Bournemouth’s manager says he noticed three Arsenal players were amazing at pressing on Saturday

Tue 3 October 2023 12:15, UK

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was very impressed with the way Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side pressed his side on 🍃Saturday.

The Spaniard praised this Arsenal ꧙team for their work o💟ff the ball in their 4-0 win on the South coast.

Iraola was speaking via and named three players who stood out in particular under Arteta at Arsenal.

: “They are a very good team out of possession.

“[Martin] Odegaard, [Kai] Havertz and [Declan] Rice are all v𝓀ery good in the press, duels and second balls.

“It gives them strength in the midfield to recover high and atta﷽ck from there as they have very good wingers to 🍬make the difference.”

Of course, this does bode very well with Arsenal now anticipatﷺing a visit from Mཧanchester City on the weekend.

Arsenal are currently in France ready 🐠to fac🍸e Lens in the Champions League but there will definitely be an eye on Sunday already.

And whilst Mikel Arteta’s side have been slightly less efficient in their creativity this 🐼year, they clearly are still pressing very well.

A key part of the mantra under the Spaniard.

Iraola was full of admiration for Arteta’s Arsenal project

It will certainly be interesting for Arsenal fans to hear Iraola name-check Kai Havertz in particular.

Although Odegaard and Rice’s starts ar🥂🅺e nailed down against City, there’s no guarantees for Havertz.

With Thomas Partey back fit, Arteta may be tempted to de🌱ploy Rice further forwards o💃n the left side of midfield to replace Havertz.

However, the German was a stand out performer against Pep Guardi▨ola’s side in the Community Shield a few months ago.

Arteta may not want to disrupt Havertz’s progress at Arsenal, particularly after his showing that garnered praise fro🦩m Iraola.

Perhaps Havertz starting the game as a centre-forward is a re♉alistic option, as he did at Wembley.

Mikel Arteta will surely hav💖e a surprise or two up his sleeve, but first, there’s business to take care of in Lens.