Joe Willock says Arsenal’s young players are pushing each other to make life difficult for Mikel Arteta, after they helped keep the Gunners in the hunt for another trophy.
Five academy players started last night’s win at Leicester, with Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka all impressing as Arsenal reached the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.
Nketiah scored late on to seal a 2-0 win and, on a night when Arteta suggested his team is evolving without Mesut Ozil, after the German was left out of the squad again, the crop of hungry youngsters may have played their way into their manager’s thinking ahead of Monday’s game at Liverpool. Willock said: “As youngsters, we’re always trying to make it difficult for the manager to make a decision on who plays at the weekend.
“We’re all trying to push each other to be better and play as good as we can. My goals are just to get into the team and play regularly for the team. I love playing for Arsenal and that is where I want to be, so every time I get a chance I need to make the manager have questions about whether to put me in again. That’s what I tried to do last night.”
Following success in the FA Cup and Community Shield, Arteta is transforming the culture at Arsenal and is still yet to lose a cup tie since his appointment last December.
Willock said: “Do we want to continue the habit? Yeah, as players for Arsenal we always want to win games, that is what we need to do and to get back to a level where Arsenal should be. We have to win these sorts of games. We came here and won and I feel like it is good for the team.”
This was another impressive display from Arsenal and there is surely no way back for Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi under Arteta, with the Frenchman also excluded from the squad again.
Asked why Ozil, the £300,000-a-week midfielder, had fallen out of favour, Arteta said: “The team is evolving, you can see the level they are achieving.
“This is where we are. We want to evolve more and play better. We need to keep maintaining that. I am happy with the performance, how difficult they’re making things to select the squad.”
