Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's Champions League group, transfers on deadline day and the challenge of facing Manchester United
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00:00 We'll go into a 10.30 tonight and a 10.30 Saturday. Are the cameras ready at the back?
00:18 Are we ready to roll? OK, we're ready to roll. We'll kick off with Gary from Sky Sports.
00:22 Hello, Mikel. Thanks for your time. Three out in the last week - Flo, Kieran, Nuno today.
00:30 Good thing for them and for the club?
00:33 Well, we're working together to find the best possible solutions and we found them.
00:38 I think the players are happy and the club in general. I think we did some good business as well.
00:45 With Balogun, it's obviously a permanent deal and a good deal as well because pure profit,
00:51 an academy graduate and I think a 17.5 per cent salon clause as well.
00:55 Well, we didn't have enough space for him in the squad to give him the minutes that he needs
01:00 and he did really well last year in his long period and he's evolving the right way.
01:05 He wanted as well the chance to continue developing his career.
01:09 He's going to a really good club. They have huge experience in developing talent, as everybody knows.
01:15 So, really happy for him as well.
01:17 It's deadline day. Are you as excited as the rest of us?
01:22 You should be excited. You've been doing that for many months.
01:25 I think it's the end, at least here in the UK. Not everywhere, but at least here.
01:30 So, yeah, let's finish it in the right way.
01:33 Mikel, Arteta, deadline day. MADD. Is it going to be a mad one or a serene one for you?
01:41 For me, serene. I don't have to do much more work. It's more all the recruitment, everyone, the boys,
01:46 trying to finalise a few things still today.
01:48 And there's no going out, obviously, because you did your business for Inns early on.
01:54 Yes.
01:55 Can you bear with us if I play a little game of stay or go?
02:00 In what sense? Please come in, you mean? I don't expect anybody to come in.
02:03 Stay or go. Rub holding. Stay or go.
02:07 I'm not going to reply to anything. You know that.
02:10 So, it's not stay or go. It's no.
02:12 There is nobody else coming in. We don't expect. That's all I can say.
02:17 On stay or go, obviously not staying with you in this international break, but going on England duty.
02:23 Eddie, are you pleased for him?
02:25 So pleased. If someone deserves in this squad, that's him as well.
02:29 An academy player that had some moments, you know, when his pathway wasn't very clear and he had to fight it through.
02:37 And I just love his mentality, his work rate, how much he loves this game and how hard he's fought,
02:43 you know, to be recognised at that level in this country to play there.
02:47 You have to be phenomenal at something.
02:50 And I'm so happy for him.
02:52 Do you take personal pride in the part you've played?
02:55 I think, well, I think everybody that has been involved in his development,
02:59 obviously, feels extremely proud to be part of that journey with him, you know,
03:02 and everybody that was here at the academy with him,
03:05 everybody that has been in that journey, his family, for sure, they're extremely proud of him.
03:09 So, really nice moment for him.
03:11 Manchester United, always a big game.
03:14 How important is it that you put down a marker this early in the season with a victory?
03:19 Well, that's what we want, obviously.
03:20 We know that the history between the two clubs and the games that we had in the past as well,
03:24 last year was a really good example.
03:26 So it's going to be an extremely competitive match, really a big battle on Sunday.
03:32 And obviously we want to come away from that with three points.
03:36 Alice from the Premier League.
03:38 Hi, Mikel. On Manchester United on Sunday, as Gary touched on there,
03:41 billed by many as a huge fixture despite how early into the season we are just now.
03:46 How much do you view this meeting as an early indicator of both clubs' credentials for the Premier League title?
03:51 I don't know. I think it's dire early in the season, you know.
03:54 We all want to win games, we want to play the best possible way,
03:58 and that is not going to dictate.
04:00 It's just that obviously it gives you momentum, it gives you belief.
04:03 And before the international break, it's always very important to finish well,
04:08 to win your game and go back now in September with another block of games before the next one with a high.
04:15 Both these fixtures last season between you and United were pretty gripping.
04:18 I think nine goals scored between you.
04:21 What is it about this encounter that makes it such a high-scoring fixture?
04:24 Well, first of all, the quality of the players, obviously.
04:27 There are a lot of offensive top players in the two teams,
04:31 and as well probably the approach of both teams, the way they want to play.
04:36 There were some errors as well there involved, which hopefully we can eradicate as well.
04:43 But normally it's a very entertaining match.
04:45 You remain unbeaten after three games, seven points from nine,
04:50 a return only vetted by Man City so far.
04:52 You spoke, though, of your frustration at points lost in Saturday's draw against Fulham.
