Every word Mikel Arteta said on Everton, injured duo and the Premier League spectacle

Here is every word from Mikel Arteta’s pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal facing Everton in the Premier League

Mikel Arteta spoke to the media ahead of his Arsenal side’s clash with Everton. The Gunners can move ten points clear of their main Premier League title rivals before they face West Ham the next day.

The Arsenal manager faced questions on the latest team news as Leandro Trossard missed the midweek clash with Bayer Leverkusen. While there were some questions about Bukayo Saka, who endured a difficult midweek.

There was an interesting focus on set-pieces and competitiveness in the Premier League and Arteta again was bullish on the matter and how the league is becoming better.

Here is every word from the pre-match press conference:

Any fresh injury concerns after midweek?

No.

And two of the players that were missing in Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard, do you expect to have them available tomorrow?

That's it, we'll have to wait and see. I'll speak to the doctors, and whether they are involved or not.

Momentum is a word that's often used by managers and players, particularly at this stage of the season. What did Kai Havert's penalty do for the mood and the momentum of your group?

Well, every result, every performance shifts its momentum, the emotional state of the team and the fact that we managed to draw the game at the end, obviously it was a lift because in any case we deserved for sure to lose that game. So yeah, I'm moving to the next one. We have no time, so when we finish that game, a bit of time to watch one or two games in the Champions League, some good games and then back to business.

I must ask you, Mikel, about Fabian Hurzeler’s comments this morning. He says that he contacted you about comments he made post-Brighton. Could you share what was said between you, and are you appreciative that he reached out?

No, that's a personal conversation. Obviously, he's made public now certain comments that he made before, and that says, I think, a lot of positive things about him as a person. So I appreciate that and the rest.

I think he's a fantastic coach. The job that he's doing at Brighton is really, really good and that's fine.

Somebody else who has been full of praise for you this afternoon is David Moyes. You've spoken glowingly about your relationship with him in the past. Have you spoken to him much this season and can you give us an insight into how he helps you?

No, I've spoken a few times, especially we spend more time after we play each other in December. Not only him as well but a big part of his staff and the people that are involved by the club always have huge memories and a massive gratitude. He changed my career basically after my decision to go back to Spain, and then he brought me to Everton.

He really changed my career and me as a player as well and a lot of incredible things that we share together.

Mikel, if you can, can you just take us inside the dressing room? I know you can only tell us so much but Sir Alex Ferguson often spoke about siege mentality and with all the noise that is around Arsenal at the moment, is that something that you've adopted and how powerful can that approach be with the unity of your players?

You just have to go in that dressing room and feel the mood, the energy and the way we talk to each other and how much we value the position that we have right now and how much we want to, for sure, be in the same position at the end of the season and that depends on us. Our focus is on what we have to do, what we have to maintain and what we have to improve together.

Final couple from me, Mikel. I know you're reluctant maybe to talk about the Q word, you mentioned that the other day, about the quadruple. Is it difficult to not think about it though?

Not think about it? Not really, I mean, if you had an hour seat from competition to competition, we're going to play in seven days in three different competitions so that drags you from one to another. The urgency to get prepared, to translate the message that you want, to make the right decisions and to make sure that we arrive into any game in the best possible way, it's enough and the rest is a consequence of that process and how well we do it, which is still very far.

I'm sure you're aware of the plight of your North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur just now. I recall speaking to you before the North London derby at the Emirates.

Painting the picture of the Emirates under the lights, the North London derby, you said it doesn't get any better than this. With that in mind, do you actually hope that they stay up and you still have this North London derby next season?

I continue to say the same, it's one of the most beautiful games that we have because when there is that passion and that rivalry, when it's in the right way in the sport, I think it elevates the game and the feelings and the emotions after winning to a different level. It's not for me to say what's going to happen, but I can describe certainly how it's been to play against each other.

A question about David Moyes. I read recently an article about the way David recruited you.

I think it was a pre-season you played for Real Sociedad, and then you played against Everton, and a few months later, he got you into Everton. When you look at David's longevity in the game, how special is it in the very demanding atmosphere of the Premier League?

It's just incredible. For me, that's why he's one of the greatest English managers or the manager the Premier League has ever had, because to maintain that level and that consistency in many different contexts and clubs is just so difficult to do and people have to appreciate it because it's very rare, and I don't know how many times it's going to happen. You need to have, first of all, some very, very strong values, an incredible work ethic and so much passion for the game because he's been through great moments, some difficult moments and the way he's navigated through them, he's always conducting himself in the same way and that's a huge credit for him.

You have eight games to win the Premier League. Who knows, maybe you win even before, but at this stage of the season, it doesn't even matter the style of play, playing attractive football or it's all about winning and achieving the target.

It's playing the best football that you possibly can, and the game demands to give you the best possibility to win the game, and that's it. I realised what's happening in the Premier League the other day with a really important factor. I was watching the Champions League game between Newcastle and Barcelona.

For me, Barcelona are the most exciting team in Europe in many moments, the way they play and they faced one of their Premier League teams, Newcastle, which are exceptional in their intensity, in their high press, everything man-to-man, a huge amount of tools, a really good team in transition and we saw a completely different game than I've never seen Barcelona play and that's a huge credit to Newcastle but this is the league that we are playing in.

Have you seen the Barcelona of a thousand passes that every week does it in Spain? No, it was a very different kind of game. Can it be beautiful? Yeah, but Newcastle made that game so well done as well and a huge credit to them the way they did it.

