Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on transfers, injuries and excitement for the new Premier League season as they prepare to face Wolves
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00:00How are you, bro?
00:01Yeah, but don't you think you're short, expecting him to come on TV?
00:04No, they're going to complain, it's too cold, it's too cold.
00:07It's a bit cold.
00:09How's the cold, please?
00:10It's fine, thank you.
00:13Welcome back, everyone, happy new season.
00:16We'll kick off today with the usual live section,
00:18then we'll go into a 10.30 tonight.
00:21As always, I'll ask if the camera's ready, we're all good.
00:24So to kick off the season, we'll start with Gary from Sky Sports.
00:28Hello, Michael, happy new season.
00:31You said last week that Durian should be ready for the start of the season, is he?
00:35Yeah, I think he will be in the squad for tomorrow, yeah.
00:38Obviously, he's got such a tight time,
00:40it's his second start for Arsenal in the Premier League, potentially.
00:45Yes, obviously he had a really tough period,
00:49but he used it in a great way, I think,
00:51because he still managed to get a lot of things done
00:55and improve in many areas that, except for playing,
00:58he found really, really helpful, I think.
01:00And now he looks ready and he will have the chance.
01:04Fabio Villar, the same?
01:06Fabio, yeah, we have to check him now after training how he is,
01:09but he looked better today.
01:11And with Tommy Asser and Thierry, a little bit more of a wait?
01:15Yeah, they will be a few weeks behind still.
01:18Any other injuries too?
01:20No, the rest is everything is fine.
01:22Eric Ten Hag and other managers have spoken to you this week.
01:27Because of the summer and all the finals and tournaments that have gone on,
01:32they're saying they're actually probably not ready for the start of the season yet.
01:37Has a team at Arsenal ready?
01:40Well, we are really excited.
01:42We've been missing the competition for many weeks, too long for us.
01:46We are so willing to start, really enthusiastic about it.
01:50But we had a really, I think, challenging pre-season,
01:55but we have managed to adapt.
01:57And it was a great challenge, I think, for everybody to adapt,
01:59different groups, different stages, playing different conditions.
02:02And we took it as an opportunity and a good challenge.
02:06And the team has looked really sharp and are really at it and desperate to play.
02:12If William Saliba is involved, it will break a bit of an Arsenal record.
02:18He will become the fastest Arsenal player ever, if you win,
02:22to be involved in 53-point balls.
02:26So if you win another record, the more records you can get,
02:30particularly for players like that, the better.
02:32Yeah, let's earn the right to beat a very good Wolves side
02:36and hopefully we can achieve another one.
02:39Because it took you 77 games to be involved in 53-point balls.
02:42So come on, lift your game.
02:46Yeah, that's why they are much better than we used to be.
02:50I've checked my pockets, I've got my keys, I've got my wallet, I've got my phone.
02:55There's been reports of you trying to get the best out of your players,
02:58the game of your reservations, in summer.
03:03How important is it that you keep the players on their toes at all times?
03:08Well, it's the demands that we put internally,
03:11that they have to be much higher than anybody can ever think of putting us
03:16in any position that we feel the pressure.
03:18And that's the level that we have to hit every single day here.
03:21And if we do that, our level will increase and everybody will be benefited to that.
03:31Does Mikel like Mikel?
03:33Sorry, sorry?
03:34Does Mikel like Mikel?
03:37If I like myself, you mean?
03:40You know that I cannot talk about any other player.
03:45But that area of the pitch, if you could find somebody that could come and help,
03:49because you've got a busy schedule, potentially 60 games or more,
03:52a lot of infielders, but quality is always something you're looking for
03:56if you could find one player in that area particularly.
03:59After the season we had two objectives, the main one and the most important one
04:03is make sure that we're still very, very much in love with our players
04:07and find ways to improve them because that's the main thing.
04:10And then, OK, if there are certain opportunities in the market
04:13to improve the squad, certainly we have to look at that.
04:16And that's what we're trying to do.
04:26While the market is open, things can happen and that's always a possibility.
04:36With such high margins that you lost the title out to Man City,
04:40but you had so many great aspects in terms of a club record,
04:4428 Premier League wins, a Premier League club record goal scored,
04:50and you conceded a Premier League club record low 29 goals.
04:55What do you think this time around it will take to win the title
04:58given all of those incredible numbers last night?
05:01Break more of those records again and earn more points for sure
05:05because it won't be enough.
05:07With the level that we are competing with and every season is getting harder,
05:11we're going to have to improve again for sure.
05:13Will it take a perfect season to win the title this time around?
05:17Well, perfect, I don't know what perfect is,
05:19but it has to be very close to the numbers that we've seen in recent years,
05:23that's for sure.
05:25I think you kind of touched on it before,
05:27but how excited are you personally about the challenge of taking this team
05:30and competing for the title once again?
05:33It's great.
05:34When you're looking ahead and you see everything that we are doing
05:38and everybody is so enthusiastic about it,
05:40that willingness to improve, to get better, to keep demanding each other,
05:44to look for higher ceilings, this is what I think everybody needs.
