Every word Mikel Arteta said on Man City vs Arsenal, Bukayo Saka injury, Pep Guardiola mind games

Here is every word Mikel Arteta said ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Manchester City

Mikel Arteta spoke to the media ahead of Arsenal’s humungous clash with Manchester City. The Gunners know victory will secure a massive boost for their hosts in the Premier League title race.

There were several attempts to focus on the injury situations of several players. Noni Madueke suffered a problem against Sporting CP, while Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori all missed the game.

With discussions over the title, naturally, there was talk of nerves, pressure and expectation. There was the usual rallying call from the manager.

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

Can I start off, I know you didn't know Alex Manninger very well personally, but obviously he meant a lot to the club in his time here. Just some reaction from the club to the sad news this week?

Well, some very sad news obviously. We want to send Alex’s family, everybody that was part of his journey in his life our condolences and our love obviously because it was a shocking news and a difficult one to take.

Obviously it puts everything into perspective, but we have got a big football match now to talk about. In terms of any injury updates, I guess the one we have had an update on recently was Noni who came off on Wednesday and looked like a knee problem. How is he?

Well, we have another training session tomorrow so he didn't look that bad after the game and he was quite positive. He's a player that pushes through pain so I'm hopeful that he can be available but we have to wait and see if he's able to join tomorrow.

With Bukayo obviously also a last-minute decision, could you have potentially a problem on the right-hand side?

We'll have a solution, so whatever happens. We are so used to this decision, unfortunately, for various reasons, so whatever happens, we'll have the right solution then.

The other three I haven't mentioned are Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber, and Riccardo Calafiori. Any updates on those?

Yeah, we will try again. Some players are quite close but the turnaround is short so we will try tomorrow to push everybody and if they are in good condition they will be part of us and if not they won't. They haven't been there in the last few weeks unfortunately.

So you're not ruling any of those out definitely?

Bukayo is out, that's for sure.

Just to clarify, Mikel Merino is still a little bit away.

Out again.

Just a reflection really on a great week in terms of reaching a semi-final of the Champions League, second time we've done that in two seasons. Only one of the teams in England, six teams to go that far, that must have given a boost around the place.

It was a great night. It really gave us a boost because to be part of those top best European clubs is a big thing and we haven't been that often there so we really value that. We give a huge credit to the players for what they've done, and they have to use that fuel, that energy that they gave us for Sunday, for the big game that we have to play.

That fuel, that energy, that fire that you were speaking about, fire not fear. Was there a little symbol of a fire, a little fire started in the training ground just to kind of illustrate what you were talking about this week?

Every game we use different themes to try to prepare the game in the best possible way and that depends on what we do.

Is it your idea, the players?

The best ones are the players' initiatives. That's the ones I love the most.

This game is obviously a massive game as well, so many here [at the conference]. Where does it sit for you though in terms of the massive games that you've already been in charge of with Arsenal's Champions League semi-finals, etc. Is this the biggest game potentially?

It's certainly the most important one because it's the next one. We have earned the right to be in this position, to be challenging and with the possibility to win and the opportunity to win on Sunday, arguably against the best team and the best manager that this league has ever seen. That's a huge privilege, and we can't wait to play the game, and we're going to prepare the game to win it, that's for sure, and we see that as a big opportunity for us.

Play the game to win it, but obviously a draw would be enough to make sure you're still in your own hands.

I'm not going to spend one second talking about that. We prepare every game to win, that's why we are where we are and we're going to continue to do the same.

Can I just ask one more question on that? The biggest opponent on Sunday, is it going to be City or yourselves?

No. Our team has to give us every tool, every element that we need to go out and win it. We will have a very, very strong opponent, we know that in front of us. We've been doing it for nine months, in every context we have played a lot of games against them and we know what we have to do.

After the Chelsea game, Pep said it's the mindset, not the tactics, especially at this stage of the season and on Sunday, how much the mentality, the resilience, the attitude will be essential, not necessarily just the tactics?

