Mikel Arteta praised his side after earning a draw against Newcastle United at the Emirates on Monday night.
He said he was proud of the display, and also pointed to a couple of contentious decisions from the referee, as well as answering questions on possible transfers.
Here’s a full transcript of what he said…
on looking frustrated at full time...
I'm really proud. The way we played, the way we dominated the game. The approach that we had from the beginning. We lacked that spark in the final third to find the opening to find the right moment an extra pass and a little bit of finishing quality but we had a lot of situations in and around the box to do better. There were two scandalous penalties.
on the last penalty shout in particular...
Both of them. It's not particular. It's a penalty or not a penalty and it's both penalties.
on making one substitution...
Listen, we were on top of them, we were chasing the goal. We were in a good moment and I didn't want to make more changes.
on whether he spoke to the referee at full time...
No.
on this game being a match Arsenal would have lost two seasons ago...
I don't know that. We wanted to win it and we still have that in the guts that we did more than enough and we merit a different result but we didn't get it. When you can't win, draw.
on feeling like two points were lost...
It's not that, it's not about the feeling. I think the team was on top of it. We were really chasing it, we were really wanted it. You could see that the team was putting everything in to take the three points. We lacked that in the final third and we lacked the big decisions.
on altercations with Newcastle staff...
Just things on the game.
on the referee having control of the game...
He has the whistle so he has control. I'm not here to talk about referees.
on if only one team wanted to win…
I don’t know, I talk about my team. My team wanted to win 100 per cent.
on if the tension on the touchline and the stands help the team…
It’s a football match, it’s competitive, the way we play, the way they play. We are close in the table and it’s like this. It’s the beauty of this league.
on if the team were calm enough…
I think the team was really composed.
on the January transfer window…
I don’t know, it’s a question for Edu and the board to respond. We are trying to improve the squad in every window. This is no different, we will do our best because we cannot waste any window with the squad numbers that we have so we shall try.
on if he sees Newcastle as title contenders…
I don’t know, I think there is still a lot to play for, and we will see.
on failing to score for the first time this season…
Well, we wanted to win, we tried to get the points and could not do it, but I think we should be proud of the performance against a really good side.
on what he’s proud of so far this season…
The way we play, the personality, the cohesion, the determination, the clarity of the way we want to play, and they’ve been great but I’m especially proud of any way we play against any opponent.
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