05:50It's motivating, it's inspiring.
05:52Every day is something new to look at.
05:55We have created that culture and we're going to keep going.
06:00Gary kind of mentioned how you try and keep your players on their toes.
06:04What keeps you motivated and back here again, ready to go again,
06:09what kind of keeps you motivated?
06:11Just looking around and the people that I work with every single day,
06:15that they are ready, that they bring in ideas,
06:18that they are so willing to work,
06:20that they are ruthless about the vision that we have
06:23and what we want to achieve.
06:25And then obviously the players,
06:27the energy that they come in the building every day.
06:31Their ability always to put a smile on my face,
06:34regardless of what happens,
06:36and they make me enjoy my job.
06:39And that's the biggest motivation.
06:41And in terms of tomorrow,
06:43obviously they have lost to Mexico and they've lost to Inter,
06:47so how do you view the test tomorrow?
06:49It's really tough.
06:51We always have a big challenge to beat them.
06:54Gary and the coaching staff,
06:56they've done an exceptional job.
06:58It's a really competitive match.
07:01They are really tricky to attack.
07:03They are very tricky to contend with
07:05because they create chances in various ways.
07:10We need to be at our best and if we do that,
07:12we'll have a good chance to win the game.
07:16After finishing so strongly at the back end of last season,
07:19how hungry have the players been this summer
07:21to get back to competitive action?
07:23Since the last day,
07:25I think we had my gathering together
07:29with all the club players,
07:30and the players were coming to me and said,
07:32we're going to do it next year, we're going to be better,
07:34we want more.
07:35And when you see them doing that,
07:37they are the ones driving that ambition,
07:40so that's always positive.
07:42You've spoken a lot about the importance
07:44of the connection between the team
07:46and our supporters in the stadium.
07:48How important is it for that tomorrow?
07:51Yeah, we need to make another step there.
07:53This season has to be better than last season.
07:56From day one, if we can create that,
07:58and we have to give them a lot of reasons
08:00to feel that way,
08:01and hopefully the team will do that,
08:03I'm sure that they're going to respond.
08:05It was unbelievable the other day against Lyon already,
08:08the surroundings of the stadium,
08:10so I expect a big one tomorrow again.
08:15In the second two years in a row,
08:18everyone expecting you to challenge again for the title,
08:21how do you feel ahead of a new title challenge?
08:25Again, very excited.
08:27You are trying to climb to the highest mountain,
08:30the most difficult lake in the world,
08:33and you feel surrounded by a lot of people
08:36that are having the same ambition
08:38every single day to achieve it,
08:40so we're certainly going to try.
08:42You've strengthened in defence with Ricardo Calviori
08:45and Jürgen Timbers back for this new season,
08:47which is great for you.
08:48Lots of options,
08:49but how important is it for those players as well
08:52to keep themselves sharp and have that competitiveness?
08:54Yeah, availability in the back line was a big issue for us.
08:57We were really, really short in numbers,
08:59and thanks God that we had especially Ben,
09:02Willy and Gabi fully fit almost the whole season.
09:06But you cannot replicate that.
09:08Two seasons in a row, more demands, more games,
09:10and we had to put another player in that back line.
09:15OK.
09:18Hi, Miguel. Are you all right?
09:19Good, thank you.
09:20How much pressure are you putting on yourself this year
09:22to win the title?
09:23For me, it's the enthusiasm to do better, you know,
09:26and when the task sets are already done,
09:31the last one is to win it.
09:33You know that, so we are focusing in the process
09:36of what we need to do to give ourselves
09:38the best chance to achieve it,
09:40and that's the demands that we put every single day on us.
09:43You say you need to be better than last year
09:45to overcome City, but Arsenal in the last four years
09:49have improved every year on their points tally.
09:51No team has ever done it five years in a row.
09:54So how are you going to improve
09:56on what was almost perfection last year?
09:59Well, because for me it's far from perfection,
10:02and I think this team has still very much
10:06other levels to reach,
10:08and they give me the reasons to believe that
10:11because I see them every day,
10:13the way they train and the way they play,
10:15and there are big rooms still for improvement.
10:17You scored a lot of goals last season,
10:20but still, come the end of the season
10:22and through the summer,
10:23I think the thing you've heard most,
10:25or we've heard most,
10:26is do Arsenal need a striker?
10:28And out and out, 20, 25 goals a season, a striker.
10:31Do they?
10:32We have great strikers already.
10:34We have a great attacking line.
10:35I'm really pleased with them.
10:36And you finally mentioned your back line.
10:39There's a new England manager.
10:40Is it an incentive for Ben White
10:42to play really well this season
10:44to maybe now become an England player?
10:46That's a question for the England manager
10:48and for Ben to discuss.
10:52Would you like to see him?
10:53Sorry?
10:54Would you like to see him?
10:55If that's what Ben White wants, for sure.
10:58So I just want to see him happy.
11:02Is that the kind of fine margins
11:03that can make a difference?
11:04I know every point is so crucial,
11:06even these first games in August
11:08before we start.
11:09Is getting the edge over Man City even more?
