We recorded our tenth league win of the season on Saturday, and our sixth straight home win in all competitions, seeing off Wolves 2-1.
After the game Mikel Arteta spoke to the media and was asked about the performance, Tomiyasu’s fitness, Odegaard’s contribution, Martinelli’s work rate and more.
Here’s a full transcript from the press conference.
On the nervous ending to the match…
I can only praise the players the way they played, competed, they were excellent, we played against a really good side and we generated so much and conceded almost nothing, the scoreline should’ve been very different, we are really unlucky in certain moments, we hit the post twice or three times I think, and at the end we made an error close to the goal and in the Premier League you get punished big time and then it’s game on, but I am really, really happy with how we performed again.
On what was said between him and Rice…
No I was just praising him for the way he played again, and so happy so there was nothing to worry about that.
On Trossard playing a different position on the left today…
That’s the beauty of having him, he can play as a nine, as an attacking midfielder, as a winger, he’s so intelligent and his work rate has gone through the roof, you see how he’s chasing people, how he’s pressing and he’s got this talent in small spaces to find openings and gaps, I am really happy with him.
On Tomiyasu’s reason for coming off…
I don’t know, he felt something, I don’t know if it was fatigue, we decided to change straight away with him, we didn’t want to take any risk. Let’s assess how he is.
On Odegaard’s contribution to the team since returning…
I thought he had two very, very good games and he’s a really consistent player, he gives a lot especially against teams like that, they didn’t want to defend very close to their own box and I think he was really good today.
On Zinchenko’s overall performance today…
You have to love him, how he is, every player as well. He has strengths and weaknesses and Alex has got many more strengths. This happened, it can happen to any player, we have to learn from it, because in those areas it’s a big no to play especially after certain things on the previous phrase and that’s it, we will get better.
On Martinelli’s hard work throughout the match today…
To summarise it you have to see yesterday’s training session because he did exactly the same and I put the video of it because it’s incredible. The mentality and how much they want it and it was matchday plus two and minus one and they wanted to do it yesterday so I had no doubt that today they were going to do it.
On why Martinelli hasn’t managed more goal involvements...
He’s been unlucky in certain moments, today he had two big chances as well to score, the contribution he has on the team is immense, and I am really happy.
On Tomiyasu’s progression in an attacking sense…
Yeah the first thing he offers defensively is tremendously reliable, and attacking he has certain things he can develop and improve, his timings, positioning, certain deliveries and actions that he can open some spaces for others. He is so willing to learn and do that, again he’s another player that has given another level and still have another level in him.
On what improvements have been made this season game by game…
Improvements and the consistency, when you play every three days it’s very, very tough to do what we’ve done in the week and we have to maintain that, there are certainties that we constantly do in games the outcome is going to be really positive for us and the team has to rely on that and the rest is coming.
On the change in the build up play today compared to earlier matches…
Depending what the opponent does, depending what they do, we do something, if they do something else, we do something different, depending on how they defend.
On the frustration from our defenders at conceding…
You see how they celebrated the defensive action after seeing zero with Gabi at the end (on Wednesday), you can imagine that they are not happy that. Today was a game to have a clean sheet and we haven’t and that’s the good thing about the team that wants more.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
