As the curtain comes down on the 2024/25 Premier League season, Mikel Arteta is adamant that his side will not switch off early when we head to Southampton on Sunday.
Only an eight-goal swing across two games could see us lose our spot as runners-up to Manchester City on the final day, which means on paper, there is little for our Gunners to play for in game 38 of a long league campaign.
But Mikel wants to ensure that our standards remain as high as they’ve been throughout the past 10 months, and has eyed some key defensive achievements alongside adding another three points to our current total of 71 to round off the campaign in the best possible fashion on the south coast.
When asked about what was driving us heading into the game against the relegated Saints, Mikel suggested: “There’s motivation because you want to have as many points as possible. You are always here representing this club to win and to play in the manner that we want to do.
“We still want to achieve the best defensive record, the Golden Glove is still to play for and finish the season again on a high with a good test and always respecting the competition.”
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Only once the final whistle is blown at St Mary’s Stadium will Mikel begin to reflect on 2024/25 as a whole - a campaign which has seen us reach the Champions League semi-final for the first time in 16 years and once again finish in the top two of the Premier League.
58 matches in all competitions will have been played once we finish at Southampton, and the boss is keen to begin to recuperate from that hectic schedule before he digests everything, and begins to formulate a plan to come back stronger next season, and try to add some silverware to the cabinet.
“I am excited [for next season] but now I need to rest a little bit, to calm down and to start to make certain decisions in the most efficient way with the right timing to make sure that I can rest,” he said.
“I have quite a clear picture, but I need a few more things to then have real clarity and analysis and describe the season with the right words, because I know that that's going to be very, very important.
“You need to reset. In order to do that, there are many parts. You need to rest, then you need to be very convinced and aligned with what you want to do to give yourself the next chance to be where we want to be, and then you need to start to feel that feeling in your tummy that you’re willing to come back here on day one, fully motivated and enthusiastic to go again with the group of players and staff that we have.”
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