Mikel Arteta admits Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Martin Zubimendi all have the same problem right now

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Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday, but it was hardly a vintage performance by the Gunners, it has to be said.

Indeed, Arsenal weren’t at their best against United, and many of the Gunners’ players underperformed on the day.

Viktor Gyokeres was heavily criticised after a quiet debut, while Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke weren’t great either.

Speaking to the BBC after the game, Mikel Arteta was discussing his new signings’ struggles against United, and he admitted that all three of his new signings currently have the same problem

Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke all have the same problem

According to Arteta, all three of his new signings who featured vs Manchester United aren’t at the right level physically.

Zubimendi has had a full pre-season with Arsenal, but Gyokeres and Madueke haven’t had that luxury due to the timings of their deals, and that may have led to a slower start.

“Well, we are very happy with all of them. With some of them, they are still not, well, probably all three of them are still not at the highest level physically, to achieve what we want to achieve in terms of our game model, but their contribution is gonna be key, and today, looking at the bench and having the ability to change the game is something that we haven’t had in the past,” Arteta said.

Mikel Arteta wanted Arsenal’s pre-season to be different

Arsenal’s pre-season preparations were thorough, but it was clear against Manchester United that some players were a beat behind.

Arsenal worked hard during pre-season, but it wasn’t the ideal preparation for Mikel Arteta as he’d have rather gone to the US for the pre-season tour according to James Olley.

“He was in good spirits when we saw him today, but we’ve only been here 24 hours. I think they’d rather be in America,” Olley said of Arteta.

“They have American owners and a base in LA that really suits them. They have a set-up out there that is an hour outside of LA, which is a home from home for Arsenal.”

“They like the fact it’s secluded; they feel they can crack on there. I think here it’s quite suffocating; it is a city, they’re staying in town, they can’t get away from it.

“I know that speaking to people at the club over the past few days, their schedule is crazy, a lot of media duties, it’s an intense period for them.”

Of course, it’s only been one game, and Arsenal did beat Manchester United, but based on the standard of the performance, perhaps the Gunners will regret going to Asia for pre-season rather than America as the campaign progresses.