Every word Mikel Arteta said on Nottingham Forest, Saliba and Saka injuries, Liverpool backlash

Mikel Arteta was eager to get back to football following the international break, but was delighted with the performances of many of his players, including Mikel Merino's hat-trick, Martin Odegaard’s very impressive displays for Norway, and Noni Madueke’s first goal for England.

Good news came in the form of William Saliba, who was a fitness boost but less so for Bukayo Saka. He responded to questions on his setup at Liverpool and was keen to highlight David Raya’s amazing statistic, which has broken records.

Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest at 12:30pm UK time on Saturday afternoon. Ange Postecoglou returns to the Emirates, and the Spaniard was very complimentary of him.

Here is every word Mikel Arteta said in Friday’s press conference:

Hello there, nice to see you again. I hope you had a nice little break, if you managed to get some time off.

Yes, some time off, some work done to review what we've done in the first part of the season. Watching all the internationals play, and most of them have a very successful time with the national teams.

I'm hoping that everyone came back fit and able to take part.

Yes, very different to last season, so I'm very pleased with that. They had a lot of minutes, some very important impact as well in their games, and everybody's good.

In terms of the injuries we knew about before the international break, I noticed that Bukayo wasn't, certainly the filming part of training, he wasn't out there yesterday.

No, Bukayo is out, still out, and he's trying to get back as quick as possible, but we need to respect that process. Willi trained today, and the rest as usual, and Ben White as well.

Ben White as well?

Yes.

Because he was out there yesterday?

Yes, Ben is OK.

In terms of Bukayo, he's a doubt then, or he's out?

He's out.

So, big games coming up obviously in the Champions League, and then next weekend Manchester City. Are you targeting either of those for him?

Let's see, he's evolving really well. It's very specific work at the moment, and the moment that we increase that load, let's see how he reacts.

So, he's not being ruled out for the next game and the game after that?

Not yet.

And with William Saliba?

Willi trained today, so we have a decision to make whether we play him or not.

Well, that's good news.

Very good news, yeah.

One player that you couldn't talk about before the international break, because you haven't yet got him through the door, but you have now. Hincapie, is that right?

Good spelling, yeah.

Tell us about him and why you wanted him.

Well, he's a player that we've monitored for years, and he became available. Obviously, we had the departure of Jakub as well, and now we needed another player in that position. That could have been great as well, what we had. Playing in a different position, playing in a different formation, a player that obviously has a lot of experience already at his age. So, very, very happy to have him.

And ready to go if selected?

Yeah, he's ready to go. Obviously, he's trained only two days with us. He had a long travel with the national team, a very successful game at the end against Argentina. But overall, he's available, yeah.

Ange is returning to the Emirates. Four times he's tried to beat a Mikel Arteta team and failed every time, lost the last three. Do you expect anything different from him this time with his Nottingham Forest?

Well, I think with Ange, you know, his biggest strength, in my opinion, is the way he's been. He has put his fingerprints in that team, and he has a very clear way of playing, very clear DNA. Extremely good to watch, learned a lot from him, and it will be a very difficult game.

You say it's the same, 'It's who we are, mate.' But clearly, he was adapting that Tottenham side towards the end of the season, playing different kind of football to go on and eventually win that trophy. Do you expect he will adapt now with this new set of players, compared to the start we expect from him?

I don't know, and I cannot control that. So obviously, he's made the decision to go to Forest now, because for sure, he believes that with the players that he has, he can do what he wants to do and be successful again. But obviously, we had very different expectations, if he would have been the manager, because it was already for a long time and very clear what he wanted to do with Ange there. And the time that he had, it would be things that were different for sure.

What problems does it give you as a head coach, the fact that he may be preparing for a different manager and then that change comes?

