Mikel Arteta is delighted with the ‘absolutely brilliant’ impact made by a number of Arsenal youngsters during the Premier League leaders trip to Dubai during the World Cup break, speaking to the Gunners’ official website.
After Gabriel Magalhaes, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira put Alexandre Lacazette’s Lyon to the sword last week, Arsenal claimed another impressive result in the Dubai Super Cup, beating Serie A champions AC Milan by the odd goal in three on Tuesday.
Martin Odegaard opened the scoring with a gorgeous free-kick, before Reiss Neilson scored a deflected second. But while Arteta relied upon a largely full-strength side against the Rossoneri – Odegaard, Vieira, Gabriel, Thomas Partey, Ben White and Kieran Tierney all starting – the Gunners boss made sure to highlight the impact made by some of the younger members of his Arsenal squad during the mid-season break.
Arsenal beat AC Milan in Dubai Super Cup friendly during World Cup break
“This win (vs Milan) is a good way to close the stage and the camp. I think (the young players) have been absolutely brilliant. The boys they’ve been really helpful,” Arteta beams.
“The under-18s, the 16s and 21s maintained the level and the standards that we need. I think we competed really well against a really, really good side.
“It was a great test for us against a very different opponent to Lyon. (Milan posed) a lot of questions for us. I think overall we deserved to win the game and put in a really strong performance.”
Teenagers Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, Myles Antony Lewis-Skelly, Lino Sousa and Amario Cozier-Duberry all came off the bench against Milan. There was also an outing for 22-year-old Matt Smith; a relative veteran with 75 EFL appearances under his belt thanks to loan spells at Charlton Athletic, Doncaster Rovers and Swindon Town.
Arteta, meanwhile, is delighted to have the likes of White, Partey and Granit Xhaka back at his disposal following their World Cup exits.
“It’s been very good. Especially their reaction psychologically,” the former Man City assistant adds. “The players were all willing to come and stay in Dubai. Granit is here already around the place and is desperate to start playing.
“So it’s been really good.”
Arsenal will finish their tour with a clash against Juventus on Saturday. The London giants will then kick-start their Premier League campaign at home to West Ham United on Boxing Day.
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