Every word Mikel Arteta said on 11 injury updates, Arsenal vs Southampton and Ben White boos

Here is every word Mikel Arteta said ahead of Arsenal’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Southampton.

Mikel Arteta faced the media ahead of his Arsenal side’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Southampton on the south coast. The Gunners are dealing with something of an injury crisis after eleven players missed playing over the last fortnight.

There was a reaction to Ben White’s return to the England squad, and he was asked about the boos which rang out around Wembley. He was asked about the performances and meanings of Viktor Gyokeres and Riccardo Calafiori’s contrasting experiences too.

There was also some fallout from the Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City. Alongside, an ingenious way to keep us guessing which goalkeeper will start at Southampton.

Here is every word Mikel Arteta said in his pre-match press conference:

Eighth time manager of the month, always nice though.

Well that means that we won a lot of games, a really important and crucial part of the season, so a good team effort.

Does that just add a little bit of extra inspiration given everything that you're involved in and doing the big competitions?

I think that's a reflection of what the team is doing and the level of performances and the amount of games that we're winning, as I said, I think it's just a reflection of that.

I'm not going to go through the list of medical updates, injury updates, otherwise we'll be here tomorrow and you've got to travel to Southampton, but I was quite interested to start with the England boys, what Thomas Tuchel had to say about agreeing that it's a friendly, they were feeling discomfort, it was right for them to go back to their club and be assessed. That's the kind of conversation you have, I guess, with all the national teams.

Yes, and we have a very good relationship and communication with most of the national teams, as I said with Thomas. We've been extremely supportive all the time, and when you have to communicate in the state, and the moment of every player, we're always very honest and at the end, it's a medical decision as we make, and that was clear what the conclusion was.

With all the teams, the Brazilians, the Spanish, the French, it benefits their World Cup hopes to rest players that need a rest as much as it benefits Arsenal, I guess.

I think when a player is fit and able to play, he has to play, and I think it makes us so proud that we have that many players in the national team, and the players are desperate to play with the national team, and we know how important every time that they are together and the time that they spend in preparation means to them. We are fully supportive of that, and when we can do it, we do it.

So of the players who haven't been involved or have been partially involved in their national teams, are there any of those who may not be available to you over the next couple of games?

You will see. I continue the speculation so you can do it, and you can judge it afterwards. If what I said was right or do I have to maybe change and delete and write something else?

But it's difficult anyway because you would, I'm sure, rest some of those players ahead of a big Champions League a couple of days after.

We are in a position right now that we are going to make the strongest line-ups and decisions that we possibly can to win every competition. We are two or three games away in the FA Cup, and now we know how important that competition is for us.

With Noni, there was a lot made of the fact that he had a brace when he left after that first game. Is it as bad as it looks?

No, it's not. It looked really, really bad, and Noni was really worried, especially after what happened. It was only a few weeks ago, and he was out for six weeks, but he's nowhere near that injury, so that was really good news.

I think Thomas said days, is that right?

I think so.

Ebs probably, though, is going to be out for a little while.

Ebs is out, yeah.

How long?

Cannot say. With Ebbs, I cannot put a finger there because I don't know because he's a special character now.

Good news on the injury front before we move on and that's obviously, they weren't quite ready to take part in the Carabao Cup final but Martin and Jurrien are probably available again.

Those are in contention to possibly be in the squad.

In terms of the goalkeeper for a domestic cup game, can we assume that the keeper who starts tomorrow will be Spanish and have a name that ends in A?

I think tomorrow the goalkeeper is European, is under 32, right-footed and speaks at least two languages.

Perfect. The game, sorry. It's an important game, isn't it? The quarter-final of the FA Cup. Another Wembley appearance at stake. Yeah. How important is it, just probably the third most competitive competition you're involved in in terms of importance, but still nice to get to Wembley.

Yeah, huge competition. It's so related to the history of our football club and the women's player team that it's in a really good moment. They won so many games recently, in a really good moment. You know the expectations, the crowd, the environment that they're going to create. So we are ready for that and we want to win Wembley again so tomorrow we have the opportunity to do that again.

I mean they're on a really good run, aren't they?

Yeah.

And important to them as well, it's the 50th anniversary of them as a second division side, it's called them beating a giant Manchester United in the cup final. So there's a lot to contend with there for your players, isn't there?

That's the magic of the FA Cup, that every scenario, every context, every game has a history, and this one is a special one, and we are ready to face that tomorrow.

And unusually they'll be in yellow at home because of that anniversary and you'll be in red away.

Yes. Which is special, I guess, so good.

Just on Southampton in recent years, I was wondering do you kind of look back at previous games against them because it's not always been a straightforward game at St Mary's for Arsenal. I mean, FA Cup a few years ago, after you'd won it, I think you lost there. But other draws as well at that stadium, do you look back at those games and kind of try to see what went wrong, what can go right this time?

