Joe Willock admits he was "apprehensive" when Unai Emery arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2018.
The Gunners went through a massive shift after Arsene Wenger's 22-year stint at the club came to an end.
"I always work hard in pre-season and try to push myself to the limits. When I get back, I'm ready to compete with everyone," Willock told The Sun.
"But this pre-season was about my mental state. I had to work on myself and think about strategies.
"When the new manager came in, I wouldn't say I was fearful but I was a bit apprehensive because it was unknown waters.
"I wanted to impress him so much. It didn't really go that well in his first pre-season. I just wanted to impress him and I was a bit anxious to do it. Not many things went well for me.
"I wanted to think about how I was going to impress him and how I was going to push on to the next level. That's what I did.
"I took time to think about it, worked hard, got my head down and when I got back, it worked."
