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Every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Aston Villa
Mikel Arteta faced the media ahead of Arsenal’s game against Aston Villa in the Premier League. The Gunners boss provided some insight into the squad ahead of the game.
Clarity was given on the nature of the injury suffered by Cristhian Mosquera. The Spaniard, as well as Declan Rice, was unable to finish the game, which is not ideal before the clash with such a tricky opponent.
Unai Emery was also a focus of the press conference, and his view was that the Gunners are favourites for the league. Rotation and rest too as Arteta tried to keep as many of his plans under wraps as he could.
Here is every word from the Arsenal manager’s press conference:
Can we start with team news? First of all, Declan Rice seemed positive at the end of the game. Is he available?
Well, let's see. I think with all the questions I'm going to get, the answer, unfortunately, is going to be the same. We have another training session in the afternoon.
Every hour is going to be very important to see the availability of the players. After that, we'll decide which hours.
Do you think Mosquera has a chance?
That's the one that is more complicated. But again, we have another test today to see where we are with them.
Earlier on this week, you said a matter of days for the likes of Leandro Trossard and William Saliba. Are you hopeful that they can play apart tomorrow?
Yeah, it is a matter of days with those two, for sure.
OK, any other issues you can tell us a
No, hopefully no more. All good.
Can I ask you and follow up on something you mentioned the other night? You spoke about the fixer schedule. It's 63 hours, less than 63 hours between the time you left the pitch against Brentford and the time you're going to take to the pitch. Is the football calendar more generally getting a bit out of hand and do you feel that the product at some point is going to suffer?
I don't know. I don't think we have to get to that stage. The only thing I can say is that whenever it's possible to help and give the players an extra day or hours to fulfil the maximum potential, let's do it. That's it. We are ready from today for tomorrow's game, that's for sure.
This is the second weekend in a row where it's actually third against first in the Premier League. With regard to Aston Villa, just at this moment in time, is there a tougher test in the Premier League just now?
Well, for what they've been doing, the way they've been playing and winning these matches, certainly it's a team that is in great form and we know that.
We know, obviously, the manager and the incredible job that he's done there as well. So we know the task tomorrow but we always think it's an opportunity.
You mentioned the manager and the incredible job you say he's done. Is there extra motivation for him because he managed here, maybe it didn't work out as he would have liked? And does that make this game even harder?
I don't know. I think when you look at Unai, his career, his motivation level, everywhere there's been an impact that he's done, it's always been remarkable. So I don't know, that's a question for him. But in my opinion, he never needs anything extra. I think he's good enough in himself.
I think the last three weeks on a Friday we've been asking you whether the following week is going to be a statement week. How important is it? We're here again but given it is a team like Aston Villa and a team that you may have had a few problems against in the past few seasons, if a victory was to be achieved tomorrow, what kind of statement and message do you think that would send?
That's consistency, again, to perform at the highest level and win another game. And then we'll go back to the same question three days later in the Champions League, and then at the weekend, because that's the nature of the game, and that's exactly how we have to take it every game.
Talking about making a statement, of course you played first this weekend before the likes of Manchester City play. If you were to win, what do you think it does for the pressure on your title rivals?
I don't know. Every time you win a game, obviously, you are a little bit closer to your objective, and it's the only thing that we can do. We have to focus on performing, prepare really well for tomorrow. We know the kind of game that we're going to play and be ready for it to fulfil our potential.
Just going back to Cristhian Mosquera, what's the nature of his injury?
An ankle.
Last weekend, we saw you take Ricardo Calafiori off against Chelsea because he was on a yellow card. I know he's got four yellows. Is that something that plays into your mind when you're looking at the starting line-up or is that more of an issue when the game starts?
Both, but especially the other day against Brentford and especially with the situation that we had at the end of the game with the backline and the numbers that we have there. But it didn't happen, so good news.
Just finally for me, talking about your backline, I know you've had a couple of defensive injuries. Ollie Watkins has scored three Premier League goals this season, but two of them came against Brighton. Unai Emery said that the goals are coming for him, so what kind of a challenge does he pose to your defensive line-up tomorrow?
Yeah, I think the collective threat that they have in terms of how they generate chances and what they do so well and then obviously the individual quality that they have in front from different players.
I saw Aston Villa win at Brighton this weekend, and I asked Unai Emery whether his team were title challengers to you, and he said no, you're the favourites to win the Premier League. Are managers already playing mind games with you?
I don't know, I think each manager gives his opinion, and that's it, and we have to respect that, and that's it.
Do you see Aston Villa as being a title challenger?
Well, if they continue, look where they are already, so if they continue what they've been doing, I think any club, any team in that position has chances for sure.
You've built up a really impressive squad here, and we've seen without Saliba and Gabriel in recent weeks that other defenders have come in almost seamlessly, and you're still winning. Is your squad now in exactly the place you want it to be to go on and win the Premier League and maybe the Champions League this season?
We've built a squad that I believe was the best one to give us the possibility to do it. Is it what I want it to be? No. Because of the injuries that we have, to have a squad means that the players have to be fit and available because that has a lot of consequences not only during matches but also in the way that we prepare for the week and the options that we have to change and keep the presence in the team. But that's something I'm very happy with how we've dealt with certain situations.
