Noni Madueke says Arsenal “can’t sulk” after the club’s defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final, and have to take such setbacks in their stride.
Mikel Arteta’s side saw their first chance of silverware this season lost, in a 2-0 reverse at Wembley, but still have the chance of a treble.
Madueke and the other Arsenal and City players are actually back at Wembley for England’s friendly with Uruguay on Friday. Thomas Tuchel wants to use this game to test players on the fringes of his World Cup squad, with senior players returning for Monday’s match against Japan.
“Listen, my focus now is on England for sure,” Madueke said. “Of course it’s difficult, those type of games but you take it in your stride, you can’t sulk, you have to carry on.
“We’ve got important games for England coming up, which I’m fully focused on to try and do my best and when we get back to club it’ll be the final push to try and finish where we want to."
Madueke also spoke about how he wants to add more goals to his game.
“It’s an ongoing process, of course I want to get to the point in my career where I’m very prolific in front of goal, I’m not there yet, but I’m sure I will be in years to come,” he explained.
The 24-year-old has marked himself out as a rare dribbler in modern football, which does give both Arsenal and England a distinctive weapon in attack.
“I think it’s clear what my strengths are,” he added. “I think Thomas and Mikel are both great at just telling me to express myself and telling me to use my qualities. That’s what I do anyway. That’s my focus. Anytime I go onto the pitch, I try and use my strengths to the best of my ability to help the team.
“I love beating players in the most efficient way possible. And creating and scoring.”
