Mikel Arteta, Arsenal`s head coach, shared his insights following his team`s 1-0 victory over Serie A club AC Milan in a pre-season friendly held in Singapore.
A solitary goal from England international Bukayo Saka secured Arsenal a 1-0 win in regular time against a Milan side that was notably missing several key first-team players, including Santiago Gimenez, Luka Modric, and Youssouf Fofana. Despite the result in normal play, the Rossoneri went on to win the ceremonial post-match penalty shootout 6-5. Arsenal failed to convert four of their penalties, with 20-year-old goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani making impressive saves against Martin Odegaard, Reiss Nelson, and Jakub Kiwior.
Arteta`s Post-Match Comments on Arsenal`s Performance and Youth
Arteta expressed satisfaction with the team`s performance, stating after full-time, “It’s good, winning and a clean sheet as well, overall a very good performance, a very consistent performance throughout the game.” He emphasized the high level of play despite making numerous changes, adding, “We had a lot of changes, we’ve seen the players are playing at a very high level.”
The Arsenal coach viewed the Milan friendly as a valuable opportunity to assess some of his young stars. The Gunners played for over 25 minutes with two 15-year-olds, Max Dowman and Marli Salmon, on the pitch. Arteta specifically praised the young talents, remarking, “A big joy as well to watch so many young kids playing at 15, 16, 17 years old performing at that level, overall, very good.”
He further commented on their rapid integration into the team: “I think they adapted really quickly, really fast. It’s an incredible group of players that we have and they’ve made them feel straightaway very welcome and you can tell, they were very loose, very relaxed, very confident in everything that they did and, again, a very positive performance.”
Reflecting on the experience in Singapore, Arteta remarked, “It was very special, we’ve been here before, we know how special this place is with our club. Just to build that relationship, that connection even stronger and hopefully more crowd time next game.”
Arteta concluded by outlining the team`s immediate plans: “I think now we will review the match, review each individual, how is he first of all, physically, because we have put a lot of load and demands in them, and keep evolving the team in the right direction, sustain and keep the very good things that we are doing at the moment, and the tweaks and improvements that can make as well.”
