‘We might get a few coaches after this virus’

With the coronavirus pandemic creating an unprecedented situation across the globe, how is Mikel Arteta and his staff dealing with it?



Our head coach sat down for an exclusive interview with Arsenal.com and this is what he told us:



on how the club is actually operating now...

Well I'm really impressed and I feel proud of where I am. In difficult moments is where you really see the people and how they react, how they think and how they prioritise things. All the phone calls I'm having with all the members of the board and all my technical staff, all the coaching staff, all the players, how aware and how encouraged they all are to try to help, to try to be on board with the situation and to try to make things easier for the club has been amazing. To be fair I have to say that I'm very privileged to work with these people.



on how the players and the coaches are getting on right now...

There are different aspects that we have to try to maintain. One is health and that's the most important one for sure. We're just trying to cover all the necessities that players, staff and employees need to try to sustain the club with healthy people. That's the first one and that's our responsibility. The second one is the physical aspect. They all have programmes and they all have individual work to do that they are really doing and really trying to maintain themselves so they can prepare themselves for when we have to get back playing. The third one is the mind. There is the psychological support that they need, which we are giving them, and as well I'm giving them a lot of homework to do because I've been reviewing everything that we've been doing since I joined. There are things we have to maintain doing, improve and develop, and individually they are really enjoying the challenge. We might get a few coaches after this virus, or at least a few players that are willing to go down that path because I think they are really enjoying the process.



on what him and his players have you been able to work on...

Well, first of all it's a great opportunity for me to get to know the people there and I was talking before about the senior people at the club, but as well my own coaching staff, the people that are related on a daily basis. And then the communication with the players. Now I'm at home, they are not sitting next to me. We can open conversations in a different way and I think that over a worldwide situation it's affecting them and it's making them feel more human and vulnerable as well. They can feel relaxed talking about anything that we have to do. So I'm taking that opportunity as well to share different conversations with them that in my opinion have been really useful.