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Mikel Arteta faced the media following Arsenal's match against Slavia Prague, and football.london have every word following his press conference
Mikel Arteta faced the media after his Arsenal side defeated Slavia Prague 3-0 in the Champions League.
It was an impressive performance from the Gunners, with Bukayo Saka opening the scoring in the first half. The England star struck from the penalty spot after VAR intervened following Lukas Provod's handball.
And things got better in the second period, with Mikel Merino notching a brace to complete the perfect result for the visitors. The first came from a brilliant Leandro Trossard cross while the second saw him get on the end of a Declan Rice free-kick.
Here is every word Mikel Arteta said in Tuesday night's press conference:
Congratulations on the win. What did you make of the performance?
Thank you. I'm very happy, it was a little bit of a win in a row, we haven't seen that before. A really tough place to come, I told the boys. The game that we had to expect, a team that is super intense, very direct, man-to-man. So very short sequences of play, a lot of fouls, a lot of restarts, very difficult to get any fluency in the match.
But if we were patient and emotionally controlled, we were going to have our chances and the way they set up. And we did that. I think the margin was, at the end, it looked comfortable, but I don't think it was a comfortable match at all. And not only the win, but as well the fact that we have some players that haven't played much, playing, performing really well. Mikel is stepping up as a nine and scoring two goals. Max is making his debut, probably the youngest ever. Andre as well, so a lot of positives tonight.
Can I just ask about Mikel Merino, the values that he gives you as a player? He's one of the leaders in the squad and again stepping up as a striker.
It’s a joy to have him, I would say the same thing. It's his versatility on the pitch, the things that he can do. It's his mindset, it's his leadership, it's the way he is as a person. Today we are missing a lot of attacking players and we have to find different solutions. He comes in Champions League and scores two goals.
You mentioned Max, obviously it's been an amazing week for him. Last week he became the youngest player to start a game for Arsenal and today the youngest in the Champions League. What is it about him that makes him so mature for his age and able to handle that?
What he's done on the pitch, he comes in the first ball, he takes people on and starts to dribble, gets a foul. That's personality, that's courage, and you cannot teach that. You have it or you don't and it doesn't matter what his passport says, you throw him in this context and he's able to adapt and have a good performance. I'm really happy with that.
Just on the defence, it's eight clean sheets now for the first time since 1903. That's a remarkable record. Could you say something about that achievement?
That's a long time ago, so it tells you about the difficulty of achieving it. There's a lot of work there to achieve that. The most pleasing thing is probably not the record, it's the mindset of the players. They are talking about how we can still do better. There was one or two situations that we could have resolved better. If we do that, we can keep improving and that record will have a bigger meaning.
Just on that clean sheet record, at the end, it very much looked like you might lose that. I did notice that as the referee was going over, you were applauding him going to check the screen. What were your emotions thinking that you might lose that record?
I wasn't happy at all. I clearly saw that there could never be a penalty, but he made the decision. So, yes, well done because he was really honest. I think, obviously, it’s not a penalty. I want to maintain that [record] because I think that gives you something to defend as well and to merit. It would have been a bit sloppy to give it away that way.
It was the first time that we saw Piero Hincapie start at a left-back. What did you make of his performance in that role?
Yes, I was very happy. He can play in those two positions as a centre-back or full-back today, the way we have to set up and the situation that we have to imagine with the ball. I wanted to have him low in that side. I think he was really good, really strong, really efficient and really good because now he's got some minutes in the last week with two games and the last minute against Burnley. So, we're getting him up to speed.
Four years ago, there was that 5-0 defeat to Man City, and now you have this incredible clean sheet record. Can you talk about how you went step by step to go from one end of the spectrum to the other?
You mean the one that after 27 minutes, Granit Xhaka was sent off?
Yes.
Man City, the best Man City with 70 minutes to play. It can happen. That's a long time ago. We're in a really different situation right now and we still have to improve a lot.
Your players seem to be celebrating every time they put a block in or actually deny a shot on target. People take all the pride in not keeping clean sheets, but have they transitioned to shots on targets now? They don't even want to let that.
Well, because if we are able to nullify that from the opposition, obviously, the opposition has very restricted ways to score a goal. Today, we gave them a few moments, especially in open spaces, that we could have done better. Overall very happy.
Just on something Myles mentioned last week, I know you spoke about the “Our House” terminology about the Emirates and you said the context is slightly different when you go away from home. I was just wondering what you feel is so different about these away trips when you're defending those moments?
Well, the energy, the belief. We come to a place where they create a special atmosphere. You saw that from the beginning. They haven't lost at home here all season. So they have that winning habit, and that's very difficult to turn around. We need to understand that. We knew that the first 15-20 minutes were going to be very little play and we have to be very conscious of that and accept it. Then start to change it throughout the first half and we've done that. I think the team showed a lot of maturity again.
William Saliba seemed to be stepping into midfield more often tonight. Was that more so because Martin Zubimendi wasn't playing or is that something you'd like to see him doing a bit more often?
That was related about the way they press and the way the nine makes the press and where we could find certain advantages in time because if not, everything is not absolutely man-to-man and it's a really difficult game to play constantly, especially after the direct play. We could have done better. It's something we haven't had time to train really. So to have more solutions and to try things and to especially put players in their qualities with a bit more time on the ball is something that I wanted to try.
You said yesterday about the injuries you have in the front line. After that performance with Mikel Merino, in some ways, you've got the options there, haven't you, despite the injuries?
Yeah, you have to invent options. You can always have options if you invent them. Obviously, Mikel hasn't played there before in his career but we had a good experience of last season and the way he reacted and performed in that position. Obviously, we believe that today, the way they were set up as well, was a good chance for him to perform.
What have you done with him in particular to help him finish? For example, with Spain this season, he's been bagging shed loads of goals there as well. So what is it that's changed?
My view was always he had really good timing and capacity to finish in the box, especially one touch. And then talking to him and making sure that he plays closer to the box and he identifies the opportunities, the timing, the way he needs to attack the spaces in relation to how they defend the box, which today was a bit different as well, the way they set up. And then it's obviously his quality he will need to learn and practise every day.
Your old boss Arsene Wenger used to say confidence goes quickly but it comes slowly. How would you say the confidence in the team is right now? How do you maintain that confidence within this group of players?
Well, first of all, feeling prepared. So now it's about the next game and feeling prepared, doing the right things to get to the game with a lot of clarity and in a really good emotional state. And I'm sure we will do that. And then performing at this level to make it really difficult for the opponent and try to win the game.
And a quick word on Jurrien Timber. His performance is coming in leaps and bounds, both ends of the pitch. After that horrendous injury, he really settled in. And he probably doesn't get the recognition of some of the players, but what a player he makes this team. It's incredible.
Extraordinary. For me, he's been phenomenal in every department. I think he's taken his level and the team's level to a different dimension. Again, his courage, the way he penetrates, the way he wins the duels, the way he understands the game, the way he wants to make things happen. A big example for the rest of his teammates.
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