Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reviews Arsenal's first match of 2025 having won with a 3-1 victory
01/01/2025
Brentford Stadium, London, UK
01/01/2025
Brentford Stadium, London, UK
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00:00Hello, happy new year to you all.
00:02Happy new year.
00:03Would you like to kick off?
00:05Congratulations.
00:07Difficult game, but second-half performance,
00:11two early goals in the second half,
00:13what did you think of the game?
00:15It's a very difficult place to come,
00:17when you see the record at home,
00:19the way they play, the way they cause issues to opponents,
00:22very impressive.
00:24On top of that, we went a goal down,
00:26so then it becomes a big mountain to climb,
00:28but I think the team showed a lot of composure,
00:31was very calm emotionally,
00:33because we needed that in today's game,
00:35and as well had the right desire.
00:37So keep insisting, attacking them,
00:39and do it in a way that can cause them problems,
00:41which is difficult.
00:43So, overall, I think we deserved to win the game.
00:46What's going through your mind when David scores the ball
00:49and you start sleeping?
00:51Hopefully the wall doesn't vibrate,
00:54that was it.
00:56The usual action from David, it happens,
00:58and we're lucky that the goal didn't go in,
01:00probably he would have changed the game.
01:02So, good, the team adapting,
01:04we lost some players again before the game,
01:06we had a little issue,
01:08the team still performs, goals are there,
01:10and with a 17-year-old in the starting line-up,
01:13which is great to see,
01:15that plays with that courage and that determination as well.
01:17You mentioned the bug there,
01:19did that affect some of the play on the pitch as well?
01:21Yeah, on the pitch and off the pitch, yeah.
01:24Hi, just on Ethan,
01:26before you mentioned needing the right context
01:29to give him certain minutes,
01:31I was wondering why,
01:33was it partly the bug,
01:35but also were there other factors that made
01:37now the right context and the right timing?
01:39Well, in that position it wasn't because of the bug,
01:41it was a decision that I made
01:43because I thought he was the best player to play
01:45in the position to start the game.
01:47And because it was a story there,
01:50with his debut here,
01:52and then making his Premier League debut,
01:54sometimes that feeling comes in,
01:56and you feel it's the right one,
01:58and then who knows?
02:00I remember when you gave him his debut here,
02:02two and a half years ago,
02:04you said it was a gut feeling.
02:06In that time since then,
02:08I was just wondering,
02:10it's obviously been a bit of a slow burn,
02:12you haven't rushed it,
02:14so in that time how have you felt
02:16his development has gone to be able to
02:18make his first start at 17?
02:21Part of the development,
02:23it's patience,
02:25and managing frustration,
02:27or managing expectation,
02:29because you expect that everything is going to go so fast
02:31as the previous things happened,
02:33and it's not the case.
02:35So now we're building him,
02:37he's played already a lot of games,
02:39a lot of minutes for us,
02:41for the age that he's got,
02:43and he fully deserves that.
02:45How disruptive was it,
02:48you weren't sure?
02:50These things happen,
02:52in this period there's always things,
02:54throat, infections, viruses,
02:56so I tried to delay
02:58the line-up as well,
03:00as far as possible,
03:02because you can get up in the morning
03:04and you can have a surprise unfortunately.
03:06A game in three days' time,
03:08are they going to be ready?
03:10Yes, I hope so.
03:12It's nothing serious,
03:14but obviously they were in the ideal condition
03:16to play today.
03:18What's the protocol in this situation?
03:20Do you have to isolate?
03:22Leave that one to the doctor,
03:24obviously in relation to the symptoms
03:26that I have,
03:28with Kai it was obvious,
03:30he wasn't feeling well at all,
03:32and he had very clear symptoms,
03:34so stay away from it,
03:36put him in a car and go back to London.
03:38Are there others who have to isolate?
03:40I don't think so.
03:42Thank you, Sam.
03:44You play games in January a lot,
03:46and suddenly something like this happens,
03:48you get some illnesses, you get a bio-injury,
03:50does it feel like you're a bit stretched
03:52and a bit short right now?
03:54When I see the willingness of each individual
03:56to play through anything,
03:58and the versatility that we can create
04:00within our idea,
04:02the answer is no.
04:04But we don't know,
04:06if something else happens
04:08we'll have other issues,
04:10hopefully not,
04:12but today it was back,
04:14and other players are there
04:16in the top four as well,
04:18so we need everybody.
04:30Yes, today we discussed
04:32about that option,
04:34because it can happen
04:36and then the game falls in their hands
04:38and what exactly they want,
04:40but we managed to turn things around,
04:42the timing of it was really good,
04:44so we were lucky that we took
04:46that advantage in the second half
04:48and it was a different game.
04:54There was a lot of news in the hours
04:56leading up to the game about it.
04:58How disruptive is it for you and the team
05:00that that information leaks out
05:02about there being an issue?
05:04I didn't know anything that was leaked,
05:06so...
05:08No, we'll keep it away from you.
05:20Very good as well,
05:22it's because he deserves it
05:24and the type of game that we have to play
05:26and the amount of density that they defend
05:28when they are deep
05:30requires people with a lot of threat in the box
05:32and he's a master of that
05:34and we believe
05:36with the unit on the left
05:38we can have the dynamism that we wanted.
05:40Very good, he scored a very important goal
05:42again, he's always there, he's a big threat
05:44so great to have these options.
05:46You said it was important for you to be calm
05:48emotionally in this game,
05:50is there any particular reason why this game
05:52especially, you needed to be calm emotionally
05:54or just a general thing?
05:56That's something general
05:58but there are certain teams
06:00that as well, they are so good
06:02at doing certain things
06:04and if we manage that a bit better.
06:10I think so, yeah, hopefully he will recover
06:12very quickly.
06:24Very good timing,
06:26both of them really important,
06:28it's a big quality of our team
06:30to share the goals across the team
06:32and he's done it again, he's scored
06:34in three very different ways
06:36and great, that's what we need, people up front
06:38has to be firing, has to be with that feeling
06:40and they are with that feeling right now.
06:50They are so consistent
06:52in the way they behave, they train, they want it
06:54and goals are
06:56about moments as well and about
06:58the feeling and the energy
07:00that the players are in right now,
07:02they are in a good mood right now.