We return to Premier League action this weekend as he head to Leeds United on Saturday, and Mikel Arteta has been previewing our trip to Elland Road with his pre-match press conference.
Our boss looked at our Yorkshire opponents, gave an injury update and spoke about Max Dowman, who has signed a pre-contract agreement.
Read every word from the press conference below, with a video from the Sobha Realty Training Centre to follow shortly!
on if there are any fresh injury worries after Wednesday night:
No, we didn’t have any surprises there, and hopefully everybody will train well today and be available for tomorrow.
on Timber and Saliba:
They are OK. Obviously they have been playing a lot of minutes, they’ve been carrying a few niggles and it was a really good opportunity for us to offload them a little bit and refresh them.
on Dowman signing a pre-contract agreement:
It’s a proud moment to see him yesterday signing that deal in front of his family and his loved ones. Big credit to everybody that’s been involved in that journey with him, to bring him all the way to the first team and especially the manner that they’ve done it. Now we have an amazing talent that, day-by-day, I think we need to shape because there’s so much there.
Read more Max Dowman commits his future to Arsenal
on how much Wednesday night helped to lift the players:
Well it’s just understanding where you are, certainly when you lose a game, you have a lot of feelings because especially the group of players are so competitive and they seek for excellence and when you don’t reach it, you ask yourself questions and we did that. But I think my role there as well is to bring optimism and reality of where we are. Our club has a long, long history and to find a moment when in February, we’re in the position that we are is very difficult to find. So guys, we are doing so many things so well and let’s focus mainly on that. For sure we want to improve, we want to be better in every area, but with that sense as well of self-confidence and conviction that we are on the right path.
on if anyone needed to lift him:
In this moment, no. Normally, I’m the opposite and when we are doing so well I’m there with a stick to say this is not good enough, this is not good enough. The other day, no, because I know how much they wanted the amount of games and the amount that we put on those players every day, and those moments, they need to understand and feel that we are right behind them, that I’m mainly responsible for that, and that they keep playing with that freedom, with that enjoyment as I discussed the other day and make sure that that journey is beautiful because what is ahead is great and everybody has to be part of that, but in good sense and with good humour and good optimism and looking forward to it.
on if he’s concerned about Odegaard’s statistics:
So those are the numbers but we have to give the full numbers as well. He’s played much less minutes than any other season as well because he’s been injured three times, that’s the reality. We want to improve that, for sure, we want him to affect the game in the area where we can win football matches, that’s for sure. But you know Martin and how he works every single day, I have no doubt that that will come.
on if Havertz is ready to start at Leeds:
He is ready. Obviously he started the other day, it’s been a long period and now we need to manage that load and the games that we’re going to select for him to start. But there was no reaction to that, I think it was super positive, you could see straightaway the impact that he can have in the team. So yes, he’s ready.
Read more Arteta hails ‘unbelievable’ Havertz in Kairat win
on how Havertz helps the other strikers in the team:
More than the competition, which I understand, we have different characteristics with the nines. But Kai can also play in different positions. His main quality is that he makes you better, the way he moves, communicates with you, gives you information, moves around. He’s a very difficult player to mark and especially he opens up a lot of spaces for the rest of the players, so I think they’re going to be very happy to have him around.
on Havertz and Gyokeres linking up:
So we knew when we signed Viktor as well that Kai was going to be out for a long period and Gabriel Jesus was nowhere near. So we hoped that this relationship was going to build in the right way, but we didn’t know when. So the other night, we saw a lot of positive things. Obviously, it will depend on the opponent and how they behave, what formation they use, but there are options that are obviously really, really positive to the team. Whether he plays as a nine, as an attacking midfielder, and the other combinations, whether it’s at the start or throughout the game, I think it’s something very good and it can impact the game in a really powerful way.
on having to leave big players out of the squad like Norgaard:
At the moment, there are two or three players that have to be out of the squad. That’s a reality. I cannot change that. These are the rules, hopefully the Premier League next season, instead of 18 outfield players, it will be 20. I beg them from here, like it is in the Champions League, because it’s much better to manage the squad, to maintain the value of the players, to maintain the mental health of the players, because nobody wants to be out of the squad. So I beg them that if we can, between all of us, help us on that, we can deal with hotels, travels and all that, and that will be very, very helpful for everybody, because that’s the worst thing when you need to leave somebody [out]. But at the end you have positions, players that can play in various positions, and you cannot overload certain positions and weaken some of them. So that’s normally the process to make that decision, because if it’s how he trains, how he behaves, how he talks, how he helps everybody, he needs to be in every minute of every game.
on Bailey-Joseph’s debut and how to bring more youngsters into the first team:
Another two spots in the squad. So we can bring more young players, more solutions, more happiness there at the right moment. That’s something that’s only going to help. So hopefully we can do that, but it’s great. At the end, they need to understand and especially feel that the door is open, that the dream is possible. They’ve been training with us now for a few days and we find the right moments to do that. We need to give them that taste and then we have to see how they behave in that environment. It’s the only way to understand whether they can contribute to the team or not.