04:57 How much do you feel that last season's title challenge has raised expectations
05:01 around the club's ambitions this season for yourself personally and also for your fans?
05:05 We raise the level in everything that we do every single year,
05:08 and we have to demand each other more and better.
05:10 And this is what we do.
05:12 And when you see the reaction when you draw a match,
05:15 I think it's a great indicator of where you want to be and the demands that you put to yourself.
05:21 And finally for me, you've been fairly experimental in your line-ups and your open games so far,
05:26 compared to last season at least.
05:27 So I just wonder, how happy are you with the effect that those changes have had on your team as a whole?
05:32 And how happy are you with your players up to now?
05:34 Really happy. I said against Fulham, after watching the game twice, that we played 10 times better.
05:40 I don't know if it was six or 10, but we definitely played six or 10 times much better.
05:45 But this is about results.
05:46 And one thing is to play really well and the other one to compete really well.
05:50 And what we didn't do is we had to compete in certain moments the best possible way to do that.
05:55 But play 10 times better. I reaffirm you again.
06:00 Mikel, just on that, what is it that this formation that you played last week and this defence that you like so much that makes you play 10 times better?
06:09 What formation is it?
06:10 Well, you're at the fore at the back, Partey at right back, then you've got Benwick, Gabriel and then Kyrie at left back.
06:15 What did you like so much about that?
06:18 I think we discuss formations in a different way.
06:22 The other day there were 36 different formations in the match.
06:26 Against Manchester City, 43.
06:31 So I don't know what formation we talk about.
06:34 For me, it's something very different. Maybe for the eyes that you look.
06:37 No, no, but I think a lot of people look at the teams you've picked and say that the back four you picked last season was so successful.
06:47 Ah, the personnel is different, yeah.
06:50 So is there a chance that you could revert back to that for the Man United game on Sunday?
06:53 Well, I played differently against Manchester City and there were 43 different structures in different phases.
07:01 Every morning I come from my house to Colney.
07:05 Sometimes I leave at six and I need to go in the windscreen because it's icy.
07:10 And at six o'clock normally I go Finsbury Road and then A41 because it's faster.
07:15 Now Finsbury Road is 20 miles an hour.
07:17 So sometimes I take a back door. But then I go on M25.
07:21 But depending if it's a school ride, at that time I take one exit.
07:25 If it's after seven o'clock, I take a different exit and then I go.
07:30 And one day I have a flat tyre. What do I do? I have to replace it.
07:32 Maybe I take a different road because the garage is there.
07:35 So every game is a different story, guys. Different story.
07:39 In that case then, forgive me, but are you tempted to play the side that was so successful for you last season?
07:46 I cannot do that. I have different players.
07:50 I cannot do that.
07:52 Zinchenko was injured, Granit is not here. How can I do that?
07:55 Unless we bring them back, I think it's not going to happen.
07:59 It's different and it's going to be different.
08:01 And it's going to be different because it's a different season and this is the beauty of it.
08:05 The beauty of the thing that I enjoy the most, that is new.
08:08 And we can still do much, much better, a lot of things. Let's do that.
08:12 And Zinchenko, will he be back for Sunday? Because he's so critical to the way you play.
08:18 Zinchenko is a really important player for us.
08:21 Like it was Jurien. What Jurien was giving us in the first few games, it was incredible.
08:26 But he wasn't there, so we have to do something else.
08:28 And we have another injury, and we're going to have to do something else.
08:31 And if Bukayo is not there, we're going to have to do something else.
08:34 So the N25 won't be good enough. Maybe we take another one.
08:37 But if I speak to a taxi driver that has learned the whole of London for 20 years,
08:43 I know nothing compared to him because he will tell me all the streets and options and the best times.
08:48 N25 is very bad at the moment, by the way.
08:50 I know. Depending on what time, though.
08:53 I'm telling you, at 6am it's okay.
08:56 At 6am, take it. It's the fastest way.
08:59 You've spoken already about Eddie Nketi and Alpe Dijon, about him being in England squad.
09:05 Are you surprised that Ben White has been over it again by Gareth Southgate?
09:09 Ben has been incredible since the start of the season again.
09:13 And obviously we know that he was there.
09:16 And what happened is totally down to Southgate and him to make that decision,
09:23 that call whenever it is necessary.
09:25 But he certainly has the level, and I think he's proven that over the last few years.
09:29 There's been speculation about Emile Smith-Rose's future this week.
09:32 Will he still be an Arsenal player coming into the transfer window?
09:35 If so, what sort of role will he play for you this season?
09:37 The role like everybody else does, is to try to give his best to make the team better.
