Following our 2-2 draw against Fulham at Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta headed to the press conference room to tackle questions from the media about the game.
After a rollercoaster 90 minutes, the boss was asked his thoughts on the result, the performances of his substitutes and our tactical approach.
Here is everything he had to say:
on it being a frustrating game:
Well, obviously within the first minute you made the mistake that we made and you just give a goal to the opponent, the game becomes much more difficult. The reaction straight after that even in the first half with the amount of situations and chances we created, we didn’t give anything away, we controlled the game for full periods but we didn’t score the goal and in the second half we made some changes. The dynamic changed and we had better relationships, I think the subs made a huge difference and great impact and I loved their determination and the confidence that they brought to the team. We went 2-1 up and then you have to defend the box with your life and you cannot concede that goal after that we’ve done because we should have scored five, six, seven, I don’t know.
on conceding so early again at home:
Errors are part of football and it’s where you make them and how the opponent takes them, it’s the difference. We had a big one last year here against Fulham that we just gave a goal to Mitrovic as well. It’s part of football.
on whether similar results from last season were playing on our minds:
I haven’t seen that and I don’t see that afterwards with the way the team played, the way the team generates and in any other sport you win by I don’t know how many hundred points difference, but this is football and we draw and we conceded two very, very poor goals today and that’s the reason why in the Premier League when you give something up then you’re going to get punished and we were today.
on whether it will take time to be as fluid as last season:
Well, if I compare the game that we played against Fulham this season and last season, we were 10 times better than last season, at least 10. We were much better than last season. Last season we won 2-1 in the last minute, today we drew 2-2.
on whether we played with Zinchenko on the pitch:
It is different and Alex has been out for four and a half months.
on Vieira’s impact and whether he considered Jesus earlier:
The way we generated chance after chance, I didn’t think it was necessary. In the last minute we decided to bring him in and he’s only had a few days of training sessions after the surgery, but I’m really happy with the subs and the way they came in. With Fabio I’m delighted for him as well because he hasn’t played any minutes so far this season and to see a player that comes with that determination and that positiveness to this team and has the impact that he had, it’s difficult to see and really pleasing. I’m really happy for him as well.
on Havertz’s performance:
I saw an action when he played backwards and he could have turned, but that’s one of the things and the demands of everybody, to play forward and to impact the game in the final third because we had the urgency to win it, but no.
on whether he’s confident Havertz will win the supporters over:
Yes, I think so. I think he’s already done some really good things and today it was tough for him in certain moments. He got in some great areas again and the ball didn’t arrive and he had a lot of situations. He should have already scored a lot of goals already this season and that’s the thing that is missing there.
on Nketiah’s performance:
Great. He looks a real threat at the moment, he’s in a good moment and I think he’s full of confidence. I saw it straight away when I told him he was coming on in the second half, the fire in the eyes and he’s got an eye for goal. The way he finished the action was top.
on whether it was difficult to leave Nketiah out:
It is difficult to leave all the players out. When I see the bench, there are a lot of players who still haven’t played, but in two weeks that’s going to be a completely different scenario and we are prepared for that.
on our unbeaten run against London clubs:
I don’t see it today, I’m disappointed we haven’t won the game with everything we’ve done out there and everything that we generated. It’s incredible that we haven’t won the three points, but I think we have to look at ourselves and that’s a positive because today I think we gave two very cheap goals away and in the boxes we should have done much more with everything that we generated.
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