Press conference

Arteta - The questions that I’m asking of myself

As Mikel Arteta prepares to face former club Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, he was asked to reflect on how different life is as a manager to what he had known before.

It is particularly trying for the Spaniard right now, after a poor run of results in the Premier League and he revealed the questions he has been asking of himself.

 

"Well, it's different [being a manager to being an assistant] because at the end of the day the decision-making is completely down to you," he said.

 

"You are in the spotlight when things are going well and when things are not going well. That's the biggest difference. There are a lot of similarities in certain areas but it's not like being the main man and the decision-maker and that changes it all.

 

"I am very hard on myself, believe me. [Me and my assistants] have a really open relationship and discussions to evaluate everything that we are doing constantly. What can we change? What can we alter? What's working? How can we maintain them? How can we give players a lift? How can we be more stable in the club?

 

"It's a lot of things being discussed all the time, not only with them. It's the same relationship I have with Edu, with the board and the members of staff here. This is not about a man making all the decisions, it's about how we can make this function better.

 

"I have to try to be as positive as I can, believe in what we're doing, try to modify things to make it work better, and stay strong.

 

"We're going through a lot of difficulties, the last thing we want to be thinking of is more problems coming up in the next few months. I'm not in that state of mind. I know the responsibility that I have and why I am here.

 

"Everybody knows that from a few months ago, this wasn't going to be resolved really quickly. I think that's the consciousness of everybody at the club."