Mikel Arteta says winning is the best formula for everything!
08/11/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
08/11/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Talk about your excellent record against Chelsea as a manager. It's been a lot of good moments.
00:05Can you just share your favourites with us, just for starters?
00:10There's been a few, as you mentioned. One of those, it wasn't a difficult moment,
00:14I think it was December when Emile Smith-Rowe came in. I think he changed something. I don't
00:19know what it is. Momentum, energy, belief, but that was a key one. We had some away games as
00:25well that have been very, very nice. Especially having our supporters there, the connection that
00:32that generates. I believe it was a moment that we really needed to win to stay at a level.
00:38We sustained that pressure and it's been some nice moments.
00:42Do you sort of mention that to the guys? Do you feed off that in any way,
00:46that sometimes you have teams that things go well against?
00:49Yeah, and it's true that I think we were 1-1 against 2 Chelsea. We were lucky as well to
00:53win it, that we didn't do enough in the game to actually win the game and we actually won it.
00:58So it depends. I think earning the right, having the right preparation. I really like how I see
01:03the boys today and how we're going to go to that game. Really believing that we can win it and
01:10make it happen.
01:16How much can one result change a season? One positive result change everything?
01:23Everything? I don't know. Winning is the best formula for everything. For energy,
01:30for belief, for confidence, for the noise inside, for the noise outside. To create momentum,
01:36generate a positive surroundings around it. For everything. It helps for everything,
01:42even if you don't deserve it.
01:45And you're saying that you don't see a superior team in the league right now to anyone else.
01:49So is this now a chance for Arsenal to go on a run to become that superior team?
01:55No, what I say is that I don't see teams that superior to their rivals. I think there's been
01:59a team that has been more consistent than anybody else in terms of results, that has been Chelsea.
02:03And you can see the numbers and the amount of games with Liverpool that they've won.
02:09But the margins are much smaller.
02:14Do you see this as the most open title race for years then, given that?
02:19I think anybody can lose two, three or four matches in a row.
02:22And if you go take that to Europe and the competition in Europe,
02:27unfortunately it's going to happen. So let's be prepared when the bump comes in.
02:30And at the moment we are having one and we need to get out of it.
02:34But that means that even if you lose two or three, you're not out of it.
02:38So you still feel you're right in this?
02:40I think everybody's in it, especially because where we are in the season, that's for sure.
02:45With the potential issues with the midfield,
02:51maybe attacking and not producing as many chances as you'd like,
02:54but in terms of the back line, again starting at South Avenue with Gabriel Saliba,
02:58how crucial will they be again to foot for your title charge this season?
03:04Well, obviously the defensive organisation and the numbers that we have produced in the last
03:08few years, they've been pivotal because it gives you the best possible chance
03:12to win matches, first of all, because without conceding, obviously you're not going to lose it
03:16and the platform is there and we know that we can generate chances in various ways.
03:20So those two have been exceptional. The whole team in many aspects in the defensive side has
03:26been exceptional, better than anybody else. We need to sustain that and now win all the
03:30things in aspects that we are missing at the moment.
03:32With Raheem Sterling, once he signed for this club, you mentioned about how good he looked in
03:37training and how much of a big part he played. Against Newcastle and Inter,
03:42you obviously didn't come off the bench even when you were behind.
03:45What's Rashad Hall behind that so far and what kind of role do you think he could play going forward?
03:50That's a decision of mine, nothing to do with Rash. If somebody got it wrong, it was me.
03:56It's the feeling that you have, the understanding of how you can damage the opponent and picking a
04:00different player, different profile for that moment.
04:03And does he have a potentially big role to play later in the season?
04:05Yes.
04:08There's a lot of people saying you don't win on Sunday, that Arsenal is in a bit of a crisis.
04:14Is that quite ludicrous?
04:17I don't like to attach a specific word to certain moments. We are here to win,
04:22that's clear. To win tomorrow and to win on Tuesday and to win the next match.
04:27And that's the demands that we have to live in. And anything that is not winning,
04:31it's going to create other stuff. Debates, it's going to create arguments, whatever it is.
04:35We are here to win, that is clear.
04:38The lack of goals, is it a concern?
04:43Yes, it is a concern because you need the goals and you need many goals to win games consistently.
04:48Should you assign the striker in the summer?
04:50Sorry?
04:50Should you assign the striker in the summer?
04:53I don't analyse things like this, no.
04:55Chelsea made 11 changes for their game yesterday,
05:01obviously you had pretty much a full-strength side against Inter.
05:05Is that a concern that they're going to be a lot pressure in this game?
05:08I don't know. We've been used to playing every three days, two and a half days. I think the
05:12calendar that they've thrown has been extremely demanding. We have coped with that. We have coped
05:16with a lot of injuries on top of that. So we are doing everything that we possibly can to get to
05:21games in the best preparation and physically and mentally in the best condition to win it.
05:27And on Sunday I'm sure that we're going to be at the same level.
05:29Is that what it's about at this time of the year,
05:31they're trying to manage that massive workload that you've got?
05:34It's more than it's been in previous seasons, obviously with extra games and Champions League.
05:39Yes, but as well I think we have better resources, we have players that are used to it,
05:43we have players that have done it. Before, players with congested periods, we had very
05:48few in the squad that have experimented that kind of demand. Now we have many more and they
05:53can cope with that better. And if injuries respect us, we are well equipped to manage that.
06:01Last season, part of the change in the mood was going away and having very much family time and
06:06getting the families together. You haven't got that because it's so congested. Is there anything
06:11you can do on a much smaller scale to change the atmosphere, which isn't about football then?
06:22Yeah, we don't know where that clicked. Because if instead of going to Dubai I would have given
06:27a week off and you see the team in Las Vegas for one week, smashing the night.
06:34We come back the following week and we lose two games in a row, I'm in my house, I'm sacked.
06:40If they go to Las Vegas, they do that and we win three in a row. You're telling me now,
06:44send the boys to Las Vegas because they're going to kill it afterwards. I don't know,
06:47I hope I had just a single thing to pull my thing. I think it helped, the sun, being in
06:54contact with nature, getting away for a week, it was so intense till Christmas.
06:59And we need it. We don't have that, we will do something different in a way.
07:04But every day, I think it's trying to put every day something that helps the mood, the energy,
07:10the belief on that team, on that players, to be the best version of ourselves. That's what
07:14we try every single day without exception.
07:16You were talking about the low block last season,
07:20you were saying it was really difficult and that you were getting more penalties
07:23and perhaps scoring for set pieces because teams were...
07:27That seems to be again this season, the low block, it's been hard to get past.
07:33Have you noticed anything different this season in the way teams are setting up with that block?
07:40No, well with Newcastle especially, I think the result,
07:44the scoreline had a massive impact as well. With Newcastle they did a similar thing last year
07:49and when we played them away and with Inter again it was more related to that.
07:55Because we didn't allow, because normally they don't do that, especially in certain phases of
07:59play. We need to find solutions and solutions that at the end are goals. Because solution,
08:04if it's ui, ai, ui, it's not enough, it has to be goals. So we're going to judge whether that
08:09solution is good only if the ball ends up in the back of the net, which is the secret of this job.
08:17Thank you so much.