Because of that, we're always mentioning the fixture schedule and the football calendar. Are we at a point where teams to facilitate being able to play as often as they are, with the quality that we want them to produce, are teams having really big squads, like 30 or 40 players, or teams dropping out of one competition or another to make sure they have the space to have a rest?
Hopefully we don't get to that point and everything is manageable. We all learn from it and we carry on doing what we're doing.
Just to clarify, Trossard and Saliba, are they going to be available for tomorrow?
It's a question of dates. As I said before, after the training session we will know more.
And then Mikel Merino, who's done such a good job playing as a striker for you, is there a possibility that, even when everyone's fit, he could be an option as a No.9?
I think he has earned at least the thinking behind it for the way he's performing and the impact that he's bringing to the team, so that's a yes.
You said yes there, but does it make you feel that he could excel even further? We've seen it with Kai Havertz, who when he joined wasn't a traditional No. 9, but has grown into the position.
Yeah, and then playing together, those two, even with Viktor, it can be with Gabi, and that's things that we have prepared during the summer because of the squad that we have, and so far we haven't been able to.
You rested some players in midweek, and I think some of them that came in did really well, Ben White, we talked a lot about post-match. How difficult is it then when natural and more regular starters come back into the line-up, those conversations that you have with the players, clearly done well, and find themselves back on the bench once again?
Well, we haven't had this situation too many times. I think the problem would be the other one, that you bring somebody in and he doesn't perform, and then the decision is so easy not to play him again. And we are not in that position, which is the position that we want to be in, which is exactly that, to have people in contention, whether it's to start the game or to finish the game, or to play whenever the team needs his qualities, and that's what we have at the moment with every player.
And the injury situation is hopefully improving gradually, and you might be getting some other players back soon. It might get to a point, touch wood, where you actually have to leave some senior players out of a matchday squad entirely. What challenges does that pose as a manager, and those conversations that you now have to have with those players that they might miss out on again?
Well, I hope that we are in that position, and then again we can maintain and decide for the freshness of the team and what is required on that day, what is the best squad to take. A problem that obviously a lot of clubs in this country are very familiar with.
Can we just check quickly with Mosquera, you said it's complicated, is that how you worried it could be a serious injury?
No, we need to know because the feeling that we had after the game and yesterday, we need to corroborate with what happens with all the testing that we do today.
Just to ask you on the injuries, how has the sort of rate of injuries and the number of injuries changed how you look at the January window? Does it make you open to bringing someone in because of the injuries?
No, I mean we always have to be prepared. The moment that we have an option to touch the squad, to improve the squad or to protect the squad, depending on what happens, I think we need to be open for it. From what is going to happen from here till the window is closed as well is football. So, we don't know but we're certainly going to be alert and we know where the risk can come in terms of the squad and be ready just in case we have to do something.
In the same way, can you afford to let anyone go? Because you look at someone like Ethan who had minutes in that game the other week, someone like Gabby J behind Kai, Viktor, Mikel. But can you afford to let players leave in January when you're having these injuries?
Well, at the moment, obviously, we haven't had the situation as we mentioned before, that players are out of the squad for three or four weeks in a row. So, at the moment, we know that the squad we have, we are fulfilling it with the players that are fit. So, at the moment, it's very clear that there's no option to do that.
Every week, we come, asking you about different players and injuries, yet it hasn't been a core, defining narrative of Arsenal's season, largely due to the quality of the results and performances. Last season was a particularly challenging one in terms of injuries as well. You lost a lot of big players for long periods of time. I just wonder now, do you reflect on that period as a time when you, the squad, and the staff learned a lot about how to cope with that situation? Is that helping you be stable this season?
Yeah, well, you certainly learn from those situations, and I think looking for solutions and being positive and transmitting that positivity and belief to the team is the main thing because you cannot do anything about it. We have injuries that are totally uncontrollable, especially the ones that were long-term last season. This season, a lot of the things happened as well. We learn from the things that we can control as well and the areas that we can improve, first of all myself. Take it as it comes and enjoy the ride. That's it.
And just on Martin [Odegaard], obviously he's one of the players who came back midweek into the start of 2011. What did you think of his performance and do you think he's in a position now where he's ready to be playing every three days, like the calendar demands?
Yeah, I think he's certainly capable of doing that once the injury is resolved. I mean, you see his stats, what he did on midweek after six, seven weeks out. It's incredible. So we just have another player, another top player that gives us a lot, gives us something different to what we have in those positions. So I'm very happy to have him.
With the fixture schedule the way it is, we always talk about rotation. That seems to be a really common conversation. You haven't been able to rotate in recent seasons. How have you adapted to having obviously more options available given the biggest squad and how have you changed as a manager in terms of just being more maybe open-minded to that now that it's an option?
Well, great. I think it's something that I haven't experienced much, especially through a long period of time since I've been here. And it's great before the game. It's great because you can think about different ways, different relationships.
You can accommodate players for the game that you expect to play. And what is great is that when you look at the bench and you say, now we can change the game from last year when we were in February to May, look there and we had two players really. So that's a huge difference.
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