I think it's a big part of that. Everything plays a part in a match. Technique as well, obviously, because without that, there is nothing. But there is obviously a huge part to play in that sense, and we have improved a lot in that area, and we have to show it on Sunday, that's for sure.

Two players I want to ask you about, Declan Rice first of all. After one of the goals you conceded against Bournemouth, quite a few players gathered around him for leadership and guidance. He's been outstanding since he joined from West Ham. This weekend, could that be the biggest Premier League game for him as an Arsenal player?

I don't know, I think it's unquestionable about the role that he has at the club, in the team and he has earned it day by day. The impact that he's had on us and in our way of playing, the way we are competing and where we are, it's a big part because of what he's done and what he's brought to the team as well. So, Sunday is another opportunity for all our players to deliver that again.

Can I please ask you about Max Dowman? If you decide to start him on Sunday because of injuries or other reasons, how confident are you that he's ready for the occasion?

He will be ready, I'm sure. You throw him in any context, this kid, you know what he's going to be delivering and he's shown that this season and in whatever games that we used him.

Pep said that if Arsenal win on Sunday the title race is over. Do you see it like that?

I don't know, there are six games to go. It's a really important one for both teams, and it will incline the balance a little bit, but winning a game in the Premier League is so tough for everybody, so after this one, they will still have some very difficult matches for all of us, and we'll have to wait and continue whatever happens.

It's obviously a massive game during the season because of where the teams are and the history between Arsenal, Manchester City and the Carabao Cup final being so recent. You've spoken before about how everyone at the club wants to win so badly. The same with the supporters. Can that tension come onto the pitch or how do you thrive in those conditions?

No, I think that has to be the vitamin for everybody. In whatever we do, that's going to be what elevates us to be better, to thrive to be better, to have more hunger, more desire to do it but never in a negative way.

Who's under more pressure on Sunday? You because you're out in front, you've been out in front for a long time. What's it to you because they're trying to catch you?

Who's more privileged to be in this position? I think that's the question.

Okay, who's more privileged to be in this position?

I don't know. I feel very privileged so I don't know how to prepare for Man City. I feel very privileged to have earned the right to be in this position to play such a big and great game.

So I ask a question and you re-ask it and when I re-ask it you don't answer anyway. Six injuries. You've got six injuries at the moment. This is not a great time, is it, to be going into a game of this magnitude with so many players out injured?

No, but we have coped with it all seasons and if you look at the stages and the players that we have missed for big, big, big periods and where we are, it's not normal where we are. But we have coped with that because of our mentality and the solutions that we find, the way the players have stepped up in this moment, and we are where we are. We're still very strong, and we'll remain the same way.

Finally, a player you know well, it's the last time you'll be coming up against him, Bernardo Silva. He's leaving City at the end of the season. He's won 15 trophies, been there nearly 10 years. Just outline for us what a magnificent professional he's been in your opinion, not mine.

Incredible player and incredible person as well. The first time I watched him live, he was at PSG vs Monaco. Straight away, I fell in love with him. The way he played, the way he competes, the way he lives the game, the desire, the hunger that he has. We spent four years together. A top guy. You see him in any circumstances, and he always delivers his very best. One of those players that I think has marked history in the Premier League.

Can I just ask on Bukayo, we've seen this week obviously with Hugo Ekitike at Liverpool getting an Achilles injury. How important is it to manage that kind of return because of how big those injuries can be for players when they happen?

I don't know the situation beforehand, but I take the opportunity to hope he recovers very soon because I think he's a tremendous player. With B, we are handling it to protect the play first of all and then to perform as well as he possibly can. The idea is that we can possibly deliver that, so that's a challenge.

Has he been able to come back to train and do all the grass work?

He's just starting to do some stuff so let's see that progression, how quickly we can go through it and then wait. But at the moment it's not available.

Can I ask about Martin Zubumendi? We saw during the Bournemouth match the players getting around him and trying to support him and when we saw him after his Man of the Match the other day they celebrated that with him. Has there been a conscious effort to try and lift him recently?

That's our responsibility, to try to give tools to players to step up, to understand when they are not at their best, what the reason is, to try to unlock that, and he certainly did that the other day.

