After progressing through to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup Mikel Arteta shared his thoughts on the performance which included debutant Charles Sagoe Jr. and Emile Smith Rowe playing his 100th match for the club.
Read the full transcript below!
On the boss’ emotion after our win…
Well, really happy. In this competition, you’re either in or our, and we’re in. Two very different halves – in the first we had a lot of control and scored the goal, and we had some chances to put away, and we didn’t. And in the second half, they had a more aggressive approach as well, and we struggled to progress the ball and travel together. We were too direct and then it becomes a difficult game, because there are a lot of duels; there’s free-kicks and long throws you have to defend every time and bring everybody back to try to get out and win territory from there. They are really good at that. When we don’t play that well, you need to have some big defensive moments and we had [them]. We had some big blocks in the box and Aaron making a big save as well.
On Aaron Ramsdale’s performance…
He’s been exceptional around the place, with the situation and like everybody, like Jakub, he played really well, Tomiyasu, Jorgi, after what happened three days ago, he reacted and played a really good game. Reiss, who hasn’t started many games, scoring the goal with Emile, and for Charles, it was a big day for him – it’s great to have an academy player with us. A lot of positives to take, and as always, a lot of things to improve as well.
On the supporters singing Aaron’s name throughout the game…
We love him more, for sure. We have him every day, we know him, we know his character, we know what he brings to the team, and we are really happy to have him.
On Ramsdale coming in to start in goal after a few games out…
Every player is very important, we have a lot of injuries as well, we have a lot of players that contributed. In football, it’s about now, it’s about the moment and today he had the opportunity to play, and he played a really good game.
On Emile Smith Rowe’s display…
I think he had really good moments in the first half, and the game was much easier for him, the way he was developing with his qualities, and the game we started to play after five or ten minutes in the second half, and then after he was struggling more. Physically, he’s still not there to play 90 minutes, we have to bear in mind that we have four or five players in that field and that was big concern for us today in the line-up, because we have seven at Colney that are not fit now.
On whether Aaron will play in goal on Saturday…
We analyse every game with the right characteristics to understand how we find the next game and then we’ll make the call.
On Smith Rowe’s fitness…
He did [pick up a knock] but it wasn’t because of that, we had to manage his minutes. His load has seen a big spike in the last two weeks as well, and he was struggling to finish the game, the same with Reiss.
On what Smith Rowe can bring to the team…
He’s very versatile, you can see when he’s running with the ball, the capacity he’s got to combine in short spaces, arrive in the box. He’s got different qualities to the other attacking midfielders, he’s great to have him, we need him at his best, and now he’s starting to get some rhythm and minutes which is really good for the team.
On Ramsdale’s save from Wissa and his banter with the home supporters…
I didn’t see the second part! I saw the first one, because I had a really good angle and obviously it was a great save. It was crucial for us to win the game.
On Ramsdale’s quality…
I don’t think I’m the one to ask the quality of Aaron Ramsdale, because I was the one that I brought him when everyone was questioning that decision.
On winning 1-0 in each of our three away games this season…
They’ve been different games but the outcome has been the same, and we are really happy that we can produce performances, especially with clean sheets, something that at home we’ve been struggling. We’re going to need that, we play three games away in a row in eight days and it’s going to be crucial to maintain momentum, have a good feeling and go into the next one which is Bournemouth and it’s going to be a really tough match.
On giving Charles Sagoe Jr his debut…
Obviously the context of the situation we had with a lot of injured players helped that possibility, but every time we can, we have to look in our academy and give chances. Charles was probably one of the most consistent players we had in the under-23s for a few months. He’s been training with us quite a lot, and it’s about giving opportunities to people. If we don’t give it today, when are we going to give opportunities to our youngsters? I’m really happy that he had a good experience.
On how the boss sees him fit into the team when he plays…
He’s a winger – he plays on right or the left, he’s played as a nine as well this season for quite a lot of minutes. He’s quite versatile in those positions and it’s great to have him around and see how he develops.
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