Well, yes, there are certain things that are going to be similar, but obviously, with the manager, with the players and the amount of changes that they had in the squad, it is very different. And at the end you have to talk about the moment, what they are doing in this moment and what we are doing and we as well are obviously a very different team.

And in terms of just this last block of games for this season, in recent years, I think probably the best end to a season Arsenal have had was in 2024 when you won 16 out of your last 18 games. I was wondering, was there anything you learned from that season in particular in terms of how you and your team and staff even approached that kind of back end to the season?

Yes, we look back at those things and the things that we did, the things that we can work on. But again, it is a different group, we are in a different position as well in certain competitions compared to that year, because there we were just talking about a certain competition. But yes, we will try to do what we believe is the right thing, what the team needs to give us the best chance to win every game.

Can I just check on Piero quickly, he has obviously came off as well, was that a serious problem?

Yes, it was.

Do you have any idea how long yet?

No.

And on Ben White, it was obviously a big deal for him to be back in the England squad, very exciting for him. Firstly, how excited were you for that, but how disappointed too were you to see the boos in both the matches?

The volume was down so I could not hear that. I could just see a big smile on his face and the way he came back from the national team, and the good things that he was telling everybody about, the group, about the meetings that they had, about Thomas and everybody. So that's great to hear because when you send a player to a national team, you really want to bring back a better player, a player that is happy, a player that is available and fit and that was certainly Ben's case.

And on the other end of the spectrum, obviously a tough international break for Calafiori who is not qualifying. What conversations have you had with him and how do you lift him after that disappointment?

Try to lift him. I think not only for Richy, I think for Italy, I think for football. A country like them, with such a passion, such a history, not to be in a World Cup, it's tough and I don't think it's good for football. That shows you as well, the difficulty of going through all those phases to earn the right to be in the competition.

The other big story of the break was Viktor Gyokeres’ contributions for Sweden, four goals in two games and taking them to the World Cup. I remember we talked earlier this season about when Mikel Merino scored a hat-trick and you wanted to use that momentum. I imagine you want to do similar with Viktor.

Yes, and especially the importance of those goals. I can’t imagine how much it means for him to get his country over the line and the position they were in to be able not to play the World Cup. He was buzzing, he was full of energy and confidence and that's great.

Have you noticed just in the short time you've had your players back, the players that are now going to be going to those World Cups? Have you noticed a difference in their demeanour and excitement about the end of the season?

Very difficult to say. Obviously, the first day when they are coming back, they are still carrying that energy. They all come back really happy to this place and that's something really positive to witness and that's an important thing that I have to focus on the club and after we play the last game they can have plenty of time to prepare for the World Cup.

This is Arsenal's first game since the Carabao Cup final and obviously that didn't go quite as well as you guys wanted. How key is it tomorrow to be able to put in a performance just to say that hasn't had enough of an effect losing that final and that Arsenal are still fighting on four fronts?

When you didn't manage to win that final I think what you have to take on board is how this is going to make us stronger for the final push of the season. And that has been the mindset that has been all the work that we have in the last few days to use that as fuel, as tools to be able to get the final push that we want and achieve what we want.

What have you seen from the group? Have you seen that they've been? I know you've been on international duty, but have you seen that they've been disappointed or that they're eager to use that fuel as you said?

Yeah, immediately I could sense that and as well the way we look at ourselves and the things that we could have done better and how the game can shift as well at that level from the first and second half and that's something that we need to manage better and again this is going to make us better I'm sure and we have to use it for the most important and beautiful part of the season.

Just one on Bukayo, his numbers probably haven't been quite as good as they have been in other seasons. Are you worried at all about that or do you think he's going to find his best form still in the crunch part of the season?

I'm certain of that. I spoke to him and again everybody's going to remember what we've done in the last part of the season and in this final push of eight weeks, what we're going to deliver individually and that's where now we can impact what we did in October and November is irrelevant, it's done, it's about now and how we prepare ourselves to give the best chance to win what we want.

Hi Mikel, just slightly building on some of that, I wonder how useful the international break has been for you and your staff and maybe even off the back of the Carabao Cup final for the players and I'm also curious as to how many times you and your staff have re-watched the Carabao Cup final in the last four months?

Well ideally you play again the next day, that's the thing and when you have an international break sometimes it's not exactly what you want but okay, use it in the right way, we had a lot of work done, analyse what we've been doing not only on that one but in the last 120 days, the amount of games that we played, our winning ratio, the things that we have accomplished, give some perspective and at the same time be very critical with what we can do better to help the players more and to be able to win any game in any context.