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Mikel Arteta faced the media after Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton in the Premier League
Mikel Arteta faced the press after his Arsenal side scored twice late on to beat Everton. The decision late on to introduce teenager Max Dowman to the fold proved to be a rather good one, with the youngster involved in the first and scoring the second.
Naturally, Dowman became a big influence and was a large focus of the post-match press conference. As the game went on, Arteta was spotted removing his coat as the temperature rose, and he admitted to kicking every ball with his team willing the ball to go in.
Here is every word Arteta said during his post-match press conference:
Have you come back down to earth yet?
Because of my jump you mean, yeah?
It was quite high.
It was a phenomenal moment. We talked before the game to play with that relentless desire to win every action and to have the conviction that we are going to find a way to do it.
And the effort, the quality, the commitment of the players was sensational. And then it ended up in a manner that probably none of us expected. And it was one of the best moments that we lived together at the Emirates.
You're bringing on Max Dowman, one of the youngest players who's ever played for Arsenal. In that moment where you're back to bring him on, what's going through your head?
Probably in my head I had a gut feeling. Yesterday he was training in the last few days and I had a gut feeling that it was a moment for him. Probably because he doesn't seem to be faced by the occasion or the moment or the context or the opponent. He just plays so naturally. He makes decisions to make things happen and what he delivered was incredible.
There's moments and seasons about Reiss Nelson's goal against Bournemouth a couple of years ago, when you feel like those moments do you feel like this is a really big moment?
It is big because you put so much passion, effort, hours into this, which is our passion. when you turn around and you see the bench and those eyes just with that happiness, that joy that you're almost not believing what has just happened. It makes all the sense in the world for what we do and the difficult moments that we go through. And the reaction of the bench as well. When I see everybody so willing to and so generally happy about the team winning the manner that we did it, it's so special.
Just quickly, I know there's going to be a lot of attention on Max and also on Viktor for scoring the goal but your other substitutes, Piero Hincapie, who came on, his involvement seemed pivotal as well.
All of them. Gabi, Mosquera had to come in when Jurrien was out and I think it's been the theme of the season. I think the impact of the finishers that the players have played is the reason why we are here, basically. And that says a lot about the people that we have in the dressing room because sometimes my decision, maybe they're not right or they're not fair, they take it in the right way with only one objective, which is to help the team to win.
I just wondered what you said to Max before he came on. Is it more instruction stuff or did you say go play with freedom? Go and do your thing.
Go and do your thing and win us the game. And the same with Viktor and to Martinelli. I said these are the moments in the season when something special has to happen, and he knows he has the ability, which I have to give him the opportunity, and he will deliver.
Does it have the opportunity to change the emotional temperature within the squad? You have these moments that make you feel there's magic in the air and it's been tough for the last couple months. So do you think that this can change how the squad feels about themselves?
I think it's been incredible the last couple months. It's been sensational. We are in every competition and we are competing in every single game like it's the last one and some days we'll be better, some other times exceptional, some other times not that good. But that relentless desire to win that I feel in the team is just one of the best things that, in my opinion, this team has.
You said it was a gut feeling to turn to Max. As a manager, have you had to learn to trust your gut?
I don't know. I think at the end the decision that you make has to be delivered. If you feel them and you don't feel it, I think it's not right, and you just have to see him train every single day honestly. Some of the things that he does, he does it against these defenders that are some of the best in the world. So he can do it against anybody else and the doubt is always, yeah, but he's 16 and the crowd and the pressure and expectations but he doesn't seem to be fazing him very much about that and he had an incredible moment to all of us.
Do you think you sort of trust your gut? Would you have made a call like that in your first year as a manager, maybe, do you think?
I don't know. Probably. I don't know. It's easy to say. I don't know. I did it because as well, to be fair, I feel the same, the staff, they have so much trust in him. Or in Viktor or when it's Martinelli or Gabi Jesus or Mosquera, you turn around and they're ready and they're really desperate to play and that's what we need.
Just on Max's goal, he could have shot from Mosquera but he just went past that there like he's been doing that his whole life. What did you make of that moment and that composure?
For me, it felt like 45 seconds. And I think it was really special because you could sense that he was ‘Ooh’ building up, building up and you see there's no goalie there, it's going to happen, it's going to happen. And everybody was lifting. It was incredible. It was so loud, so energetic. What a moment.
On Max, in your eyes, what makes him so special and how has he gained your trust in such a short space of time?I think his character, his personality and the fact that, as I said, he doesn't seem to be fazed by the pressure or his teammates or the opponent. I've seen a lot of players with talent but at 16, very few that can cope with that level of demand.
Could we see him potentially start at some point?
Calm! As your colleague said, let's come down to earth today and enjoy the moment because it was intense and it was worth it and we'll see tomorrow.
Can I just ask what you thought of Everton today?
Very hard, yeah. A really good side. Really well coached and every time they went in and around the box, you sense how dangerous they are and they're very difficult to break down. You play as well with the fact that the game, the longer it goes, you have the necessity to win the game and the will to win it and you have to be calm. I think the team showed a lot of maturity. The crowd as well, I think it was good today to be composed and wait for the right moment and leave the place to make the decision when it was needed to deliver the moment. At the end it was all happiness.
Just on that, is a moment like that all the better when the game is such a battle? What were you thinking just before the Gyokeres goal?
What I was thinking? I don't know, I was pushing with every inch of my body to go to that goal, and somehow we score a goal. We cannot demand those players to give everything and us not to be there. I see them and how much they want it and now we're all striving to try to help them.
The game was going in one direction until you brought Max on. Individually, was that one of the best subs you've ever made?
I don't know, obviously Viktor scored the goal as well, so obviously his contribution and the way he… the speed of the game every time he got involved in the action was different that's for sure. I think he created a different energy in the stadium.
Will you watch the City game?
Probably, yes.
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