Every word from Mikel's post-Liverpool presser

After seeing us fall to a 2-1 loss against Liverpool in Philadelphia, Mikel Arteta held his final press conference of our time in the US.

He discussed the game, our opponents, when we’ll see Riccardo Calafiori and what it means to break the soccer attendance record at Lincoln Financial Field.

Here is everything he had to say:

on learning from previous seasons as Arsenal manager:
There are so many things, it's very difficult to answer that question quickly, but the team has to be constantly evolving and improving because the level is higher and higher. That's what we are trying to do.

on developing himself as a coach:
Well in many different ways. First of all, being critical of yourself, analysing what you do and the areas that you can improve and then having better people around you. That's always the best.

on his expectations for Arne Slot's Liverpool this season:
We all have to start competing and earn our right to show how good we are but yes, the team is looking good in the games that I've watched in pre-season. It's clear the idea that he wants to implement and it was a tough game for us.

on assessing the current level of his team:
I think we are in good condition. I think we played some really competitive matches. Today was a really strong test. I think we started the game fantastically well. I think after six or seven minutes we should be 2-0 up. Then we lost control, especially with two things that we didn't do well enough and we allowed them to run in transition, which is a really dangerous thing to do against them. And in the second half we improved a lot and we deserved more. But it was great, really difficult conditions to play. Great crowd and we've got a lot out of it so I'm really pleased.

on his thoughts on our younger players:
I'm really pleased with all of them. Unfortunately, I wanted to give opportunities to all of them, but we didn't have enough time to do so. But especially the ones that played, I think they performed and responded incredibly well. So that's something that we take from the tour as well, that we have a lot of talent there that we want to use and they show that they are very much pushing to earn the right to play with us.

on any concerns ahead of the season:
Obviously we can improve. The game would have been very different if the first chance that we had, we scored but that's the goal. It makes the difference when you're in those areas in those spaces in the box, putting the ball in the back of the net and we created a situation, we had another two or three big open situations to go better but we didn’t, so we have to improve.

on the record attendance for football in Philadelphia:
It's a beautiful stadium. I think it created a very good atmosphere. You felt that it was something that you play for, it wasn't just a friendly and I'm really thankful and grateful for all the people that turned up and hopefully they are happy with the show that they have seen.

on how Liverpool have changed since Slot's arrival:
There are certain differences and every coach has their touch. There are certain individuals with very particular characteristics that makes the team as well. One is the style of play and then it's the DNA of certain players that always leave their stamp on a team. You can see what he's doing.

on whether we'll see Riccardo Calafiori feature in the coming weeks:
We had to manage him. He had a very busy 48 hours before he took his flight and joined us here, and then it was the jetlag, it's a lot of things. He hasn't trained with the team yet and we want to build him up slowly to get to know him first. We'll have plenty of time to see him.

on Kai Havertz getting on the scoresheet:
It was good to see him score a goal. I think, again, he's had only four training sessions and he then has to play in these conditions, but he's come again in good shape. He prepared himself before he joined us and he looks good.