Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says the team is ready to win every competition this season, including the ‘big’ ones and the ones ‘not considered that big’ ahead of the Gunners’ EFL cup tie against Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday night.
Coming off the back off three grueling fixtures, Arsenal have a chance to regroup on Wednesday night. The gunners faced Spurs, Atalanta and Manchester City in one week and did not lose a single game. Before the Manchester City game, Mikel Arteta mentioned one thing the team learned that will serve them well in difficult games this season.
Arsenal conceded just two goals in these three games, with the opponents getting frustrated and making negative remarks in the post match press conferences. Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini and City midfielder Bernardo Silva have both called out the Gunners for ‘not wanting to play football’ in their respective clashes.
EFL cup is a ‘not so big’ competition – Mikel Arteta
Ahead of the Bolton game, the Spaniard revealed that Arsenal want to win every trophy they can. Arteta then said there are ‘big’ trophies and trophies not considered big’ – alluding to the EFL cup:
“Well, in terms of trophies and success, it’s only if you win it. How you measure success, or how you associate that word, probably we could have a much more deeper conversation. But we are here to win. We are here to win the big competitions and the ones that are not considered that big. That’s our duty.”
Arsenal have won one major trophy so far under Mikel Arteta, the FA Cup in 2019. The Gunners are yet to reach those heights since, despite becoming title contenders for the Premier League.
Arsenal to ring the changes on Wednesday night
Mikel Arteta has hinted that there will be changes ahead of the Bolton game. In his press conference, he mentioned that Raheem Sterling, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly could all feature in the cup tie:
“Very good. [Raheem]He’s had a few minutes already and tomorrow he has another opportunity. He is ready, he’s really hungry to start to have more minutes and impact the team in the way that he can and hopefully tomorrow we can see that.”
The Arsenal boss also hinted that Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly, who played a part last week, could also get some minutes:
“Those two are really pushy, really demanding. They want to see everything, they want more and more information. They love it, you can tell. They are so passionate about it, they see the opportunity and they want to grab it with both hands. They are great to work with.”
