Mikel Arteta held a press conference with the media following our comfortable 3-0 win over Lyon in the Dubai Super Cup.
Here's every word the boss had to say:
on how satisfied he’s been with the trip and the result…
Really pleased. We always enjoy coming here. It’s a place where we get really well looked after and have the right conditions to play and train. It was our first game here since I’ve been a manager and it was a great experience. Thank you so much to everybody involved for making this possible. I’m really happy because we won and played at a good level.
on what it means to come to Dubai…
I love it - I come here with my family too, so it’s a place where I have really good memories and good experiences. It has everything that we want and we need. Personally, I enjoy it a lot.
on everyone being happy to have Arsenal in Dubai…
It looks like it. We have a lot of supporters and some of them turned up today. Hopefully, for the next match we can have a few more. We always feel really welcome. Obviously, we have a big relationship with Emirates, who are one of our main sponsors. It’s a good connection.
on how important it was to field some of the younger players…
It’s great. They are always with us, they are really involved in our processes and they know we want to give an opportunity to young players. It’s something we’re adamant to do and having them in camp has been great. To see some of them already performing and having opportunities with the first team at a very young age is really nice.
on if there’s a timeline on Jesus’ injury and when he may return…
No. We know that he needed some intervention in the knee. We’ll have to take it day by day, week by week and see [where] it takes us.
on whether he’d consider playing Gabriel Martinelli down the middle…
We look at the squad and we consider every option obviously, with the players that we have available. There are things that we can try if we have the need to do so.
on whether Jesus’ injury has affected our transfer window strategy
What it affects is who we are as a team because he gives us so much, so what we can do after that, when we know the timescale [of his recovery] and when we can have him back, we will look at the options and try to make the right decision
on Emile Smith Rowe’s recovery…
With Emile, he has returned to training and he's in that process after we rehab, after a period where he had some real discomfort. So we are giving him time - he's getting closer and closer. So hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll be able to see him.
on how we adjust to the warm weather conditions…
Well, I think it's always easier coming this way because the players are so happy to see the sun and be outside and wear some flip-flops and train in good conditions. It will be probably tougher when we come back to London and especially with the way the weather looks right now but we are so used to it. We train for that every day and we are so lucky. Okay, we don't have the weather that we have here but we have many other things.
on our current squad depth...
I feel like my squad is really good. Unfortunately, we've had injuries and we will try to see what we can do to be strong. We have players, we have a lot of accompanying players. [The question is] do we have the players that can give us the performances and the consistency that we need to maintain and improve from where we are?
on whether the second half of the Premier League season will be more difficult after the World Cup...
I don't know. It's a new experience for everybody. We have tried to prepare in the best possible way. It's very important for us to have this camp, as it is very important as well to get the players back who have participated in the World Cup in the best possible way, as quickly as possible.
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