Interview

Arteta – ‘The team was exceptional’

Mikel Arteta praised his team’s energy and quality after we overcame injuries and disruptions to earn a draw against high-flying Liverpool.

Already without the services of William Saliba due to suspension and Riccardo Calafiori with injury, the manager was then forced into further changes in his back line when Gabriel was taken off with an injury, and Jurrien Timber also needed to go off.

Our unfamiliar looking back four restricted Liverpool to just the one chance in the second-half though, which was taken by Mohamed Salah to earn the visitors a draw.

After the game, the manager said: “I think the performance overall with all the circumstances was very positive, a lot of great things to take, but it’s disappointing not to win it because I thought we were the better team.

“We had the most domination, the biggest chances and without conceding anything really, we gave two goals away, apart from two big decisions as well.

“With everything that we’ve been through in the last few weeks, with all the injuries and situations that we had, the team was exceptional. The energy that we created, the way we dominated the top team in the league at the moment and where we’re coming from, it says a lot about how much we want it and as well, the quality that we have.”

The manager was also delighted to see Mikel Merino score his first goal for the club, on just his second league start for us after signing in the summer.  

“I think he was very positive. You can tell that he’s getting into the rhythm, understanding what he has and in a big game like that, he stood up. We had some big performances today.”