Hello and welcome to HYBR1D Powered by chinkseyMEDIA.
Media. Right, this is my first post -match presser.
I thought I would do one because you guys seem
to like the pre -match press conferences. So
anyway, without any further ado, Mikel Arteta
faced the media after our 1 -1 draw with Manchester
City at the Emirates Stadium today. The boss
was asked about the performance, his team selection,
the impact from the subs and more. Here's every
word from his post -match press conference. On
his assessment of the team, I'm extremely proud
of the players and the team. That's the overall
feeling and I'm very disappointed with the result.
Yeah, I agree. It's a game we dominated. It would
have been a shame if we didn't. get anything
from the result. It would have been a real, real
kick in the teeth. But the boys showed great
resilience and well, dug out a draw. A point
is better than nothing. But yes, onwards and
upwards, Crystal Palace take on Liverpool before
we next play. So Liverpool could potentially
be eight points ahead of us going into our game
against our bogey side, Newcastle. On the similarities
to last season's game at the Etihad Stadium?
No, because that game we played, I think, 54
minutes with 10 men. So that's a different story.
The pride that I feel is to do and to play and
to dominate the game the way we did against this
team and with 11 players. So, yeah, I think it's
partially Manchester City licking their wounds
from last March. or February when we played them
and beat them 5 -1. So they showed us a lot of
respect and retreated to their box effectively.
They ended the game playing 5 -4 -1. So we should
take that as a backhanded compliment, the fact
that Manchester City knew that they couldn't
take us on toe -to -toe in a football match.
I quote football. Ideally, we would have wanted
probably a more second side. But maybe it's because
Arteta didn't anticipate Guardiola adopting those
tactics. But either way, it's over now. But one
thing I do like is the fact that Arteta was proactive
with his substitutions. He didn't wait too long
to bring on Eze and gone blank. He brought on
Eze. And I've gone blank. This is crazy, man.
I can't even think straight. At halftime, he
took off Noni Madaweke for Saka. That's the one.
I can't even think straight. It's actually mad,
but yeah. On if the halftime substitutes was
an admission that... the team selection wasn't
right. So it's funny enough I was just talking
about that. It's too easy to say that. I think
it's very clear what we wanted to do and we started
the game very well. I think we completely dominated.
I think after they scored the goal, doing absolutely
nothing before that, we were a bit shaky for
five or seven minutes. And after that, we got
to the grips of the game again and started to
dominate it. And the second half... it was a
continuation of that with one different player
and then two or three different players. So yeah,
obviously Manchester City scored against a run
of play, tried to hold out for the result. So
it was important that... Well, Arteta's... Firstly,
I just want to say Arteta's never going to admit
that he felt the team sheet was wrong. But I
did think... I don't want to say I know or knew,
but I anticipated that he was going to start
with Mourinho. A lot of the fans weren't happy
with the composition of the midfield being Mourinho,
Zubimendi and Declan Rice. However, with Declan
Rice and Zubimendi almost guaranteed a start
every match. Mikel Moreno is almost like the
kind of odd one out there. A lot of the fans
would probably want someone like a Wanyeri or
Eze to come in at number 10. However, my gripe
was if you're going to play that free and midfield,
then you best have a very saucy attack. So having
Trossard was a bit blunt. I was surprised. I
was bemused, perplexed that Leandro Trossard
started that game because even... Yesterday or
two days ago, I was bold and said Trossard weren't
going to start. So that threw a span in the works.
And anyone who thought Trossard was going to
start that game, I'd like to hear you say why
you thought he would start. Because there was
no kind of information or there was no inkling.
That was a red herring that just threw everyone
off guard. But anyway, he did start. He did have
the greatest of games, but for me, if you're
going to have that free midfield, you should
have someone like an Eze Owanieri on the wings.
If the start in XI was safety first, I'll leave
that to you, but for me, it's a lot of attacking
players in that team. Yeah, I think Arteta wasn't
happy with that question. Obviously, clear is
a bit blunt. It's a bit bullish. Once again,
I think I've addressed it. composition of the
midfield trio if you're going to have that midfield
trio you best have attacking midfielders with
flair such as Eze on if he was surprised by how
withdrawn Manchester City went I think everyone
tries to do their best to get the result that
they want so it's fine so obviously Mikel is
not trying to dig out his mate in Pep Guardiola,
but effectively that's him saying yes without
saying yes. So he's essentially saying he feels
that Guardiola kind of adopted that approach
because that was the only method of getting something
out of the game for Manchester City. And if you
look at it, it worked. On Maduweke's half -time
withdrawal, no, he had an issue very early in
the match and he wasn't well enough to continue.
I'm not too sure about that. Something we'll
never know anyway. On if he sees Eze as someone
who can impact the game in a central role, yes,
that's why he played today in that position.
