Mikel Arteta was back in front of the media at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Tuesday for his pre-Bolton press conference.
Our head coach was asked for the latest team news, his reflections on the weekend’s draw at Manchester City, and his thoughts on Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at home to Bolton Wanderers.
Here’s everything he had to say on the following subjects:
on whether he has recovered from Sunday:
Yes, fully recovered. It’s like a normal game. It was obviously a very emotional game at the end, but they all are in different ways to the game we played on Sunday. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
on how he assesses the game:
I already did after the game. We already moved on and we are now ready to battle again tomorrow.
on the emotions and rivalry of the game:
I don’t know, it’s part of football and part of sport. After the game all that goes away and we move on. That’s it.
on the reaction to how Arsenal played the game:
We had to play the game that we had to play. In the first 10 or 15 minutes we couldn’t. 11 against 11, then we got much better and obviously were thrown into a very different context. Every team does. They played 30 seconds with 10 men. Look at what they did, it’s normal what they did for 30 seconds. We had to do it in a different way. We learned from the past as well because unfortunately we’ve been in that situation three times. One was with Granit after 37, 38 minutes and we conceded how many?
on the red card for Trossard:
Well I reflected post match and it’s the same reflection today.
on whether he wants consistency:
It’s the same answer that I gave. Move on and I was very clear about it I think.
on how proud he is of the three big games in the week:
Extremely proud. I think the desire that the team has to compete in any context, to win and to adapt to different circumstances, different competitions and ways of playing and the hunger, emotionally and physically, the way we’ve done it, is superb. Happy? No, because we wanted to win the three games, understanding how tough that context is and how difficult it is and the things that we had to deal with. Not only that, but our own issues as well with the amount of players that we had out. I think it’s a significant improvement and we have to proud of that, but not happy because we want to win.
on how many players will be available for Wednesday:
I always prefer the facts than words or supposing things, so let’s see who’s available tomorrow and then we can talk about ‘dark arts’ or these things. Unfortunately, there will be a few players who are not available. Tomorrow, you will find it as soon as I give the line-up. We have to wait on one of them.
on whether he has had to remind his players not to kick the ball away:
For passing the ball you mean? Just leave the ball, don’t touch the ball. We’ll play without the ball.
on whether winning the League Cup can lead to something bigger:
Yes for sure, we want to win the game tomorrow. We have to start with the first game. We have to understand what is the best team, the strongest team that we can put out to perform in the way that we need to to be better than Bolton and beat them.
on whether he will make 10 or 11 changes:
At the moment we cannot because we don’t have another 10 players available.
on whether younger players will be involved:
It’s a great opportunity for any player to show what they are bringing in the games who haven’t had the ability to play much yet, to transform what they’re doing in training to give us the right reason and perform on the pitch.
on whether he can believe what the Gabriel and Saliba partnership has turned into:
No, because you have to see the development day by day. Obviously we believed they could become really good. That togetherness and chemistry is unique, it’s something that they built. It happened very organically as well. I’m very proud to have them the level they are showing is incredible.
on what Raheem Sterling has been like since signing:
Very good. He has had a few minutes already and tomorrow he has another opportunity. He is ready, he is really hungry to add more minutes and impact the team in the way that he can, and hopefully tomorrow we can see that.
on it being a sell-out crowd tomorrow:
It’s great to now. Night games are very special at the Emirates, and when we start to make any occasion special, the team is going to benefit massively from that. If we are going to give the importance I want to give to the competition, the first part of it is to create an atmosphere that makes it really good for our players and really difficult for our opponents.
on whether David Raya is injured:
Let’s see how they are today and we will try to make a call on that if it’s a possibility.
on whether the team enjoy the battle:
It’s something we have to instal in them because without that you can never play with that level of concentration, focus and discipline for that long, in that context if you don’t love it. Somehow you have to love it, if not you start to miss bits, spaces start to break and you get punished.
on whether Mourinho influenced him:
You learn a lot from all the top coaches and you try to understand why they’ve been successful and what really touches that team that makes it special and consistent, especially at this level, and the amount of games we play. You might have an idea of where the game will go, but if it goes in a different direction, do you have the ability to adapt and be happy to play that game. Because that is the level we are in.
on Ethan and Myles’ recent involvement:
I’m very proud of them. They are dealing with a situation that probably they didn’t expect. They have had the chance to play in two of the most historic and difficult grounds in the Premier League and they both responded really well.
on whether tour changed how they carry themselves around the U21s:
What I have seen is that they have grown up in a really positive way, to influence others, to raise the standards and they are responsible to carry others as well now. Their attitude has been superb. It’s not easy when you have spent five weeks with the first team, and then you have to start to play at a different level. But this is where they are at the moment, and they are going to get more chances because they have conducted themselves in the right way in that sense as well, and that’s a really important thing.
on whether he measures success in terms of winning trophies:
In terms of trophies, it’s a success only if you win it. How you measure success or associate that word, we can have a much deeper conversation. But we are here to win, we are here to win the big competitions and the ones people consider not that big. That’s our duty.
on Alex Zinchenko’s injury:
I think he will still be out for a few weeks unfortunately.
on what kind of characters Ethan and Myles are:
Those two are really pushy, really demanding! They want everything! They want more and more information. They love it, you can tell them, they are so passionate about everything. They see the opportunity and want to grab it with both hands. They are great to work with.
on a timeframe for Martin Odegaard:
I think it will be a matter of weeks, but how long exactly, I cannot tell you.
on whether he will play before the internationals:
We might get a surprise but I think it’s unlikely.
on the accusation of dark arts against his team:
It’s opinions and that’s it. Other things will be factors, but whoever says what he says, afterwards we are not going to graduate his words, we will use the facts.
on what those factors are:
If a playing was feinting something, that means I will carry on, he will be involved in the squad and he will play.
on whether he wanted to make his squad more streetwise:
I think all the managers want a team that is happy and able to compete in any context that he’s been thrown. That is what we want to achieve as a team.
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