Despite the long distances required for travel in the Europa League, Unai Emery is confident his Arsenal side can progress far in the tournament.
Emery has history in the tournament, winning it three teams with Sevilla, and he will be searching for a fourth following Friday’s group stage draw.
Arsenal have been put into Group E against Qarabag of Azerbaijan, Sporting Lisbon and Vorskla of Ukraine. Two of those opponents carry with them the prospect of a long trip to eastern Europe.
“The three teams, we have respect for them. We want to work and go a big way in this competition; each match is different and (requires) different travel,” Emery said. “When you play two matches in four weeks you have more time to prepare for the match, to prepare with the players physically. When you play three matches in four weeks it’s harder, there’s less time to prepare.
“But we want that, we want to play a lot of matches, three in four weeks. After the international break we’re going to play a lot of matches, in this moment I ensure we’re going to use a lot of players in this squad.”
Healthy Diet
Emery has asked Arsenal’s canteen staff to remove non-freshly squeezed juices from the club’s London Colney training base. Instead, the Arsenal manager wants the team to follow his lead and drink a healthier alternative.
The Gunners picked up their first win with a 3-1 victory over West Ham, having lost their opening first two games under Emery to Manchester City and Chelsea.
They face a trip to promoted Cardiff on Sunday, with former Paris Saint-Germain boss Emery insisting his new players are on board with his guidelines about what they should drink.
“Yes, this is true,” he told reporters when asked about the drink ban on Friday.
“I like fruit a lot and I like fruit juice. But with a lot of sugar? Not very good.
“It’s for that and when I was very young, my father was coming every day with one fresh orange fruit juice.
“I like it in my life, more of that. It’s for that, when I arrived here, I asked only for that from the cook. And the players, I think, are the same. They prefer their orange juice fresh.”
Mesut Ozil, who missed the win over West Ham through injury, is fit to return at the Cardiff City Stadium following reports Emery had fallen out with the German midfielder over his failure to adapt to his preferred high-tempo pressing game.
“He’s training normally with the group, in every session this week,” Emery said.
“We started on Tuesday and every day he has been training with the group. He’s OK. Also I’m looking at him well every day.”