Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal's fiery North London Derby 1-0 Victory against Spurs at White Hart Lane
15/09/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK
15/09/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hi, Mikel. Your thoughts on a very challenging game with players missing and another great set-piece goal from Gabriel?
00:10Well, super happy, obviously. We know what it means to our club, to our people, to win a London derby.
00:17And we have the power to try to make them very happy, so hopefully we have achieved that and that makes it very special.
00:25On the performance, we had moments in the game, some really good ones, some others that we had to suffer.
00:30We suffered because we had to adapt, at least with the plan, because of the players that we had available.
00:36And I loved it, because since the day that we started to get the bad news, the team got hungrier and hungrier to play the game.
00:42And that's a big compliment to everybody at the club, to behave in a certain way.
00:47And it's a tough week that's coming up, and instead of finding any little excuses or arguments to do that, do the opposite.
00:54Face the challenge, play with courage, acknowledge our qualities and what we have to be able to do to win a game.
01:00And we've actually done it.
01:02As you said, a huge run of games this week, tackling Devon Burton and Manchester City at the weekend.
01:06No Declan Weiss or Martin O'Garden in it, but a lot of players in it too.
01:10What does it tell you about your squad?
01:13The people that we have, I think I already spoke during the week.
01:17People that are hard, that they have thick skin, that they love the game and they love winning.
01:23In order to love the game and win, you have to do a lot of things that sometimes people call them ugly.
01:29And enjoying doing those ugly things is a big compliment of this team right now.
01:33And when you are able to do that, normally you get a good gift.
01:37Sammy?
01:39In terms of the play you didn't have available today, how much does this result garner more belief in what you're doing?
01:50I just checked on Martin O'Garden, has there been enough from his side?
01:55Well, it does, because obviously we won three years in a row here.
01:58I don't know when's the last time in the history of the club that this happened.
02:01So that's a big thing.
02:03I think they believe already.
02:04We've won a lot of big games.
02:06It's a big week coming up.
02:07That's going to give us a lot of energy and belief.
02:09Obviously, there are a lot of things to get better today.
02:12I don't think we've done, especially with the ball, the simple things right at all.
02:16But we'll get better.
02:19And regarding Martin, we still have to wait and see.
02:22The news is that he certainly wasn't available to play today.
02:25Matt?
02:28Since the club hired Nicholas Dover, I think you've scored 42 goals from set pieces.
02:34Has he been your best in his field?
02:39In his field, in other fields, as a person, the relationship that we have, that's why I made a decision to bring it to City when I was there and then to Arsenal.
02:51And him and the staff, they have injected the belief to the players that there are many ways to win football matches, that this is a really powerful one.
03:01And it's given us a lot.
03:03So a big compliment to all of them, for sure.
03:05Amy?
03:07Hi, Mikel.
03:08Hi.
03:09Just a quick one to start with.
03:10How's Bukayo?
03:11You've got a big week coming up.
03:12What are you going to do?
03:13I don't know.
03:14Because I made two changes with the front players and suddenly he's down.
03:17So I thought I'd look at the bench and the options that we had.
03:19So we have to adapt.
03:20I don't know exactly what is it, but he could not continue.
03:24Can we just ask you how interesting a week this has been, trying to prepare with all these new problems coming in?
03:30When you have to come up with different solutions, is that something that you and your staff enjoyed?
03:38Did you lose sleep?
03:39I didn't enjoy it because I didn't sleep much.
03:41Because I looked at the space for four or five days.
03:45I had a super clear plan how to do it.
03:48I prepared everything, the session, the meetings.
03:50And then one news, we lose a player.
03:53Another news, we lose another player.
03:55Another news, we lose a player.
03:56So I had to completely change it.
03:58And adapt the plan to the players that we had available.
04:00So it was a great challenge.
04:02And what does it tell you about the players that you do have that they're so willing to change things so quickly when you say,
04:08I need you to do this, I need you to do this?
04:10That they adapt.
04:11Loving the game means that you are able to do things regardless of the context.
04:16Jorginho loves the game.
04:17He loves the game.
04:18He doesn't play it, but he loves winning.
04:20And when he's not playing, he's training like an animal at his age after winning everything.
04:24So when you ask him to play 90 minutes, he hasn't played probably for the last five months.
04:28He's able, even cramping everywhere, managed to do it.
04:32The same with Jurgen.
04:33He's been a year out.
04:34He hasn't played 90 minutes at all.
04:35And he was struggling today.
04:36But he managed to do it for the team.
04:38And like all these guys, I don't know without a precision already how many minutes he's played.
04:42And it was unbelievable, all of them.
04:44But that's the spirit and the characters that we have that I love.
05:02I didn't want to.
05:03I wanted to press much higher, lose the ball in much better conditions, higher of the pitch and do that.
05:09What I didn't want to do with certain players that we had today missing is expose ourselves to a game that they are incredibly good at.
05:17So I have to choose.
05:20And the reward, I think, on the other side was much bigger than acquiring certain risks today against this opponent.
05:28And we've got a massive week.
05:30Obviously you've got to go to Italy and then there's a City.
05:32Have you got any concerns about the scheduling of the game on Thursday and then play City on Sunday?
05:38Whether I have or not, I'm sure we're going to play Thursday and Sunday and then Tuesday.
05:43So it's what it is.
05:45We have to adapt to that.
05:46We're going to be a top team, a very challenging team that is up there.
05:50We're going to have to adapt to those things.
05:53Miguel, I remember when you were here last week and you said in the final whistle you were praying for the end.
05:58Did you feel a little bit calmer in this game? It certainly felt like the players did.
06:03It was, obviously, because after 0-3, 2-2-3, you said this cannot happen.
06:09And they threw everything at it.
06:11They tried today, but I think we looked more composed, better organised and gave very, very little away.
06:18Finally, to Kyle.
06:20I just want to put one on Gabriel.
06:22He's had a lot of good names, a lot of good performances.
06:25I know you value him very highly, but maybe externally he doesn't get the praise that someone like him gets in Italy.
06:31What can you say about him and how important he is for you?
06:35I think the way he has evolved, first of all as a person and then on his role at the club, at the team, has been phenomenal.
06:41It's been great to watch.
06:43This is why we are here.
06:44This is one of my passions, to give players the environment, to give players the support, the education, the coaching,
06:52to grow and to prepare them for life and to prepare them to get to levels they probably didn't think of before.
06:58Gabriel is one of the best examples of that.
07:01Why? Because he loves what he does.
07:03He applies himself incredibly well and he wants it.
07:06When that happens, normally good things happen to this kind of people.
07:10You just find this kind of game where you're up against it and things maybe aren't going your way before.
07:14Do you prefer that kind of win to a game where you think you win 5-0?
07:195-0.
07:22But this one today I think was extremely special and I'm very happy with it.
07:28Thanks very much, everyone.