Arteta praises Calafiori after Man City: ‘Wouldn’t have done it with any other player’ | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta admits that he would normally not have started any other player for their first Arsenal game against a team like Manchester City, but he was comfortable in doing so with Italy international Riccardo Calafiori, who earned widespread praise from the British press after his goalscoring display against Pep Guardiola’s side.

Calafiori earned his first Arsenal start against the reigning Premier League champions last weekend, and scored a stunner after 22 minutes in what turned out to be one of the games of the season so far.

Calafiori praise from Arteta after Man City performance

As he is still a relatively recent arrival, and given that he had a minor injury concern after the last international break, Calafiori has had to settle for fewer minutes that he was used to at Bologna, but Arsenal coach Arteta is pleased with what he has seen so far.

“He came back, had a little glimpse, then went on international duty and got injured, so we had to manage him again. Then we threw him against Man City away for the first Premier League start and I think he was superb,” Arteta said in his Arsenal press conference on Friday.

“He’s really good. He’s adapted really well to the group, his understanding is exceptional and you see he’s a player with an enormous courage and personality to play, so he’s going to give us a lot.”

The Arsenal coach, who was formerly an assistant to Guardiola at City, said that he would not have fielded just any player against the reigning Premier League champions.

“With another player, probably I wouldn’t do it, but because I know how he copes and, when I explained to him, he really wants it, I decided to do it. He showed that he’s prepared to do it.”