I guess you've spoken a lot about how much physically he's had to put in this season. Has it been a tough period for him mentally?

I don't know but when you see that reaction it's because the players value everything that he's doing for the team and because of the type of person that he is. And when someone reacts in the manner that he did in a quarter-final in the Champions League to play the way that he did, it's a big credit to him.

When you last played City in the Cup final and they set up with that front four of Haaland, Cherki, Semenyo and Doku, it seemed like there was a real struggle to play through those four. How have you gone back over that game and learned from it?

They've done it in the past. There are some moments that we are so low we didn't make the right decisions. Sometimes we break that press and then we didn't take advantage of that. Every tactic has its issues, its opportunities as well and in relation to what they do, we will adapt, and we will do the same.

Can I ask you about Mosquera because he's been a player that's had to adopt different positions this season, playing internally and also as we saw on Wednesday at right-back. What is it that drew you to him, and how impressed have you been with his adaptation this season at such a young age as well?

That's one of the qualities that we liked about him and when Andrea [Berta] proposed the player he knew him very well from Valencia. We started to analyse him and we needed a player of that profile. It's surprisingly positive the way he's done it because to ask him to settle in the Premier League at this level is one thing. To ask him to play in three different positions regardless of the moment of the position is something else and he's been phenomenal.

On Declan and the captaincy, you said on Wednesday that the players made that decision. What did you mean by that? Was there another vote like in the summer and if so why was that?

No because there is a captain, there is a vice-captain and after that there are three or four and the votes are very small so at the end they have to feel who is the best person to represent. It can be the moment, it can be the longevity that they've been at the club and they decided that it was Declan so great.

Does this have any sort of long-term significance for the captaincy? I presume in Martin's fit he's still captain?

I don't think so.

How relevant is the Carabao Cup final and what happened to Sunday?

For us now? To learn from that game and the things that we want to change for the next one and the pain that we felt afterwards in the right way on Sunday.

You were always obviously so respectful of Pep and the City but in that game Rayan Cherki he was doing keepie-uppies with the ball in play, he was feining injury and sort of goading the Arsenal fans. Do you use any of that as motivation?

No I think every player has his way to express it and you have to respect that. It’s part of football you are allowed to do it and you can react in the manner that you want but I think the player has to be respected because he's entitled to those things.

In the last game up there, obviously that ended with Haaland saying ‘Stay humble’ to you at the end. Did you ever get to the bottom of what that was about?

No.

Did you ever speak to him about it?

No.

Or Pep?

No. If I have to talk about all the things that have been said on the pitch I think we'll have some big meetings.

But it's quite unusual for a player to say that to a manager.

No. Not that much.

Have you heard worse?

Don't worry. The mics are coming in football I don't know when. That's one of the nicest things that you can get told.

Just slightly following on from that, I suppose. Do you expect there will be that fireworks or rivalry on the pitch on Sunday? With that has happened in previous times?

It's obviously an extremely competitive match against top sides that are looking to win the Premier League. It doesn't get better than that and that competition for sure is going to be seen on the pitch.

Do you sense from your players that they'd like to get one over City particularly more than perhaps maybe any other side?

Not in particular. It's about what we want and how we're going to get it done. That's more than enough for us.

I appreciate earlier you said you didn't want to respond directly to Pep's comments that if they lose it's over. But do you feel that if you win it's at least a major step in the right direction?

I mean winning at this stage you are a bit closer. If we win the first game in the semi-final of the Champions League we're going to be closer. That's for sure and that's why we want to win the game on Sunday. That's clear.

On Martin Odegaard. When you look at his season with all the injuries and the setbacks and also his responsibility as being a captain here and for the national team, what does a season like the one Martin has had now reveal to you about a player? What does it tell you about a player, and what has it told you about Martin?

I think it took about five years to talk about the player because I think the sample is much bigger than what Martin has given to this club, to this team, to me in particular. It's huge. And injuries are part of football. He's been very, very unlucky this season. But his hunger and his desire to win with the team is there and every time he plays to see that difference that he makes for us.