I like the sound of that. So Eze in the number
10 position going forward. Obviously, Eze's racked
up a few appearances now. I think it's three
or four now. But I'd like to see him kind of
get a full 90 minutes, more training sessions
under his belt, potentially play against Port
Vale. And eventually, for me, like I mentioned
in a few of the interviews today, for me, Eze
starts in this Arsenal team. It's just a question
of where. Whereas Odegaard now, for me, has a
fight on his hands to get back in the team. Because
when he is fit, I wouldn't personally put him
in per se. Not yet. I think he needs to kind
of earn his place back into the side. on facing
Donnarumma again. He's so dominant in the box
and every ball that is in and around the six
-yard box, his timing, the way he executes the
action, it is super efficient. It's very difficult.
And today, again, he made some very important
contributions not to lose again. I mean, this
Gianluigi Donnarumma I spoke about in the last
analysis, he's a top keeper, fills a lot of the
goal. He was exceptional for PSG. in their run
to the Champions League title last season, especially
against Aston Villa and us. So, yeah, he's proven
to be a fawn in our side. Today, again, he made
some good saves, was very effective. But, yeah,
let's hope we don't have to worry about Donnarumma
and we can just be efficient with our chances.
On the timing of Martinelli's introduction, we
had a very good momentum and we needed to time
that well. He's in a really good moment again
after the game he had in Bilbao and that period
of time probably he deserved more. But his energy
again, his attitude was really good and that's
why he made the impact that he made again for
the team. Yes. Gabriel Martinelli is in a good
moment. He is in a very good moment, you know,
a strong moment. But yeah, all jokes aside, Martinelli
is built on that cameo against Athletic Club.
He's obviously got himself another goal. Big
game player, usually scores, as Declan Rice said
in his interview, he does usually score or contribute
in big games. He scores a few against Man City
and Liverpool, to name but a few, Chelsea off
the top of my head. So, yeah, he's in good form
now. Hitting back at the Blue Boys, the critics.
I was probably one of them. But it's just about
consistency now. Hopefully he can get another
game in midweek, some time, some minutes, a goal
or two. And he might play himself into contention
for the Newcastle game. On Martinelli's impact
off the bench. We want consistency on that for
every player that doesn't start the game to be
able to do that because you see how long the
match is and the level that it requires to beat
them. And we're very happy with him. So yeah,
I've touched on consistency. Arteta touched on
what he deems the substitutes as, which is finishers.
So Gabriel Martinelli, once again, was a good
finisher. Another double entendre. Good finish.
Finish the game strongly. On his thinking behind
the starting midfield three, because I thought
it was the best one to start the game. Nobody
asked me about the midfield three in Bilbao.
So, yeah, when Arteta gets rattled, he's usually
bullish. He's usually blunt. So that was like
a kind of three sentence or two sentence answer.
He's basically saying. That midfield, when we
won with that midfield, no one's talking. But
because we didn't win with that midfield, everyone's
running their mouth. What I will say is I don't
mind too much going with Marino to accompany
the aforementioned two, Rice and Zubimendi. However,
like I said... It doesn't seem to have enough
in the bigger games. So I think in the next big
game that we have, whether it's Chelsea or whatnot,
we probably want to go a bit more open, a bit
more attacking. Probably get another attacking
midfielder in there as opposed to a Mourinho,
who obviously is playing. because of his form
for Spain and because Arteta's really adamant
that he's trying to get the best out of him.
On Jokeres' performance, well, there were a lot
of very good balls in the box, especially, I
remember three of them that he was very, very
close to doing against City. To have very big
open chances is extremely difficult, but he's
certainly trying his best and trying to do that,
and we have to provide more for him. That's it.
There were a lot of situations where the chances
were there, and then the final pass was missing
today. In many moments, it was very, very open.
Victor Jocarez has scored three goals so far
for Arsenal. And those came in two games. He
scored against Nottingham Forest and Burnley.
However, in the bigger games, he's not really
getting a kick. He's not really getting a sniff.
Ideally, it all ties into the fact that of the
midfield and on the wings, you want more flair.
The more flair there is, the more... Chance is
created for someone like Jokeres who's waiting
there to pounce. So it's kind of linked, inextricably
linked with the composition of the midfield.
So that would affect Victor Jokeres more than
anyone who needs service. So for him to be provided
service, you need an additional attacking player
in the midfield. On Eze's... Positional versatility.
Today, he played a little bit more shifted to
the right, and there was a reason for that. When
play shifted from the left, whether it is as
an attacking midfielder, as a winger coming into
that space as well, he's someone that is very,
very efficient and very creative. We know that.
That's why we brought him here. So, we're using
him in different spaces. Interesting. Everece
Eze was slightly on the right. Okay. I thought,
if anything, he'll be slightly off the left.
but maybe that's because Declan Rice is kind
of occupying that area. On squad depth factoring
into team selection, well, there are a lot of
factors, obviously. The first one is their performance
level and the emotional state that they are in.
That's one. After that, it's what we believe
is the best thing in relation to the opponent
and the type of game that we predict. And after
that, there is, as well, chemistry and relationships
that make each other better, and we need to understand
it. Okay, with regards to emotional state, I
think that's why Trossard got in because of his
kind of performance in Bilbao a few days ago.
In terms of performance level, and I think emotional
state probably covers Marino's inclusion, whereas
performance level, someone like Riccardo Calafiori
and obviously William Saliba's history of having
great performances. One love.