Arsenal Boss Gives Verdict On Midfield New-Look As Rice, Odegaard, Havertz Plays Together

Arsenal Boss, Mikel Arteta has said that the new-look midfielders needs some time to hone its skills after the Gunners lost a friendly match against Manchester United.

In the preseason friendly on Saturday versus United, Arteta started a new-look midfield that included recent additions Kai Havertz and Declan Rice playing alongside captain Martin Odegaard in the middle of the pitch.

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The midfield trio has to play together more frequently to gel properly, according to the Arsenal manager, but they will improve over time.

After the United match, Arteta told reporters, “When they play 55 times together, they will be better. They will be more dominant and better, the conversation will flow better, and they will understand one another better. But gliding takes time, and we must honour that.

“Despite the fact that the outcome was completely different from the game we won the other day against the MLS, I saw a lot of good aspects that I like much better.

Havertz has experience playing in a variety of attacking positions for Chelsea and the German national team, but since joining the Gunners in the summer for £65 million ($84 million), he has primarily been used as a number 10.

In their most recent friendly match, Arsenal defeated the MLS All-Stars XI 5-0, and the German scored his first Arsenal goal while playing as the number 10.

The next match for Arteta’s team will take place in a preseason friendly in Los Angeles against La Liga champions Barcelona.