11:11Is that the motivation behind that?
11:13I think we all have different plans
11:15throughout the season
11:16when we give days off,
11:17the kind of training session that we do.
11:19We believe it was the right thing to do.
11:21It was something that we shared with the players
11:24to try to find the right schedule
11:27for all of them.
11:28And we agreed that in that particular schedule
11:30with Dortmund,
11:31it was like this with Willy.
11:32It was a bit different to the rest
11:33because of the amount of games that they played.
11:35So we're happy.
11:38Jordan Matheson.
11:39Hi.
11:40Some people look at the squad
11:41and think Calafiori is maybe the only new addition,
11:43but is that sort of missing the development
11:45of Ethan and Myles?
11:47Have they made that jump
11:48from young players they've had throughout the squad
11:50to proper players that are usually willing
11:52to put in a privileged battle now?
11:55Yes, for sure.
11:56And as well, obviously, Jurgen.
11:57We lost Jurgen last year for 11 months,
11:59so that's another one.
12:03Myles has played a lot of minutes,
12:05Ethan as well,
12:06and Precision has given us a big platform
12:08for them to understand how good they are
12:10and the options that we have in the squad right now.
12:13And they said they're going to be training with us.
12:16Have you noticed a change
12:17in the way they hold themselves amongst the group?
12:20Maybe that tries to overtake
12:22the senior players in front of them?
12:25What I love the most
12:26was their attitude,
12:29their personalities,
12:31how much they want it,
12:32the way they were competing in training.
12:35We throw them in very difficult contexts
12:37and they responded.
12:39And it was a great test to see where they are,
12:42and I think we are in a really good place.
12:44Do you think, in general,
12:45people have become so obsessed
12:46with new transfers and new players coming in
12:49that we sort of forget
12:50that coaches can improve players
12:52and players can be together for three, four years.
12:55There's still more that you can get out of them
12:56during football.
12:57Almost forgot that you can improve
12:59with what you've got.
13:01Well, I already said at the beginning
13:02that the main focus that we had as a coaching staff
13:05is to improve our players
13:07and find margins in everything that we do
13:10to give them the best possibility
13:11to find a level that probably
13:14they haven't even dreamed about.
13:16And that's what we have to do.
13:17And then if we have to add something
13:19because we don't have it in our team
13:21or in the academy,
13:22then obviously we have to recruit it.
13:26You touched on there
13:27that you had a sort of gathering.
13:28Was that just after the season
13:29before everyone went away?
13:31Did you just have a meal together?
13:32Yeah.
13:33Were you sort of...
13:34The reaction you had there
13:35when we saw the players on the pitch
13:37was quite emotional.
13:38Yeah.
13:39Did it sort of surprise you that
13:40I don't know how soon after the meal was
13:41that suddenly they turned quickly to next season?
13:43Yeah, it was the same evening
13:45and everybody was talking about the same thing,
13:48you know,
13:49and that we're not going to stop here,
13:51that we want much more.
13:52We know the things that we can do still better
13:55and how the players can still evolve.
13:58How we have evolved as a club is huge as well.
14:01You know,
14:02how we feel playing in our stadium is another one.
14:04So those margins are huge
14:06and how we have to really, really, really use them.
14:09It feels so often with this group
14:10that when they've had sort of setbacks
14:11in the midst of the Champions League,
14:12they go on,
14:13that they've used pain
14:14as a really good motivational tool.
14:16Do you sense that?
14:17This sort of pain they felt on that game?
14:19Yeah.
14:20Whether it's pain,
14:21whether there are experiences,
14:22whether there are moments
14:24where you have to really as well accept
14:27that somebody else has been better,
14:29it is the sport.
14:30And you want to get to where they are at the moment
14:33and that's as well really inspiring.
14:35Okay, last couple in the live section.
14:37Hi.
14:38Hi.
14:39Across the summer,
14:40wherever you've gone,
14:41you've met with tremendous support.
14:43In terms of the support for next season,
14:45how important is that to you
14:47and what would be your message to the fans?
14:49Yeah, it was great.
14:50We went to the US and again,
14:52full of stadiums,
14:53huge support.
14:54So that tells you, you know,
14:56what these players have been able to transmit
14:59to our supporters.
15:00And again,
15:01when we had the last two games at home
15:03against Bayern and Lyon,
15:05it was amazing.
15:06So I expect, again,
15:07another level again.
15:09And I think we can reach it
15:10and if we do,
15:11that's going to be a huge boost for the team.
15:14Aaron.
15:15Hi, Mikel.
15:16You reflected on a challenging pre-season.
15:18You had Bayer Leverkusen,
15:19the champions of Germany,
15:20obviously Lyon are a good side.
15:22Does that give you confidence?
15:23It's no secret,
15:24it's a tough few games for Man City.
15:26Does it give you confidence
15:27for the big games coming ahead?
15:29Yeah, we now just have to go game by game.
15:31Obviously, we're not going to compete in relief
15:33for points in the most difficult league.
15:36And we have to prove that we are better than last year
15:41and we have to start tomorrow.