Press conference

Arteta on the defeat, Martinelli and close margins

Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta was happy to take the positives from a spirited display against Liverpool on Wednesday, but was ultimately left disappointed after the visitors proved more ruthless in front of goal.

The boss discussed the performance, Gabriel Martinelli, the mood in the team and more.

Read on for a full transcript:

on whether our missed chances decided the game…

Absolutely. I don’t think the result properly reflects the performance of the team, but from box to box I think in many moments we were the better team and we did everything we planned. The way the boys performed showed their courage to play the way that we wanted to play and the intensity and the understanding of the game, they really raised the level today, but unfortunately these games are won in the boxes and that was the critical difference today to not get anything out of this game unfortunately. 

on whether that clinical edge showed the difference between us and Liverpool…

It was the difference today. I don’t think there was any other difference apart from that. I think we have closed that gap a lot, but it wasn’t enough because when we went through that door and they went through that door, they scored two goals. I’m not happy with the goals that we conceded, but it’s part of the game and when you have those chances you have to take them to get something out of it. 

on Aaron Ramsdale looking frustrated to concede the opening goal…

He will be (frustrated), but this is part of the game, so every time he’s saved us and every time he’s been phenomenal, and today he had some really good moments that helped us to do what we wanted to do in this game against Liverpool. Unfortunately we conceded two goals which are probably not at our level.

on the mood inside the dressing room…

They were down because they know how well we played and now we’ve lost two games against City and Liverpool when you are there toe to toe and you deserve much more than we got from the result, but the reality is that we didn’t. So in the boxes against City it was also about the discipline because we got sent off, but those boxes make the difference against those top teams. If you are able to take the game all the way to the level which is already very difficult, still there are details and margins that they are going to manage and try and today they certainly did in the period when we were most likely to score the first goal. 

on if he has to pick the players up from the defeat…

Yes, because every time after a defeat they’re hurting and we didn’t want to stop the good run we’re in, but we said it is not going to be like this until the end of the season and now it’s about how we’re going to react.

on Gabriel Martinelli’s performance…

I am very pleased with how the team has performed again and how far they have taken the game, because I understand, because I have been there and know how difficult it is to play against this incredible team because they dominate every aspect of the game, and how we've done it and how they have exposed them, how we have created the issues we created, how we dominated, the courage that we showed to play with the ball is not easy at all, believe me.

on our tight schedule…

Thank you so much to the Premier League, to do that and they’ve done it again when we have to play Chelsea and Manchester United, so if they want to give them any advantage, I say to them today, thank you so much for doing that.

on if the players will be fit for Saturday...

Yes, one hundred per cent, don’t worry the players will be there on Saturday with the energy. They will sleep, eat well, but thank you so much to the Premier League for putting the fixtures like this, it’s very, very helpful.

on if we’ve raised this to the Premier League…

Yes, absolutely. Because it’s not fair what they’ve done. It’s always Sky or BT, this or that, but the only one that is affected is Arsenal and the only thing that I care about and what we care about, is Arsenal and for Arsenal, it’s not fair.

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