Latest Gunners news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cLast couple of weeks, I would say, have been tough but that is the beauty of football,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is 100 per cent better now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis chance to play three days later rather than just stay home and think about it. Of course I\u2019m really disappointed but I\u2019ve got a lot to play for with Arsenal and I\u2019m really enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if this was a reality which could yet ignite something deeper in him, while there was some agreement, the underlying frustration remains.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, maybe,\u201d he replied. \u201cMaybe in a way, yes. But as I say, I\u2019m still really disappointed and sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 1-0 win over Sporting CP though has got the Gunners and Calafiori back to winning ways. A late goal from Kai Havertz secured the Champions League first-leg win, and the left-back echoed the words of his manager Mikel Arteta who spoke at length of wanting to lean into their \u201cidentity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo win is the best way to get back on track,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was a clear demonstration of our identity, which maybe we lost a little bit in the last couple of games.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we came back as I like, I recognise my team again, you know. It\u2019s a nice game to come back, and now we can enjoy it, but we are already thinking about Saturday. We are happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Naturally, the dip in form has provoked plenty of the negative noise that has festered throughout the season to heighten. Yet when asked if he was aware of the criticisms on the outside, his response was rather pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think about it too much,\u201d he said. \u201cI just know they love to speak about us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obvious that it\u2019s a massive club with so much history that they love to speak about us. But it doesn\u2019t change anything for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arsenal now face Bournemouth this Saturday, and a win would open a 12-point gap to their Premier League title rivals Manchester City before they travel to Chelsea. Calafiori was under no illusions just how critical this fixture is for the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery game is – hopefully – really important now until the end of April and also hopefully the end of May,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a completely different game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will play at our stadium, our home, we know how to play in the Premier League, and now we must rest and then think about Saturday again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Riccardo Calafiori provided Arsenal’s critics and doubters with the perfect response after the Gunners’ win<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1466\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}