Well, that you have to focus much more on yourself and improving and taking the game where you want to. Because at the end, now, even if you know the manager, the scenario can change after five minutes, 20 minutes, 60 minutes. I mean, the flexibility, understanding and preparation that goes through now in the Premier League. So what you expect for five minutes is not going to be the same picture for 95 minutes. So that's what we prepare for every single day.

Edu back as well?

Yeah.

Common consensus is that you've just had the best summer transfer window ever in terms of getting your targets and mainly getting them in quickly and without any trouble, with the backing of the ownership obviously and the new recruitment team. Are you almost better now since he's left?

I was very happy with Edu. I think Edu did a tremendous job at this club, especially where the club was at the time. When he joined, he was a big part of that transformation of the football club. And then he decided to leave, and Andrea came in very different circumstances to the club and done incredible job as well. So, good. It's not necessary to compare when you have two people at that level that are both so good.

You said you've been reviewing the first part of the season during the international break. How satisfied are you with where the squad is at this stage?

Well, I wanted nine points instead of six. I think Arne [Slot] explained the game really well after the game when he said, if we play 10 times, only eight times will be a draw. One will be for Arsenal, the other one was for Liverpool. And a magic moment decided that game. So, we want more. We want to want more of those games. And reviewing what we've done and as well the circumstances that we've had, not only in the way that we play but in other areas, there is still room to improve for sure. And that's very good because the team is already at a really high level.

Was it a bad time for the break to come? Did you want to play straight away again?

Yeah, 100%. After the defeat, you want to have a game in the next three days, get it out of the system. But it's what it is. But at the same time, I look at the players' international duties and how they've grown. I mean, the role that they have in the team, the impact that they're having in every single match. And I feel pride because, yeah, they can lose a game and they can go to the national team, they can click again, perform, and most of them win and be very important in those wins.

But a really positive result at the Emirates before that. How important to make the Emirates a fortress this season?

Yeah, that's what we want and we had a really good game against Leeds. It's going to be a very different game against Forest for sure. An early kick-off in front of our people after 10 days. We're looking forward to it.

Just a word on Mikel Mourinho because he scored four goals during the break, including his first-ever hat-trick. Has he asked you to play up front tomorrow?

No, he did it from the midfield.

It's true.

But Mikel has this ability. Yeah, I heard some comments after Liverpool saying we play with three midfielders, defensive midfielders, I think it was the narrative, no? When Mikel has a hat-trick playing as an attacking midfielder, I don't know when he's the last attacking midfielder to score three goals.

So, very interesting to learn what perception is, especially when you lose a football match; how important it is to analyse and understand your players' quality in order to make decisions that are based on what you understand daily, which is very clear as well.

Good to have Ange back in football, good to have big characters.

Very good, I think. As a character, as a person, what he transmits, what he brings to football, it's a joy to watch the team that always enjoyed it and learn from it. So, yeah, very welcome to having him back.

You mentioned about, you know how his team plays because of their DNA. And yet, football, as we saw with England this week, people are starting to play the ball longer, long throws, which you've done for over a season. You've scored a lot of goals from set-pieces and mixed things up. Do you think now, just having one style of play, one bit of DNA, is enough in the Premier League?

I don't know what you're talking about DNA. What does that mean? Does that mean when they have the ball, when the ball is very close to the goalkeeper, when they're in high pressure, when they're in deep, when they have a throw-in? What DNA? So it depends. So, yeah, people will alter their way of playing, their way of thinking, they will tweak things in relation to that. Try to maintain certain ways and certain approaches to the game that they want to play. That's it.

So tell me about your DNA. Arsenal's team DNA.

We can go and do a blood test.

Fair enough. Goalkeeper, David Raya, makes his 100th appearance in all comps for you against Nottingham Forest. 41 clean sheets, nearly 50%. That's pretty good.

Pretty good. It’s the best in the history of the football club.

OK, I'll rephrase the question. Very good. It's very good.

It's unbelievable. And I was hammered when I brought him. So that's perspective as well. Very good to understand the game, and especially when a few months or years go by. It's really good to look back as well and reflect on that.

