The head coach has been boosted by the return of Matheus Cunha for matchday one of 2024/25 and is itching to get started again following a positive first campaign in charge. The Old Gold gave the Gunners a game both home and away last term, and knowing the challenge his side has ahead of them this weekend, O’Neil believes it’ll be a good opportunity to see where his group are.
On being ready for the season
“We’ve had a really good pre-season. The boys are in very good spirits, with a good understanding of what we’ve been trying to do. Matheus Cunha’s back fit and trained this week, so he’s back with the group. Nelson is missing from his red card in the last game of last season – Nelson is very important to us, but ‘Doc’ and Pedro Lima have both shown excellent qualities throughout pre-season. We’re a good spot, we’re ready to go and give a good account of ourselves.
“Cunha’s fine. Raring to go. He’s worked really hard to get back as quick as he has. He’s feeling very, very good, he’s had a good week training. He’s trained every day on the grass, so no concerns around him. It’s a big boost for us.”
On the squad’s current shape
“The club have had a plan in place and the two main outgoings were foreseen – we had a fair idea they’d happen early. You never want to lose your best players, but for Pedro to leave, there was always a concern around it coming later, so the fact it’s been done early is helpful to us. The new contract and commitment to the club was a no-brainer for me – I love being here, have loved every moment of my year, and I’m looking forward to doing the best I can with everything that we have here and how we’re trying to move forward.”
On facing Arsenal opening day
“I don’t think it makes too much difference. They’re a good side, they’ve had a good pre-season, they look equally as good if not better than last year. It can depend largely on a transfer window – if Arsenal sign four or five after we play them then they’ll be stronger when they play others, but if we sign four or five, we’ll be stronger. These early fixtures can sometimes be misleading, but it’s a tough fixture, you go to the Emirates and know what to expect, they’re going to be desperate to go one step further than they did last year. That starts with a home game for them which is important.
“From our side, really looking forward to seeing what we can do there, what problems we can cause them, how well we can cope with the issues they’ll pose us. I’m really looking forward to it, as I know the players are, it’s an opportunity for us to see where we are on week one.”
On the system this pre-season
“It’s flexible, like always. Last season was flexible. We were a back five twice against Arsenal I think, maybe one was a bit between the two, and lost both. We could go there as a back five tomorrow and win or lose, go there as a back four and win or lose, there’s a lot more to it than that for me.
“The style and what we’re trying to change isn’t as drastic as what people outside would make it out to be. It’s just trying to move the team forward, trying to make it fit what we have, which is the job really, you have to get your best players in their best positions to give you the best chance to hurt teams and look as good as they can. It’s using what we have and trying to get it to the best position possible.
“That’s the plan, to try and keep being aggressive, on the front foot, trying to create as many chances as possible, trying to be ruthless when we get them. All of that is, of course, part of the plan. I’m sure the other teams we’re about to face will have their plan. Week one is always interesting because you’ve seen pre-season, but pre-season isn’t the same. We go there tomorrow and get to have a real good look at where we are against maybe the best, or second best team in the country. We can see everything we’re doing well and everything that isn’t going so well under a huge microscope in week one. We can see exactly where we’re at.”
