Mikel Arteta has admitted that he stunned the first Arsenal players to report back in pre-season training with his opening message at a warm weather camp in Marbella.
The bulk of the Gunners’ summer schedule is still a few weeks away owing to any Euro 2024 and Copa America commitments. But Arteta sought to get his Arsenal stars not representing their countries together at the end of June for a two-week programme to enjoy a jump start.
Arteta initially travelled with Arsenal’s coaching staff out to Marbella with Ben White, Emile Smith Rowe, Jurrien Timber, Eddie Nketiah, Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson. Martin Odegaard joined from the second week of the training camp before Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey.
Mikel Arteta stunned Arsenal with his insistence on needing to improve
A pre-season friendly with Boreham Wood featuring Arsenal’s academy prospects kicks off the Gunners’ summer programme. But pre-season does not truly begin until Arsenal travel to the USA for their friendlies against AFC Bournemouth, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Emirates Stadium also sees pre-season action before the start of Arsenal’s 2024/25 Premier League campaign. But Arteta does not want to wait for the visit of Wolves on August 17 for his Arsenal players to find their stride. The Spaniard is keen for his stars to fire up instantly.
READ MORE: Arsenal pre-season tour 2024 – destination, fixtures, how to watch and more
From day one of Arsenal’s mini-camp in Marbella, Arteta has also stunned his stars with the tone the coach is setting. He has made it clear that what they achieved last season was still not good enough if Arsenal are to win a major trophy in 2024/25 after a fourth barren term.
Arteta told the official Arsenal website: “For me, the best thing is when they come here on the first day and when they look at us. When they see the attitude and when they see the preparation. When they hear the words that we are using to start the preparation.
“Then they go, ‘Wow, this is going up a level again! So, what we did last season is not going to be enough. If I want to play and I want to be competing in this team, I’m going to have to do something extra’.”
Arsenal still have room to improve after a record-breaking 23/24 season
Arsenal achieved club-record standards during the 2023/24 Premier League season as they scored 91 goals. The Gunners also became the first English team to score five or more goals in three straight away fixtures against West Ham 6-0, Burnley 5-0 and Sheffield United 6-0.
Conceding just 29 goals in 38 games also made last term Arsenal’s best defensive record in 20 years. They even kept 18 clean sheets as David Raya won the Golden Glove award while on loan from Brentford. But Manchester City still won the Premier League title by two points.
Arteta will also know Arsenal were overly reliant on certain players en route to finishing the season in second. Only Bukayo Saka (16), Kai Havertz (13) and Leandro Trossard (12) scored double figures. Odegaard (10) was also Arsenal’s only player to pen double digits for assists.
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