You're right, people did wonder why you brought him in.

No, it's not. We, we did. And obviously with the help of everybody, I think he has a tremendous impact in the team. So congratulations, because what he's done in that period is an exception.

And finally, I also thought that about Madueke in the summer, Noni Madueke, who, by the way, has just been a star for England. I know you're watching Spain, but England won two games as well. And he's been a star for England. Does that give you a bit of a headache when Bukayo Saka comes back?

I hope so, yeah. When they come, he's in his best condition, and Noni the same, but that's what we want. And I'm very happy to have him. I think looking back at what he's done with the national team as well, I spoke with Thomas as well, very pleased with that. So he's really good. He's in a really, really good moment at the moment.

Can I just ask about Kai Havertz? How is he in a zero-time frame, and when he's going to be coming back to fitness?

Yeah, he's looking really good. I mean, he's working freely. He's starting to load that knee, and start to do some bits. Obviously, as I said before, I think it will take him from weeks to months. But knowing Kai, I cannot give you any timescale, because I know what he's going to try to do, same with Gabi Jesus. So I think he's in a good moment.

It was a very tough decision for him to go and have that procedure done. But I think it was necessary, and it was the right decision from the medical team to persuade him to do that.

And now the window's shut. Piero Hincapie is in. All the players back from international duty. The first time you've probably had the squad here. How do you feel about that? How are the competition levels?

Well, happy, because at the end, through the summer, through pre-season, there are a lot of unknowns and players that I don't really understand their role in the future. And at the end, we have managed to accomplish what we wanted, to take the opportunity as well to say thank you to some of the players that left us after a few years and a great contribution to the club and the team. Wish them all the very best. And now we have clarity. This is the squad that we have here at least until January. I'm very pleased with it.

And now the window is shut, I suppose the work moves to keeping the players here that you have. So how are the discussions going around the futures and contracts for Bukayo Saka and William Saliba?

That never stops. But I think the collaboration between the club and what Andrea is doing and the agent is very, very, very good. I think the good thing is that the players want to remain here and they want to be a big part of the history of this club in the next few years. And that's always positive. And Andrea will drive that and see where we go.

Can I just double-check on Saliba? Did you say he trained?

Yeah, he trained today.

Was that his first session back?

He trained today.

Okay. And also I noticed during the break you did the talk with Steve Kerr. And in that he said something quite interesting about, I guess, groups needing kind of a joker.

About Dennis Rodman?

Yeah. And I was just wondering, in a football sense rather than personality, is there room for a joker in a Mikel Arteta field?

Well, I don't know if there is room for a joker in this society, in this industry, in football right now. I don't know if that will be respected and viewed as something positive to that. I think the credit as well went to Phil Jackson, how he managed that personality. You can name him as you wanted.

But when he had to compete, he helped them to win major trophies and he was instrumental in that. And he managed to deal with his character in a really smart way to get the best out of him. And that's at the end. You can call it as you want. We have 19 different nationalities, 26 different players. We have to live with them. And I'm willing to get the best out of them. That's it.

In that, I was also referring to him as someone who does things a bit differently. Do you see space for someone like that on the football pitch, not just about their personality and how they are?

About the players you mean?

Yeah.

Especially when he's effective and what he had to do on the road, having a team, he was the best in the league. So you have somebody that does something different to help you to win football matches. More than welcome.

I'd just like to go back to what you said there about the perception off the back of the Liverpool game. Your team had more shots in that game, slight more for expected goals. Why do you think the perception is that your team is negative? Because that generally seems to be the conversation around you since that game.

Well, I don't know because I don't read that. But obviously, after reviewing the match and analysing it, it's a very different perspective or opinion than the one that I have in relation to that. You have to respect every opinion. At the end, the opinion is going to be different if you win or lose. You have to accept that.

