Arsenal's Title Defence: Arteta Demands Hunger and Evolution

Mikel Arteta has thrown down an early-season challenge to his Arsenal squad, demanding they show the hunger to defend their Premier League crown, while drawing a firm line under speculation about Myles Lewis-Skelly’s future.

Arsenal open their title defence at home to Coventry on Friday night, stepping into a campaign they have not successfully backed up since the 1930s. History, and recent form, sit heavily in their favour: 17 wins from their last 18 league games against promoted sides, and no such visitor has left the Emirates with three points since November 2010 – a 45-match stretch of dominance.

Arteta is not interested in comfort.

“We need to breathe and we need to take this organically because it’s going to be a long marathon,” he said on the eve of the new season, stressing evolution over celebration. His demand is simple and ruthless: be better than the version that just won the league, better than the team that beat Manchester City in the Community Shield a week ago.

“What we need to show is that desire and ambition to be better than what we were last season, a month ago, or a week ago when we played Man City. We have the ability to improve, to evolve, and that’s what I sense and I feel around the club and especially around the players.”

The champions arrive with the aura of a hunted side, yet Arteta refuses to paint them as a finished product or a complacent giant. Asked whether Arsenal start the season with a target on their backs, he pushed the idea away, at least for now.

“Today, no, because we start from scratch and we’re going to have to prove we have the level to go back to that position again,” he said. The last three seasons, in his mind, have already schooled this group in every angle of the title race. “At some point we were first, at some point we were chasing it, and you never know what’s better. You give me the choice, I want to be first, I want to be hunted, and I want to be in control of our future, rather than depending on somebody else.”

The message is clear: pressure is welcome. Pressure is the point.

Arteta shuts down Lewis-Skelly exit talk

Off the pitch, Arteta moved just as decisively. Myles Lewis-Skelly, one of the brightest products of Arsenal’s academy, will not be leaving this window.

It is understood the 19-year-old was offered to Manchester United and Chelsea earlier in the summer as the club explored ways to balance the books after committing £75m to sign Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle. Any sense that Lewis-Skelly might be eased out, though, has been blown away by his performances and by his manager’s stance.

The midfielder was outstanding in Cardiff against Manchester City in the Community Shield and had already shown his temperament on the biggest stage by starting last season’s Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain. Arteta is adamant his future remains in north London, describing himself as “100%” confident the teenager will stay.

For Arteta, players like Lewis-Skelly are more than squad options or balance-sheet numbers.

“The players that have been raised in our system, and they feel generally that love and that connection with the club, bring something else, there’s no question about that,” he said. “We need to look after them in a really special way because they bring value that is very difficult to find. That’s why, when we can, we want to protect those assets as much as possible, develop them and make them extremely important for the club.”

A title defence, a hungry dressing room, a homegrown midfielder being ring-fenced as a core asset: Arsenal step into the new season not just as champions, but as a club intent on proving this era is only just beginning.