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on the importance of Calafiori’s return:
Richy has been instrumental, especially in the way that we attack, and he has unique qualities to occupy spaces and to create things that, probably, the qualities of the other full-backs are different. So when we need them, they will be there. Now he’s fit, he’s available, and we’ll have to wait and see when we can use him.
on the timeline with Dowman’s return from injury:
It will be a little bit more than Mosquera’s. Obviously, he’s growing, and we need to be very careful and a little bit more protective. He has a different schedule as well because he needs to go to school, so we need to respect a lot of things throughout that process. But I think he’s quite close. He’s on the pitch now, he’s doing well and hopefully we’re going to be able to see him soon.
on Odegaard dropping into deeper roles:
It’s a bit of his nature, and my nature is to go to the opposite side. But we need to respect as well the qualities and the talent of players, and within that, they need to feel the freedom in attack, especially, to do what they believe is best.
on where Dowman ranks among our academy players in terms of talent:
Certainly one of the best. What he’s done with us at the age of 15. Me personally, I haven’t seen it before. Only with a guy who used to play in Barcelona, but maybe not even that. He certainly has, not only that, he has a certain charisma as well and personality that he doesn’t get overwhelmed, whether it’s by the situation, or the stadium or the opposition, and that’s a huge quality to have.
on having players like Saka as an example for academy players:
The fact that we have very good examples at the club is very helpful. Then it’s down, not only the players as well, but the family as well because obviously they’re a crucial part of their education and their development and we are very responsible of that. He’s been great. He’s got a great family. The communication between us has been very, very productive over the years. Now I think they trust what we’re going to do with him and now it’s down to him and us to build an amazing career with him.
on how much time we’ve had lately to work on new connections in training:
To figure it out a lot, to work very little, unfortunately, because we haven’t had time and obviously the availability of the players are crucial in relation to that. Constantly build that and now we have some new ones as well with some of the players that in the last few weeks have been available, and learn quickly and the quicker we learn the better because we will know what is more effective against certain opponents as well and we’ll be better.
on our first goal against Kairat and a ‘vertical’ type of football:
It depends on what the game needs. You can be vertical when the opponent behaves in a certain way. When there are 10 players inside the box you cannot be vertical. You can maybe shoot from the edge or create chaos in the box or do something different or generate set-pieces. So if they want to defend there make sure to defend there but with six or seven players inside the box. So it depends on how the opposition behaves and the opportunities that you have in relation to space and time.
Read more Go Inside N5 for our 3-2 win over Kairat
on Man City signing Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo:
That is their business. I know what they’re going to do and what they’ve been doing over the last 10-15 years. So obviously not surprised. They want to win and they will do everything to win.
on if we’re looking any differently at the last few days of the January window:
Not because of them. Because if we have any issues, we need to be on top of that. But that’s not a surprise. They did it as well last year, very aggressively when it was needed. We have our ambitions, but we also have our own restrictions. We need to know what we have to do, what we can do and what we believe is the right thing to do.
on if Pep Guardiola is playing mind games:
With me? I don’t think so.
on if they still talk:
I don’t talk with him like with my wife every three days. We talk quite generally. I think he talks about how he feels and that’s it. If there are mind games, there are mind games. But I don’t pay too much attention because you have to win the pitch and deliver.
on being able to maintain that relationship while being rivals:
For me the surprising thing would be not to. I think it would be a really bad example for sport. I think in sport you have to learn. Probably the biggest lesson that sport has given us is the relationship, for example, that Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer had. I’m not at that level at all. But one of the best in the history, or the two best, one of the best sportsmen, the relationship they have between them when they have to play a final, one against one, against each other. So how the hell am I not going to have a great relationship with someone that I admire, I work with, and he’s a colleague? But the same with any other opponent. When it goes to the court or to the pitch, that’s for the win.
on if a tactical reset is required:
Well, depending on the game, three days before Manchester United, no. In the first half an hour against Manchester United, no. The way we get the ball back against Manchester United, big yes. So depending on the action, depending on the moment of the game and the way we concede the two goals, big yes.
on Rice’s next Premier League game being his 300th:
Yes especially at the age that he’s doing that. I don’t know how many players they’ve done that so early. So that shows the consistency, the professionalism that he has because to be able to play only at this level is already a big thing but as well the manner and the performances that he’s put in throughout those 300 games.
on how to nullify the threat of Leeds at set-pieces:
Well, first of all, understanding what they do. Conceding very little, that’s the best way for sure and if we do concede, it’s just to defend with your lives and good organisation to try to prevent that from happening.
Read more Do you remember these six great wins at Leeds?
on if there’s less rivalry now when comparing his relationship with Guardiola to Arsene Wenger’s with Sir Alex Ferguson:
I don’t know, I think that relationship was different. I’ve known Pep since I was 15, and I’ve lived four and a half years with him every single day, you know, so it is different. But I’m sure that Pep had great relationships as well with Enzo [Maresca], which I’m very aware of, and they work and they can be rivals because as well as the type of person that you have and the relationship that you build. But the same will happen with a player. I have players here and then if I have to play against Granit [Xhaka] tomorrow and I love Granit to bits and if I have to play on the pitch, we go to war because I know how he is as well. But outside that, if I can help him with anything, I’m there for sure.
on the mental impact of players being left out of Premier League squads:
We have a really unique job, which is we have the ability to transform somebody’s life, career, which is great, but as well every week we have to tell somebody ‘tomorrow, you don’t do the job. You’re not even allowed to travel with the team.’ So tell me another job that you do that. I cannot go to the kitchen tomorrow and say to two other chefs today you don’t cook, just go there and see how they cook or go home. It’s really tough. So someone that wants to feel part of that, he needs to be there, he needs to travel, he needs to be there and he has to have the feeling that he has a chance. When you take that chance away, you have to leave that player because he feels that he’s not good enough.
Because in the end, your decision is clear. I choose another 20 players in front of you, and I think this is something avoidable. Why? Because the demands on games are bigger, so we need bigger squads. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense to restrict that, in my opinion. So I think we need to expand that and give the possibility to allow everybody to be part of that, and then we can make the right choice in relation to the game and then we can manage better the minutes, the psychological and emotional moment and then how we want to change the game, and I think it’s better for absolutely everybody.
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