However, Nketiah, a London native, is confident that Arsenal's young squad will fight until the end of the season. And the English star believes they will be in good stead to come out on top because they are 'hungry', have a 'good group' who are 'pushing each other' and have a deep squad and the experience of last season's title race.
"We're hungry," the 24-year-old academy graduate told the Daily Star. "We want to do well and we want to achieve things. We've got a good group on and off the pitch, which really helps. We had an excellent start to the season, but we can do more, we can improve. We're pushing each other to be the best versions of ourselves.
"Every experience you have you're better for it. We're all a year older - and with a year of more experience - so hopefully we can use what we learnt from last season and really apply it. There's a lot of quality all over the pitch. We've got players competing for positions. That's going to hold us in good stead as we get into the latter stages of the season. We're in a good position, we just need to keep focusing game by game and hopefully we can do something special this year. Obviously I grew up supporting Arsenal and so did my family. Winning the title would mean everything."
Arteta, the boss of the Gunners, who used to be Pep Guardiola's right-hand man at City until Arsenal snapped him up in December 2019, has been under fire for his behaviour on the sidelines. After getting his third yellow card of the season, he was banned in December and had to watch Arsenal's 1-0 loss at Aston Villa from the stands.
He got another yellow card against Brighton just a few weeks later, bringing his total to four, more than any other Premier League manager. However, Nketiah believes that Arteta's fiery antics and attention to detail are game-changers for both the players and the fans in north London.
"It's amazing to have a manager who supports you so much. It's like having an extra player on the pitch," said Nketiah, who is tied down until 2027 after signing new terms 18 months ago. "He pays a lot of attention in training, which has been great for me, helping me improve parts of my game.
0 Comments