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Arsenal take on Aston Villa looking to secure a first Premier League away victory for more than a month following draws at Sunderland and Chelsea
Mikel Arteta promised one day he might copy Jose Mourinho’s line-up surprise, but the guarded manager is reluctant to give his rivals any advantage.
The Gunners take on Aston Villa looking to secure a first Premier League away victory for more than a month following draws at Sunderland and Chelsea.
Their win over Brentford came at a cost, with both Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera coming off with problems, which Arteta then failed to give much insight into.
“Well, let's see,” Arteta replied. “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.”
It was put to Arteta that he is rather guarded when it comes to his team news and asked whether he was aware that Jose Mourinho, once in 2005 before a Champions League clash with Barcelona, named his team a day in advance.
“I will do that one day,” Arteta replied. “He’s been in the game for how long? 25 years? That will happen at one point. Knowing Jose very well, the message is very clear and with a very clear purpose as well.”
Arteta explained his cautiousness about providing details surrounding player concerns is two-fold. “Yes,” Arteta replied when asked whether his coyness came from not wanting to provide an insight to his opponent. “And sometimes the reality is that I have not decided the line-up.”
The depth of the Arsenal squad has allowed them, despite their prolonged injury crisis, to deal with the schedule and absent players. “Well, we have already used [the depth] in a great way, not only the depth as well,” Arteta said.
“But the versatility of the squad and the players that we have in certain positions to fulfil roles for periods of time that have been challenging in one specific line.”
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane has already gone as far to suggest the title race is over when speaking on The Overlap.
Similarly to his reluctance on providing team news, however, Arteta remained prudent when it was put to him the Irishman’s confidence in his side’s supposed inevitability for the English top-flight crown.
“I don't know. We know the reality that we played every three days, the quality of opposition that we have and how tough it is to win a football match, and we sense it three days before, the week before, and that's the reality in the league. So we just try to be as good as we can every day and day by day.
Aston Villa will be trying to change the rhetoric and solidify their own claims to be included in the conversation. Their form had Arteta in agreement with the Villans' quality but was keen to point out the other factors that might have led to their position in the table.
“Yeah, exactly, I fully agree with that,” he said. “There is the level, and there is the schedule that each team has had. Which games have they played at home and away? There are a lot of factors, and we are still very early in the season.”
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