Press conference

Arteta on the draw, decisions and facing Man City

Mikel's Brentford presser

Mikel Arteta was left to rue a second-half equaliser that cost us two points against Brentford on Saturday at Emirates Stadium.

Leandro Trossard’s first goal for the club gave us the advantage but Ivan Toney’s equaliser – only awarded after a lengthy VAR review for offside – gave the visitors a share of the spoils. After the game Arteta spoke to the media about the game, the decision to award Brentford’s goal and looked ahead to our top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City on Wednesday.

Here’s a full transcript from the press conference…



On if he thought Brentford’s goal was offside… 

Yes, I just looked it back and it is offside yeah. It is [frustrating] but probably they will give an explanation later in the week but today we haven’t got any, looking at the images, you have to apply certain principles in defending and you do that by sticking to the rules and suddenly you apply different rules you have to change your principles. Tell us before because then you don’t hide the line that high because you are always going to have an advantage if you get blocked. 



On which action he felt was offside in Brentford’s goal…

The action when you get blocked when you are offside, you cannot block when you are offside. 



On whether there was an offside in the final action for Brentford’s goal…

I think so, but then maybe I’m hoping it’s the camera, the visual, it looks like the actual action, I don’t know, it’s too late, the goal was allowed. We dropped two points.



On whether he felt there were two offsides in Brentford’s goal…

I’m saying the second one I do not know because you have to see the line the way they see it with the camera, It’s irrelevant, it’s gone.



On if he will bring it up with the Premier League…

Yes, we always assess with them. We give our views and our points but it’s late. Too late.



On if Brentford “bent the rules” by influencing added on time…

Every team tries to do one thing, that’s part of the game.



On whether it was a frustrating performance from his side…

I think it was a really strong performance, we had moments, it’s a very tricky team to play against. They have shown that, so credit to them as well because the results they got against the top teams is just not a coincidence, but I think we did a lot in the game. We insisted a lot, we did a more difficult thing to score the goal. So early to what happened, happened and the way it happened, it is frustrating but this is the Premier League.



On the team getting tired without any rotation in the line-up…

We always thought about that, and with a few players, especially when you lose but those questions are always obvious when you drop a point or two points. I’m delighted to be fair with how the boys tried, how much they want it. With the players that we have, we try to maximise our resources, so far they’ve done really well.



On teams using a deep block against Arsenal…

Yeah, but it was the same with Brentford away, Fulham, Southampton, and with a lot of teams that we have beaten here, it’s nothing new for us. We know every team has their way of playing. That’s what they try to do.



On being concerned about our vulnerability at set-pieces after conceding in each of the last three games…

Of course, I want to improve in every area and we’re the third-best team in terms of defensive set-pieces in the league. We want to be the best, so we have disclosed that today against a team that are giving you nothing because they’ve created two set pieces at the start of play. It’s their strength, it’s what they do. We controlled them quite well but, in that situation, I think we controlled them because we were hoping that they were going to be offside, but they weren’t. It’s always unfortunate because it costs you points. Set pieces are huge in this league, that’s for sure.



On this being the first time we have failed to win two league games in a row…

Yes, you want to win as quick as possible, and we wanted to win today. You see how difficult it is for every single team to win consecutive matches and that’s when you look at the table and look at how many points they have, it’s for a reason. So, you need to be excellent in everything you do in the matches, and you need certain decisions to go in your favour as well. There are a lot of things.



On the team’s schedule ahead of Wednesday’s game with Manchester City…

The schedule? Well first, we’ll train tomorrow, recover, and review the match to see what we can do better and continue to do. Obviously, we’ll review Manchester City and then on Monday we’ll start to look ahead to the game.



On whether we’ll have any mentality-based training before that encounter… 

You have to be at your best but against Brentford, it’s exactly the same. It’s not an issue the way the boys tried, and I look at their body language, their intentions and how much they want it, and the reaction when they drop two points, the way they dropped them. They are in a great place.



On whether Wednesday’s match has even more importance now…

Every match is [important]. That’s been the case for the last two months, and today it was a massive game for us. It was a big game, and we are disappointed because we wanted all three points.



On whether there was a lot of tension in today’s atmosphere…

I thought the stadium was bouncing today, they are so much with the team.  They want what’s best for the team but again they were really supportive with the team in the way we conceded the goal, the way the crowd reacted obviously we couldn’t demand anything else from them today.



On whether there has been a drop in Martinelli’s performances… 

I think every player has got their moment. We took Gabi off for Leo because when Leo’s in those spaces, he’s so good. He’s so composed, he’s constantly faking movements, playing forwards, he’s got a smell for where the ball is going to land, and we believe it was the right choice to get him on today.