Unai Emery was in a good mood after we booked our spot in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round with a 3-0 win at Blackpool.
Our head coach faced the media after the game to discuss his first experience of the competition, Joe Willock’s performance, the latest on Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey, and transfer rumours.
Read on for what he had to say:
on whether preparation was hindered by the incident outside the team hotel...
Good evening. No change for us but we know there were some problems here with the club's supporters and the club, but from us there is respect, respect to them, to the club, to the supporters and to the team. We prepared for the match with this respect also for this competition. I think that the 90 minutes against a competitive team also, I think we can watch a big match I think for them and for us.
on whether the intruder's presence on the team bus was worrying for him...
I cannot say a lot for this situation. Only respect and I want to find a solution for the problem they have, the supporters of the team and the club here.
on what he made of his first experience of the Emirates FA Cup...
I am very proud of the players today, of our work. Because first, the adaptation to the circumstances and the atmosphere here. I think every player was with very big commitment, very good concentration in the 90 minutes, being competitive to impose, little-by-little, our positioning and also sometimes our quality. But it's very important first that with the respect, the adaptation to their game plan: the long ball, the second action, in the duels. We did that and I am very happy for every player and their work today.
on Joe Willock’s progress…
We need every player with the commitment. And with the preparation, when the team needs it, they can help us. The opportunity is coming in some matches like today for example. We mixed the experienced players in the squad and in the first 11 with some young players like Willock, like Eddie Nketiah and also Ainsley and I think it's a good combination, because they can show us they are progressing with the team. The most important is with the passions, they work hard and be concentrated when they need to help again today. And then, I am very happy with Willock and also with Eddie. Eddie had three good chances to score, but the most important is to create these chances. Willock scored and I think it's good for them and for us.
on Laurent Koscielny…
Yes [it’s a back problem]. I hope it’s not bad. He has one week to rest and to work, thinking about the next match against West Ham. I hope he’s going to be OK for the next matches but before the match, he felt some pain in his back. We decided it was better for him to not play. At the moment, with our problems at centre back, it meant we were able to look at different players in different positions. Today that was Lichtsteiner, who played with very good commitment and concentration to help us at centre back with Sokratis.
on whether Denis Suarez is close to joining Arsenal…
I don’t know.
on whether Suarez is a player he would like…
I think the club is working for the possibility to bring in some players who can help us during this next four months of competition. It’s a different situation. If the transfer market can help us find a centre back, the possibility to bring them in is not easy because we also have Mavropanos coming back from injury. If we have the possibility to sign some important players, we can do it. At left or right wing, perhaps one player can help us in this position. We will only sign players who give us quality.
on whether Suarez is a winger or a central player…
He was playing as a left or right winger for Sevilla when he was with me.
on Aaron Ramsey’s situation…
For me the best thing about Aaron Ramsey is his commitment today and his performance is the most important thing for me. I am very proud of every player because of how they played and how they worked together. I’m so pleased with how they all adapted to the circumstances today.
on whether there’s an update on Ramsey’s situation…
I am thinking about each match, preparing each match, and today I can say to you, to every supporter, that we are at the beginning of this competition. This experience and this mentality shown by every player today is something to be proud of. About his situation? I don’t know.
Copyright 2019 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