09:43 And your thoughts on the Champions League draw that Arsenal have been given yesterday?
09:47 It was, first of all, great to see that.
09:49 I was there with my kids, waiting for it.
09:51 They were betting on it, and it was a great fun.
09:55 It is what it is. We don't have any say on that.
09:58 Some beautiful games to play, some very difficult matches to play as well.
10:01 I'm very looking forward to starting that journey.
10:04 Lastly, does it make you even more excited for the Champions League this season?
10:08 Sorry?
10:09 Does it make you even more excited now you know the draw for the Champions League?
10:11 For sure. We were waiting for it. You just want to understand who you're playing.
10:14 Once we get the fixtures and the date, even more, so we can start really preparing for those games.
10:20 Is that a competition you think Arsenal can win this year?
10:23 Well, we are participating, so we have a chance.
10:25 But let's start with the first game and see what we get.
10:29 Thank you.
10:31 When Timber got injured, there was an expectation from the outside right or wrongly
10:37 that you would go into the market and maybe sign another defender.
10:40 Now you're saying you're not expecting anyone else to come in.
10:44 What happened? Did you not find the right player?
10:47 Did you decide you got the options internally?
10:49 Well, we've done quite a lot, and obviously we have a lot of uncertainty with a lot of players as well.
10:54 So we have to be very cautious and find alternatives and ways.
11:01 It's not sometimes that you want to do everything that is needed.
11:04 Sometimes it's not possible and we have to adapt.
11:06 So was it a case then that had you been able to get players out there?
11:09 Yeah, we cannot go and buy another three players.
11:11 And if somebody gets injured, a long time, do something else.
11:15 It was just not possible.
11:17 United signed Rasmus Hoyland for a lot of money in the summer.
11:21 He hasn't played in England yet. How much do you know about him?
11:25 I prefer not to speak about players of his league.
11:28 He's a huge talent and everybody is talking really highly of him.
11:31 And he will have to prove that in this league.
11:34 I'm just wondering how unpredictable it makes United or preparing to face United
11:38 when you don't know where they'll play with that big money.
11:41 I don't know. Like any other club, they will try to get their squad at the highest level
11:47 with all the different qualities that they need to challenge for all the trophies.
11:51 And I'm sure that's what they're trying to do.
11:53 You spoke about how happy you are for Eddy this week.
11:59 Is it arguably going to be even more difficult now to make that decision up top
12:02 because Gabriel Jesus is back fit?
12:04 And would you feel more difficult leaving Eddy out if you need to do that on Sunday?
12:08 No, I don't see it that way.
12:12 I just see pride there and I see a player that at the end is something that has happened for a reason.
12:21 And the reason is the way he pushes everybody, the way he pushes himself every single day
12:25 to be as best as he possibly can.
12:27 And that's the headache that he gives us every single day.
12:30 I said it when I didn't play against Man City, what he did it.
12:34 And I'm sure that everybody he's been with, when he's been with United 18, 19, 21, 23,
12:39 his senior team is going to be doing the same with every manager.
12:42 Just on Emil, have you had any conversations with him since he's come back from such a successful England
12:48 under the 21 Euros, just to say that this is my plan for you this season, this is where we put you in the squad?
12:53 Or is it sort of letting him get on with it on the training ground?
12:55 No, obviously I had conversations with him and it's important for him to understand where he is.
13:00 And it was always going to be tricky the first three or four weeks, not for us, but for all the clubs.
13:04 And you see all the rumours and all the players that are not playing that are unhappy
13:08 and not only in this country but in every country because it's one game per week for a month.
13:14 And everybody's going with a new season with huge aspirations and there are no minutes for everybody.
13:19 And September will be very different.
13:21 You mentioned 36 and I think 43 different formations in those games.
13:27 Can every professional footballer do that?
13:29 Or when you recruit do you have to look for players that can take those kind of things on board?
13:33 No, every player has to do it. Unconsciously it's possible.
13:39 But every player has to do it. Some of them do it consciously, unconsciously, provoking the right thing,
13:44 making the right decision and others just do it naturally and they are in the wrong position a lot.
13:48 But that happens in the game, that's a fact.
13:51 It's like your battery life is two hours, two and a half hours.
13:54 In football there are that many structures that happen in a football match.
13:58 Is that changed in the modern game or were you a player that would have to do a similar thing when you played?
14:03 Depends a lot on the position.
14:05 Against Man City there were more because they changed formation more.
14:08 So it's a lot of sequences of play that permitted more structures. So it was different.
14:13 Okay, we're now going to 1030 tonight that finish the live section so