After an incredible afternoon at Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta took his seat in his post-match press conference thrilled to have the three points from a 4-2 win against Leicester City.
He was asked about the tension of the afternoon, clawing points back on Manchester City, individual displays and much more.
Here is everything he had to say:
on whether his players wrote down that outcome before the match:
I have to check but I don’t think it was on that paper. It got very emotional, more emotional than we wanted certainly but I am really pleased with the performance the way we played, the chances we created, how we dominated the game and after 2-0 the result should have been much bigger. But this is the Premier League, the quality of the opponent, the quality of Leicester, they scored two goals and I’m even happier how we dealt with that situation afterwards. It was emotionally superb, in control, very clear in what we have to do, how consistent we have to be to attack the spaces and continue to do a lot of the things we were already doing, I think we fully deserved to win the game.
on losing the two-goal lead in the second half:
Very worrying especially in that scenario and with the performance that we produced, in theory, you should never get to this point but this is football and it’s the beauty of it in relation to many other sports. Then we have to earn it in a different way and we did it with unbelievable support from our supporters, they were unbelievable again.
on Trossard’s second goal going down as an own goal:
Hopefully not, it's disappointing because today he has done so much to score the amount of situations that he had, and anyway his contribution to the team has been really good today.
on winning after Manchester City dropped points:
It’s the sixth game in the Premier League. We are in September, so we want to win every game and do our best to do that, and that’s it. Let’s go game by game and try to improve every week.
on the high level of tension for a game in September:
We talk about that in September, regardless what we do we are in September. Of course we want to win and start to build the right platform for the season and be in every competition in the places and areas that we want. In order to do that, you have to continue to win, win, win, that’s the demand. You see the level of the other teams in the league but we can only control what we do.
on winning during a difficult context of the match:
So happy - that’s what I told them. It got nasty, it got difficult, it was emotionally difficult to accept with the amount of situations that we created and the amount of goals that we should’ve scored but it wasn’t and now what? You don’t feel sorry for yourself, you take ownership, you start taking more risks, everybody. Nwaneri, 17-years-old - he takes the ball the first one is an action like this, he runs past two, three players and wants to take a shot. I just love it, you want to play here, you want to be at that level you need to play with that courage. I really, really, really value that from the team today.
on the consistency of Bukayo Saka corners:
That’s not an extra, that’s a gamechanger. When he’s there in front of goal and he puts the ball in the back of the net, that’s a game changer. That’s what he needs to do consistently at this level and the others have to do other stuff, I think we generated 17 corners today, we should have scored from others, we need every possible tool to be a threat all the time.
on if he was going to substitute Trossard before the third goal:
No.
on whether Calafiori was lucky not to be sent off:
I haven’t seen the action but I got really worried when that happened because he gave the foul, but I haven’t seen the replay.
on his comments about Manchester City in the last press conference:
I can repeat it very clear, I love Pep, I have admired him since I was 10 years old. I respect him profoundly I am so grateful for everything he did for me and continues to do with me, I consider him a friend. I love and I respect every member of the staff there because I worked with them for four years, and when I say I know them, it’s I know how hard they work. I haven’t seen a human being work as hard as Pep, and the coaches and everybody in that football club to be consistently winning, and the reason they are there is because they maintain that hunger and this is exactly what I learn and exactly what I mean.
It cannot be any more clear than that. If you want I can repeat it, if someone wants to damage a relationship that’s not in my hands. That feeling is profound, he knows it, the staff know it. I still maintain today with them, with the board, with the ownership, with everybody and if it not it wouldn’t be genuine and it is.
If someone wants to play something else for me the sport has to be about that will to win, they have it, I have it, we have it, for sure because we haven’t done it. They have it even if they want it more than anybody else, we have to learn and it has to be inspiring for us and it is for me and that’s what I mean because I have been there. It is remarkable and it’s an incredible achievement because they have that mentality. Hopefully, that is clear.
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