he has a long-range shot, he has deliveries on set-pieces. So that’s where we’re heading with him, to become a game that he can decide against with very different tools as well.”
The Arsenal manager wants his squad to create a heritage in terms of winning trophies rather than just qualifications.
“I would like to use that word related to big trophies more than just qualification for next rounds.”
“We have to start somewhere. We weren’t even in the Champions League for seven years. So we have to start to build that story. And I think we are on the right track.”
