Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes his team is “the perfect environment” for his young players to become leaders after a raft of changes during the summer.
The Gunners face Sevilla looking to get their Champions League campaign back on track after a disappointing defeat away at RC Lens three weeks ago. The north London outfit will be full of confidence after coming from 2-0 down to draw with Chelsea on Saturday evening, with Bukayo Saka’s return to full fitness another welcome boost for Arteta after the winger’s injury early on in the Lens loss.
After a summer that saw the departures of experienced players Granit Xhaka, Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney, Arsenal have continued their recent trend of reducing the age of their squad.
The acquisitions of Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber saw the Gunners not only bring the age of their squad down, but also adds players who have had experience of wearing the captain’s armband for their previous clubs.
Bukayo Saka wore the captain’s armband for the very first time against Chelsea, and when asked about whether these experiences were important for his younger players, Arteta replied: “Yes, I think it’s really important for them.
“The role that they have in our way of playing in our team and our club has to be mirrored with the leadership level that they should have around the team to make the team grow.
“I think it’s the perfect environment. We have a really good mixture of players, teams and experiences. It’s going to be a really valuable time to spend with those guys to understand what happens behind the scenes as well.”
Whilst building his side into a team of leaders appears to be a priority for the 41-year-old, righting the wrongs from their defeat in Lens is the only thing on the Gunners boss’ mind.
It was a match in which Arsenal crumbled under the volatile French atmosphere despite taking the lead through Gabriel Jesus, with Arteta admitting his side did not deserve anything from the game.
“In the Champions League you cannot give anything away. The boxes are tremendously important,” he said.
“When you have control of the game there are going to be moments where that can get away really quickly and you’re going to have to understand why that’s happening, and how the game went away from us. We didn’t deserve that result.”
Tomorrow is the first fixture between the two teams in 16 years. Arteta’s side will be looking to come away this time victors, with their last visit to the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan ending in a 3-1 defeat.
Arsenal are back at full strength with Aaron Ramsdale available again after missing the Chelsea draw following the birth of his first child.
