Mikel Arteta: We Know The Aim, And We’re Going To Go For It

Mikel Arteta gearing up for a big second half of the season…

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is gearing up for a big second half of the campaign and is aware that the aim is to finish as high as possible in the league table and secure Champions League football, he told Arsenal Player.

The Arsenal squad returned from a warm-weather training camp in Dubai this week as Arteta attempted to rejuvenate the squad following a damp January.

We exited both domestic competitions and failed to secure a win in the Premier League, losing ground in the race for Champions League football.

Now, with the transfer window closed and the squad looking very light in terms of numbers, Arteta and Edu are under the microscope over the next few months.

17 games remaining, all in the Premier League, with each one feeling like a cup final as we attempt to return to Europe’s premier club competition for the first time since 2016.

“We have a squad full of enthusiasm and passion, but with the right amount of quality and experience as well, which I think is very much needed.,” the Spaniard said while in Dubai.

“So we are really looking forward to [the run-in], we know what the aim is at the end of the season, where we want to be: it’s high but it’s possible and we’re going to have a real go in the second half of the season to achieve it.

“I am very confident because I see how much they want it, and we still have a lot of things to improve,” he added.

The squad is so thin that every injury doubt or potential covid outbreak could have a catastrophic effect. At the moment, Takehiro Tomiyasu remains the only absentee, with the squad boosted by Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey’s return from suspension.

After a much-needed break, the goal remains clear and is very much in our hands.