CM Story - The Story of Josh McEwen

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 66), Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli (Off 66) 

Subs: Kepa, Kayode, Mosquera, Bouaddi, Larsson (On 66), Eze, Nwaneri (On 66), Trossard, Jesus 

Birmingham City (4-3-3): Vindahl, Osayi-Samuel, Van Den Bosch, Klarer, Amass, Gardner-Hickman (Off 78), Leonard, Fujimoto, Orellano, Furuhashi, Hansson (Off 66) 

Subs: Allsop, Neumann, Carvalho (On 78), Stansfield, Cochrane, Dina Ebimbe (On 66), Ducksch, Paik Seung Ho, Laird 

Q: Josh a scare on the opening day but a 2-0 win in the end. A superb volley by Hugo Larsson to introduce himself to the Emirates crowd what are your thoughts on the game? 

Josh McEwen “It was a tough game we didn’t perform like I know we can in that first half we didn’t create much but in the second half it was chance after chance we should have scored earlier but the boys kept working remained patient and we got the break through and then Hugo has scored an outrageous volley from just inside the box to secure an opening day win. It is why we signed him the quality he has and he is different to our other midfielders so he is going to be a great addition. We will get better I know that the main thing was to win the first game and we did that and now we move onto our next game.” 

Q: Reggie a heartbreaking way to lose the opening game. Your team fought so hard how difficult is that result to take? 

Reggie Hurst “It hurts a lot, the lads are devastated to be honest with you they worked so hard all pre season we came flying out the blocks which was our plan try and get at them early and we created two early chances but the thing we couldn’t afford was for them to find their rhythm which they did in the second half. It just really hurts because 2-0 flatters them to concede in the 88th minute of your first game back in the Prem against a team like Arsenal I think even though we lost a lot of teams will look at our performance and know they’re going to be in a tough game now.” 

Bournemouth (4-4-2): Petrovic, Araujo (Off 90), Diakite, Bueno, Truffert, Semenyo, Casado, Timber, Traore, Evanilson, Adli 

Subs: Krapyvtsov, Garner, Adams, Unal, Leye, Kluivert, Jebbison, Cook (On 90), Malacia 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Laimer, Saliba, Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly, Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 75), Saka, Gyokeres (Off 75), Newaneri (Off 75) 

Subs: Kepa, Kayode, Mosquera, Bouaddi, Larsson (On 75), Eze (On 75), Martinelli, Trossard, Jesus (On 75) 

Q: Lukas a really disappointing result for your team. How hard was it for your side today? 

Lukas Funk “It was a tough day for us. It is disappointing because it is our first home game and we just never got going, when you win your opening game away from home you think ok lets back that up with a strong performance at home but we just couldn’t get near Arsenal. You have to give them credit we played a fantastic team who made us work out of possession and they had chances they put them away. Half time I said we need to show true fight here it was difficult when you end a game with 12% possession it is unlikely your getting any points but we had one chance and after the chance they go down the other end and make it three. Maybe we didn’t expect a fast break like they did because they were so patient maybe we were just to tired chasing back it was a clinical break and it wrapped up the game for them.” 

Q: Josh absolute domination from your side from start to finish which saw your team rack up a very impressive 88% possession whilst still having seven shots. Was that the perfect performance? 

Josh McEwen “What a performance oh my god wow. I look at some of the stats from the team today 98% pass accuracy, 88% possession, expected goals 2 and the defence side with David as well involved when we pass back to him he makes the right choice and it keeps them moving it was great to watch. Last week people said we weren’t at our best this week I don’t think I have seen a performance like this in my life from my team. Every player played a perfect game and we go back to back wins back to back clean sheets and we move on to the Wolves game next week.” 

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya, Kayode, Saliba (Off 57), Pienczak, Lewis-Skelly (Off 57), Zubimendi, Rice, Odegaard (Off 57), Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri (Off 57) 

Subs: Kepa, Wijndal (On 57), Branthwaite (On 57), Bouaddi, Larsson (On 57), Eze, Martinelli (On 57), Trossard, Jesus 

Wolves (4-3-3): Johnstone, Kabore, Krejci, Goes, Locko, Gomes, Hackney, Toth, Nelson (Off 57), Arokodare, George 

Subs: Agirrezabala, Le Normand, Florentino, Hwang Hee Chan, Garcia, Doyle, Jeong, Arias (On 57), Agbadou 

Q: Josh a different type of performance to the one at Bournemouth you were a little more direct but just as dominant. End of August top of the league with no goals conceded the perfect start would you say? 

Josh McEwen “Probably the best way to describe the start maybe if Viktor completed his hat trick with his chance at the end it would be perfect haha. We are so happy today we changed a little bit how we played because of the rain and we knew Wolves would try and press us more with the extra man in midfield compared to Bournemouth but we were so good today we gave them very few chances and we could have scored more. It was nice to give some debuts out Kayode starting and then Owen (Wijndal) and Jared (Branthwaite) getting off the bench for their debuts at home and they were all fantastic it shows we have brought quality in and we are pleased with how the season has started.” 

Q: Dylan bottom of the league after three games no team has less points since January that are still in the Premier League. How concerned are you? 

Dylan Herbert “We know it has been a poor start but we’ve had some tough games. Today we were poor we can’t come to the Emirates and play so open and expect anything from the game but look we have to keep believing in what we’re trying to do and once our new players settle we are sure they will make an impact and we will start moving up the table. We can’t get ourselves in a position where we go ten games without winning like a few seasons ago we need results and we need them now but the performances have to improve for that to happen.”