Press conference

Arteta on... team discipline and Granit Xhaka

Granit Xhaka's red card against Burnley proved to be a turning point in the game on Sunday - and was the sixth of Mikel Arteta's reign.

So how does our manager improve our on-field discipline, and what is the latest with our Swiss midfielder?

 

This is what Arteta told the media:

 

on whether he has concerns over his team's discipline and what he can do...

Well, we've had six red cards since I joined and only two have been discipline: Pepe and Granit. The rest, there have been two late tackles. One with Eddie against Leicester and the one against Palace, which was Auba. And then the other ones, there were two actions when a player was going through on goal and the defender is trying to prevent a goal. So they are not six disciplinary red cards. There have been two and those two have been dealt with.

 

on if Granit has spoken to him or his team-mates...

Whatever happens internally, I'm sorry but we cannot discuss. It's been resolved internally and this is what I can say.

 

on whether Granit has a future at Arsenal after 'another rocky moment'...

He has [had a few rocky moments] and he's not the only one. There's a lot of players who have had rocky moments. What I can say about Granit is that his professionalism and his commitment with the club and with his team-mates is maximum. He knows and we know that he had a moment where he lost it and I know the reason why, but what I cannot do is just throw everything that he has done away just because he made a mistake. We have all made mistakes and I am here as well to protect the players when I see that they deserve that and for sure, Granit is one of them for the way he approaches every training session and the way he wants to do things in the right way all the time and the professional that he is.