There was plenty for Mikel Arteta to reflect upon after our 5-0 win over Sheffield United on Saturday.
The manager faced the media afterwards in the Emirates Stadium media room, and was asked about the game, Eddie Nketiah, winning the physical battles, his preparations, and Martin Odegaard’s absence.
Here’s everything he said…
On what it’s like to be part of Arsenal as a player now manager…
I’m really privileged and really grateful to the people who gave me a chance to play here. When I was a player it was Arsène who gave me the chance to play for this incredible football club and obviously it was the board who gave me the chance to be here ads the manager, so I’m very privileged.
On how Eddie Nketiah responded to people who say he’s not top level...
Well to me he is top level. He’s started nine out of our ten Premier League games, so that tells you how much we trust him and the importance he has in the team. I’m really happy for him, an academy player to experience a Premier League hat-trick. He needs to enjoy the moment, he fully deserves it, and hopefully there are many more to come.
On how difficult it is for a promoted side to compete in the Premier League…
In my personal opinion, this is the best and most competitive league in the world. It is really difficult for us, so I can imagine for a team that is coming from the Championship, how difficult it is. But big credit to Sheffield United. I watched all the games that they played against the big teams and how many problems they have created for them, and the small margins of how they have lost the games. So I wish them the best.
On Arsenal winning the physical battles too…
That shows the mentality and the determination that the team wants, and how much they have to respect every game and every ball. The influence that every ball has in the journey you have to have throughout a game. They took the game in a really serious way. On Thursday I gave them a big alert, because the context and the difference we have to play with the last Man City Chelsea and Sevilla games. I’m really happy with how they approached it.
On another assist for Rice - and if he is showing what he can do in the final third…
Yeah, for sure. This is the next step on things that we can evolve and help him to improve.
On giving the players a jolt ahead of the game…
They came from the national teams. We beat City, then we had the international break, then we had to go to Stamford Bridge. We did what we did at Stamford Bridge and then we had to go to Sevilla. That’s a really stressful week, [in addition] to what they were experiencing in the last few weeks as well. Then you can have the tendency to think ‘now we’re going to play at home’ and that would have been the worst thing we could have done to compete against this team today.
On why Odegaard didn’t feature today…
We went through all the minutes that everybody that has played in the last few weeks. He’d played an enormous amount of minutes. Martin has been carrying a little thing that wasn’t very comfortable in the games. We have players with enormous quality and we have to trust them. We believe it was the right day to do so.
On Saka switching wings during the game…
There were certain behaviours of the opponent that could allow certain spaces in relation to how their holding midfielders were behaving with our attacking midfielders. He did that [very well] in certain moments. The timing was sometimes better than at other times. It was another way to attack certain spaces that we believe were valuable today.
On how Nketiah compares to Gabriel Jesus…
I don’t like comparing. I think they are very different. Eddie brings different qualities to the team. He’s got an eye for goal. You look at the stats - he’s remarkable. He needs minutes, opportunities and service. If he gets that, he’s going to score goals, that’s for sure.
On what level Nketiah can reach…
I don’t know. He’s already playing for Arsenal. He’s started games in the Premier League. He’s already really good [and] he can be better. The best thing he’s got, along with the talent, is his mentality. It’s incredible. When he has that mentality and that talent, he’s going to get much better.
On Tomiyasu…
I love him. Everybody loves him. He’s one of the most popular in the dressing room. You can see the reaction of his team-mates towards him. They wanted him there at the front, enjoying it. He’s always very reserved and always doing things for the rest of the boys. He’s a fantastic player for the team.
On how tough the load has been on Odegaard….
I think he has endured a lot. The last couple of weeks have been really good for the team. He’s playing every game, as you said, and he had a difficult period with the national team. It was a big blow for them with what happened - but this is football. He needs to get on with that. He’s a massive player for us.
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