Arsenal US Tour stopped by Los Angeles on Friday night as the club released away and their kit for the 2016-17 season by PUMA. On this occasion, 90Soccer met with Arsenal Players Santi Cazorla, Héctor Bellerín and Nacho Monreal and sat down with the latter for an interview.
For this event, PUMA was also privileged to have Arsenal fan and Oscar winner Jamie Foxx at the launch event. Other noteworthy attendees included Gregg Sulkin (“Faking It”), Shemar Moore (“Criminal Minds”), Kendrick Sampson (“How To Get Away with Murder”), Daniel Sharman (“The Originals”), Luke Brandon Field (I Am The Doorway), and Issak Presley (“Stuck in the Middle”).
Nacho Monreal gave 90Soccer the opportunity to discuss club and personal’s expectations for the coming season:
90Soccer: “Nacho, after a difficult Premier League season last year that let Leicester wins the trophy , how does Arsenal rebound for this coming season and what are your expectations?”
Nacho Monreal: “We know that we missed a big opportunity to win the Premier last year. Top teams like Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea did not have a good season but we still finished second. We have high expectations for this season because the team is growing, we are signing very good young players and we want to win. We have not won the Premier League for a long time ad we are focusing to win this year”.
90Soccer: “Is the Premier League the main objective for the club and what expectations do you have for the Champions League?”
Nacho Monreal: “Yes, it is Premier League is the objetive. at Arsenal, we are trying to win everything, everything we play. Obviously we want to win the Premier League and of course the Champions League. But the Champions is more difficult because of teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona but we want to win the Premier League as I said before. We are improving and getting better year after year”.
90Soccer: “At your left-fullback position, you had last year one of the highest usage in the Premier Leaguer , how do you cope with the matches that will accumulate with the team being on many fronts and the competition with Kieran Gibbs?”
Nacho Monreal: “I feel very good, we train very hard, we have a fitness coach and we are prepared to play over 50 games per season. I still feel young and sometimes Kieran Gibbs will play when the boss decides to give me rest. He is an amazing player and we are ready to play as many games as needed for the club. Last season fortunately I played a lot and I am ready to play as many games as required this coming season”.
90Soccer: “As an international player for Spain and after all the glory the national team had, how do you see the future for the coming years under the new coach Lopetegui?”
Nacho Monreal: “I think, Spain has very good future. We have to know that in the past Spain won everything. They won Euro in a row and one World Cup and the best players have retired from the national team. They are building a new team with new players, very good and talented young players. I think they need time to keep working to improve and in the future, like in two or four years Spain will be on top again”.