Just a follow-up. You've probably now at the end of the window got two top players in every position. It's the manager's dream really. But how are you going to keep them all happy?

Well, the same as the other top teams. Nothing different. So that's what we have to do.

You mentioned earlier that the players' current match fit is different to what happened last season. Do you think with the squad you've got now, you're in a better position to negotiate this period of stop-start with the international break?

Negotiate in what sense?

As in player availability and being able to get everyone through this next week.

Yes, for sure. I think that's what we've done. Because last year we were much shorter especially in certain positions. And now I think we have better depth, better quality, better options as well because some players can play in two or three different positions. Which is great to have and it's going to give us very different options.

And just on Ange, obviously, he's got this very distinctive style of play which is very different to how Forest used to play. So is it quite hard to kind of anticipate what you're going to face tomorrow because it's the first time we've seen an Ange Postecoglou not in Forest's team?

Before the game, yes. But the moment the game starts, after five minutes, we'll see very clear behaviours, what they want to do. And that's what we have prepared.

And just finally, just in the wider one in terms of the title race, Liverpool obviously signed Isak right at the end of the window. How do you think that changes the title race overall?

Well, they are the strongest for sure. They have recruited probably the most, the two most decisive players that there were in Europe in the market. And they've done really well to recruit that. They were very, very strong. I think we need to look at ourselves and what we have to do in terms of our abilities to be better than them, that's it.

I want to ask you about a coaching question quickly. Players in general have changed, evolved, and so has the system over the five years that you've been manager. There's a discussion at the moment, I think, around some of the players who had some real peaks a couple of seasons ago and perhaps their output has slightly dipped in the last couple of seasons. As a manager, how do you tackle when that happens where a player's gone through a big rise and maybe their output has slightly gone down recently?

Well, that normally happens as well, especially with attacking players in relation to what they have provided. But that's a very volatile thing and you have to recognise that. First of all, look at yourself. So if you are doing something that is not helping enough their qualities or to get in a position that they can express better or have a better chance to exploit their qualities there, then communicate with them as well. It's something quite normal in football, especially for attacking players that have to create those moments.

Is there ever a fear about over-coaching a player from a manager's perspective?

It can be, yeah. Or coaching them badly. It's like communication on the pitch. You can say, no, I want you guys to coach. Yeah, coach, but coach well. Because coaching badly is a terrible thing to do. It's better not to coach than be on mute and coach badly. So, yeah, that's always a line that is very important.

Just on one on Madueke. You spoke about him a bit earlier, but obviously when it emerged that he was going to join Arsenal there was a bit of a backlash amongst the fans and all that sort of stuff. I just wanted to get your opinion on how impressive he's been in the sense that he's been able to block that out as he scored for England, he started to go across. How impressive mentally has that been?

Well, I can talk about what I've seen and what I've experienced and I think the welcoming that our supporters gave to Noni from day one was incredible. So, I don't know other ways that people communicated the disagreement with that, but our supporters they've been exceptional and rightly so because he's an unbelievable player.

Just a quick follow-up on the title race question, how difficult will it be to stop Liverpool this year?

It's not about Liverpool, it's about the league in general and how difficult it's going to be with the level that it is to be so consistent and winning the amount of matches that you need to earn the right to win the Premier League and that's going to be a really long run for all of us.

Just on Gabriel Jesus, he was left out of the Champions League squad for the league phase, which I think surprised a few people because we've seen videos of him out on the pitch training with the football and that sort of stuff. What was the thought process in that that leaped him out and how far away are we from Gabriel Jesus?

Well, he had a major surgery that he was going to take in many many months so after discussing that with the medical staff and understanding the schedule that we had and when we thought that he could be available, that it would be between December and January, we decided to make that call like we've done in the past with other players. Hopefully, we get it wrong and he comes back earlier but at the moment the provision was very clear.

December time is when you're looking at it?

To start training with the team it was around that time in the schedule that we had.