Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta on tight 1-0 Shakhtar win
21/10/2024
uefa24
Emirates Stadium, London, UK
21/10/2024
uefa24
Emirates Stadium, London, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00All good, all good.
00:07OK, we're ready. We'll kick off with Clare.
00:10Hi, Mikel. Maybe not the best performance tonight,
00:13but on a night like that, is getting the win the most important thing for the team?
00:16Well, I think two very different halves.
00:18The first one, we were very dominant, created four big, big chances.
00:22Obviously, we should have converted them and put the game to bed
00:26with the amount of dominance and territory that we had.
00:29The second half was very different.
00:32We looked tired, we lacked that sharpness with and without the ball,
00:37to regain the ball in the right moments as well in the right areas
00:40and with the ball, giving certain balls away that allowed certain transitions.
00:44We had two big chances again, missed a big penalty, obviously.
00:48That emotion, again, it was difficult to overcome
00:51and then we had to dig in, but credit to them.
00:53They are a good side. The moment you allow them space,
00:55you don't finish actions and you give them the chance to run,
00:58they are a real threat.
01:00But overall, it's Champions League, get the win, clean sheet, let's move on.
01:06Hi, Mikel. Can I just ask about Ben White and Ricardo Calafiora?
01:11Are they both injuries?
01:12Ben, it was my decision to take him out.
01:15He had a yellow card, we have played enough with them in recent periods
01:20and they had a lot of density in that side, a lot of attacking players in this side.
01:26I didn't want to take any chances there.
01:28With Riquiz, it was something different, he had to come off because he felt something.
01:31I don't know the extent of that.
01:33So, yeah, in that sense, no great news.
01:39Hi, Mikel.
01:40Hi.
01:41You're saying that you seem tired tonight.
01:43You've obviously got a huge game coming up on Sunday.
01:46How will you re-energise?
01:48Will you be expecting more from them, more energy on Sunday?
01:51Well, we played two and a half days ago after coming internationals,
01:55after flying from Brazil and many countries.
01:57So, I was expecting that we could drop off a little bit.
02:00And the fact that, obviously, we put so much in the first half
02:03and we didn't convert and get the distance in terms of the result
02:07and the scoreline that far, I think we paid a little bit of that.
02:10And then we made life more difficult for us
02:12because, obviously, we started to give the ball away
02:14and we were getting the ball in the right areas and it was more open.
02:17So, that didn't help.
02:19But we have now four days.
02:21Believe me, on Sunday we will be flying.
02:23Do you think you'll be OK coming Sunday?
02:25You'll think that four or five days now you'll actually have...
02:28Yeah, for sure.
02:29We'll review what we have to do.
02:30We have a day off and then two days to prepare the game.
02:33And Sunday is far and we are more than comfortable
02:37that we'll be in the right place.
02:39Do you get the feeling that Martinelli is coming back to his best now?
02:43Obviously, last season was a difficult time
02:44and now he's looking a lot more sharp.
02:46He looks really sharp.
02:47He looks really fresh as well.
02:48Fresher than anybody else on that pitch
02:50because he could not start against Bournemouth
02:52and you could tell that that was different to the rest.
02:55He had another year, another level of play.
02:57He started the game really well and he had a great performance today.
03:02Mike?
03:03Could you tell us, was it ever in your mind
03:06to let Kai Havertz take the penalty tonight
03:08because he had scored in seven consecutive home games
03:11and if he did take the penalty and scored
03:13it would have been a club record eighth?
03:15Yes, well, they made that decision.
03:18Obviously, the penalty taken normally is Bukayo and Martin
03:21and after that we have two or three players who can take it.
03:23They made the decision.
03:24Unfortunately, Leo missed it.
03:26But as you said, it was an opportunity missed.
03:32Hi, Mikel.
03:33Gabriel Jesus has been working hard to get back into his form.
03:37How important do you think he will be going forward for you
03:43for the rest of the season
03:44to get back and recapture his form that he showed when he first came to the club?
03:48Very important because obviously he can play in different positions and roles.
03:52You see his attitude again was exceptional.
03:54Very unlucky because he had two big chances
03:56that he could have converted the goal in many other areas.
03:59He was good and we need everybody.
04:05You're fourth in the 36-team table.
04:07Obviously, this game is to come tomorrow.
04:09But how important is it, especially given the injuries you are taking up,
04:13to try and avoid those extra two games in February,
04:17in the play-off and finish in that topic?
04:19That would be great.
04:20But at the moment, it's very difficult to look at the table
04:23because tomorrow it will change.
04:24And obviously, the amount of games and different opponents
04:28that we are playing against each other.
04:29But, yes, Champions League.
04:31Winning at home in this format especially is key,
04:35keeping the clean sheet.
04:36So, as you said, with the amount of injuries that we are dealing,
04:40deal in a situation where we deal in happy and let's move on.
04:44And finally, we'll go to questions in Spanish.
04:46Miguel, good evening.
04:47I also had to talk to Gabriel.
04:50For me, it was Gabriel Jesus' first time.
04:52He was very good.
04:54The work he did, the participation he had in the process.
04:59He had one or two chances to score and he didn't.
05:03How important is it for you that he scores in the evaluation
05:06that you do of his game?
05:08How important is it for you that he scores in the evaluation
05:11that you do of his game?
05:14Well, there are things that, in the end, are not negotiated.
05:17It's the commitment, it's the attitude and it's certain habits
05:20that you have to have to play.
05:21Gaviria has them absolutely all.
05:24I think today he gave the feeling that he was going to create danger
05:27when the ball was on his side, always on the opposite side.
05:30And, yes, it's important because for the forwards,
05:33in the end, scoring goals is what makes the difference,
05:35what makes us win games.
05:36He had two games, he had two chances, he couldn't convert.
05:39But I think there have been, as you said,
05:41many other very positive things too.