Despite being left frustrated to see us on the wrong end of a 3-2 defeat to Villarreal in our latest pre-season fixture, Mikel Arteta feels it’s good to get some determination to put things right early in the summer.
Christian Norgaard and Martin Odegaard got on the scoresheet but the La Liga side led throughout with ex-Gunner Nicolas Pepe putting them in front in the first half, and even with us throwing plenty at our opponents, we were stung on the counter-attack a couple more times to end up losing.
But the boss is urging his players to put things right against Athletic Club on Saturday to round off a busy summer fixture list on a high, and feels he saw enough tonight to believe that’ll be the case.
“We’re disappointed with the result,” he said. “I think we were a bit naive, especially the way we defended open spaces and the counter-press in a few moments - I think they had three shots, three goals.
“In that sense, we’re not happy, but in a lot of things that I saw, very, very happy. Our efficiency in the final third has to improve, that's for sure, but a lot of the things we do in all departments, I think we are in a good place.
“But again, that pain in the belly about losing a game is necessary, and is something positive we can use for Saturday and the start of the season.”
[Read more
Report: Arsenal 2-3 Villarreal](https://www.arsenal.com/fixture/arsenal/2025-Aug-06/arsenal-2-3-villarreal-match-report?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
The game saw Jurrien Timber and Gabriel get some valuable minutes under their belts as they continued to recover from the injuries they sustained during the latter months of last season, which was another factor that pleased the boss.
That, coupled with seven other players getting their first taste of life at Emirates Stadium in our colours means Mikel feels that many individuals have taken another step forward during pre-season, and hopes that continues against Athletic Club on Saturday when the new season will be just eight days away.
Reflecting on the returns of our defensive duo, Mikel added: “We lost Ricky as well during the tour, so they've all been long-term injuries, very, very important players for us. They got some exposure today after four or five months, which is a long time, so that's great news because we're going to need everybody to raise the level and to compete with the quality that we want.
“To get them through the door, their first experience here at Emirates and to get the reception that they all got. So thank you so much to our supporters because they really made us feel great.
“We’re against a very good opponent again, so another great test. I hope a lot of people come here again and support the team the way that they've done today and hopefully we’ll give them a better performance and result.
“We have another one on Saturday to finish our preparation and focus on the week against Man Utd.”
Copyright 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.