There's only six games in the Premier League this season that have been won by four or more goals by any team. Last season it was 24 games were won by four or more goals. What do you think it says about the Premier League right now and how competitive it is?

Same example, Newcastle-Barcelona, this is their reality and if you don't want to see it it's because probably we have to change the glasses and the perspective that we see the game because this is the reality of our league right now.

The gap between the top and the bottom teams it just seems is getting closer. Do you think that makes it a better spectacle or in some ways is it more difficult then for you as a manager when it's competitive?

Much better. You want to be the best league in the world by far. You need to have that and entertaining is unpredictability. It now becomes boring and how difficult it is to beat any opponent and those numbers that you just mentioned I think it's the best example of that.

On a similar theme, I think a few weeks ago you spoke about how much football has evolved in the past two or three years and when you see that evolution happen in real time do you think it's more down to individual teams or everyone collectively behaving in certain ways on the pitch?

Everybody, learning from each other. It's like putting information in the best laptop every day and gathering what you do so well I'm going to try to replicate it the same the same the same so this is moving so so fast but like in any other sport I mean when you go to the best tennis players and best tournaments it's like saying, ‘No the serve you cannot ace with the serve it's not allowed.’ No, it is allowed and it's a great way to win a championship and on an NBA said ‘No now it's threes you cannot shoot from threes no, no!’ Yeah everybody's doing it and everybody's doing better and better because it's more effective and it will keep evolving but not here in every sport in formula one the same thing happens in marathons the same thing happens and you don't want to see it. I think you're wrong.

This might be a bit of a weird question but I'm not going to ask you anyway but I am going to ask anyway. Would you ever try and I guess predict how the sport is going to evolve?

Yes.

And are there any ways you have done where you'd be happy to share?

No. That's not that weird that's a good question.

No, no, but I guess when you're looking at football and how it's developed, do you believe, I guess, there are ways, I guess, you think of the game now that others might not be, and you can kind of take advantage?

I don't know but with every opponent it's the same and you try to predict what is going to happen tomorrow and I always do that I said I think that's what they will do I think that's the kind of situation and the amount of situation when I have to defend in this specific way this is how I have to do in attack to replicate these kind of scenarios which are favourable for us and try to match those things that is difficult.

Last international breaks obviously coming up soon for a lot of countries as friendly matches how much will you sort of speak to the various international managers about how many minutes your players play and sort of concerns over their fitness?

We have really good communication with most of them and we have a strong decision just to update them on how we're doing because they have communication with the players themselves as well and what they expect and we will wait and see how everybody is and have those conversations and make the right decisions.

Considering I guess the stage of the season how much is on the line for the club will this maybe be the most nervous you've been during an international break?

It's a period that I don't enjoy a lot especially I only have 18-19 players playing and especially with what happened in our recent history with very important players that is part of the calendar I would have to accept that.

A lot of teams have seen the success you've had with in-swinging corners into the six yard box and have picked up on it you know it's a league-wide trend it's not something that you're doing alone but do you ever think what you said the game will evolve what about if something like an in-swinging corner breaks the game or it makes it a game that people don't enjoy watching do you feel any responsibility?

That's where there are the rules for the long throws we don't want to see long throws very simple give four seconds for the long throws if you need but the biggest issue is the man-to-man and then all the managers have to agree you cannot defend man-to-man and tomorrow you're going to have a different league I guarantee you a different league.

Can I just ask you about Bukayo as well obviously you sort of took him off against Leverkusen he's not had the output you might think he would have at this stage of the season but maybe some of the sort of chances he's creating you know something like the Eze goal against Spurs where he didn't get an assist when the sort of underlying metrics are ahead of the output how as a manager do you manage that do you just sort of trust that it'll come around do you maybe

With B, fully trust him and love him I mean what he's doing for us for this club is just incredible at his age and he's continued to have that massive impact for us he can have an individual performance that is not probably a reflection of his level like every human every player in the world but overall when you look at his strength and the impulse that he has in the team it's just incredible

We're nine days out from Wembley now, so injuries permitting, do you already have your start at 11 in mind for the cup final, and will it be a sort of balance that you've got now over the next two, you know, tomorrow, Tuesday night, as you sort of prepare for Wembley as well?

No, because already we come from five games in very short periods of time again and you just go in game by game understanding who can play a certain amount of minutes, who doesn't and maybe for the next game, you have an idea what you can do about two or three games away, it's quite difficult at the moment.

Since Portsmouth on January 11th I think 11 of your last 17 games in all competitions have been away from home six of the remaining 10 you have currently are at home how much of an advantage do you think that would be and given what the players have had to go through in these 17 games with so much demands travelling all that sort of stuff how happy are you how they've navigated that?

Yeah because it was really complicated, I think as you must say, we had four outings away from home in a row and some very difficult games as well, but that's the calendar that's the beauty of it as well, obviously at home we've been very very strong and using that in the right way can be you know the deciding factor.

You're currently seven points clear at the top of the table, obviously tough game tomorrow, we get David Moyes from someone who you know very, very well. season. How important is it for you to maintain the gap between yourselves and Man City with eight games to go?

Well, I mean every game that you win now is a massive step towards the objective, and tomorrow, as you said, we have a difficult one, so yeah, we're gonna have to earn it, and if we do earn it, we're gonna be closer.