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Back again for a slightly delayed Mikel
Arteta's pre -Sunderland press conference. We
head to Sunderland this weekend in our final
match before the November international break.
And Mikel Arteta has been facing the press before
the trip. It's our first visit to the Stadium
of Light in just over nine years. And before
we head north, Mikel has been answering questions
on our opponents, player availability and much
more. On any new injuries? No, no news. We remain
the same and there's nobody new that can join
the squad. So all the same. OK, so obviously
we go into the game with the same squad as we
had in previous games, notably the game against
Slavia Prague. So a relatively strong squad with
the likes of Nani Madoweke, Martin Odegaard,
Gabriel Jesus, 8 -0. Still out on Gabriel Jesus
being back in training. It's about making the
steps day by day in a different surrounding.
He's been doing everything on his own. Now he's
got very competitive players around him. And
let's see how he copes with that. But he's full
of energy. I love the reaction of all his teammates
when he first joined us. And it's great to have
him back. Yeah, obviously, Gabriel Jesus is an
infectious character, well -respected among the
group. He's been out for nine, ten months now,
so obviously he's back in training. He may not
be ready for full contact training, but obviously
with the likes of Mosquera, Gabriel, William
Saliba, to come up against him in training, drills
and things like that, in matches, it will be
a good test to see whether or not he's ready
for proper match action. But I doubt he'll be
ready for that for another four to five weeks
at the earliest. on Odegaard, Havertz, Madueke,
Jokeres and Martinelli not being available. I
cannot confirm all of that, but you are not far
off. Hmm. Doesn't want to rule out Jokeres just
to play mind games with Sunderland, but obviously
Jokeres hasn't been picked for the Sweden squad,
so I think that's quite telling. With regards
to Havertz, we won't see him in this game. We
won't see him before the international break,
nor will we see Martinelli, Odegaard or Madueke.
on if they could be free after the international
break. Some of them, all of them, I don't know.
Who knows? Only him. There are a lot of things
that have to happen in the next two weeks and
everything has to be perfect, but I think we'll
be very close in most of them to be in a really
strong position. When he says most of them, I
think he's referring to Maduweke definitely,
Martinelli definitely, and probably most likely
Odegaard as well, with... Sorry, and... Jocker
is, of course. So I think Havertz is just a case
of, is he ready enough? Is he fit enough for
the bench? The same with Odegaard, but I think
Martinelli and Madaweke should be fine. On his
relationship with Granit Xhaka, I loved every
minute that we spent together. When I joined,
he was in a special moment in his life and career.
And between all of us, we tried to guide him,
to give him a different perspective and make
him feel loved and valued. And he responded in
an incredible way. He made me a better coach.
He helped us to develop and improve a lot as
a football team and as a club. And I will be
eternally grateful because I have great memories
of him. Yeah, I think it's fair to say that Granit
Xhaka played his best football. played the best
football of his career under Mikel Arteta. So
there's going to be an affinity there, a mutual
respect. That 22 -23 season, his last season
with the club, culminated in us coming real close
to winning the league. But he decided to uproot
himself and leave and go back to Germany, where
he spent a considerable chunk of his formative
years in football. Obviously, he started with
Basel, if I'm not wrong, and then joined Borussia
Mönchengladbach, who he captained. up until 2016,
if I'm not wrong. This is all the top of my head.
And then obviously it took him a while to get
going with the club. But when he did, he showed
what he was. And I think for the last five, six
years, he's been at a high standard on if he
wanted Granit to stay in 2023. I already did
it once and we extended his contract. And when
he came in and explained the reasons, you have
to understand the human being. You have to be
grateful. It was a unique opportunity for him
to go back to Germany, to his family. And there
were certain things that he wanted to experience
as well. I believe it was the right moment. He
was very honest and straightforward, as he always
is. And we found a way to find a good solution
for all of us. Yeah, so as I mentioned already,
he spent a number of his formative years at Borussia
Mönchengladbach in Germany. Then he came to us,
spent probably about seven, eight years with
us, and then obviously decided to go back to
Germany. But he was there for two seasons, if
I'm not wrong. Now he's back in England with
Sunderland. It'll be good to go up against him.
Onyf Shaka's move to Sunderland is one of the
signings of the summer. With the impact he's
having, one of the best, I would say. I think
what they've done as a football club as well
in the last few years is very impressive. The
management and the decisions that they've taken
and how stable they look and how they have started
the season is very impressive. Yeah, obviously,
Granit Shaka's gone in there and his mentality,
his leadership. His attitude, professionalism
will rub off on all the younger players, all
the rest of the players. He's obviously Premier
League proven. You know, he's a winner with Arsenal
by Leverkusen. Obviously, he's an invincible
with them. And he's obviously now already the
club captain because of those principles that
he has. Similar to Jordan Henderson going to
Brentford, I would say Granit Xhaka going to
Sunderland is a kind of similar type of thing
where... Henderson played against Liverpool and
was successful. Hopefully, Xhaka isn't successful
later on. On Pep Guardiola managing his 1 ,000th
game this weekend. What a number. What a career.
One inspiration, he's been to everybody in football.
I would say in sport as well, and especially
for me. It's an incredible achievement. It goes
down in the history of the very best and the
few that could only achieve something like that.
Again, I think it will remain in the history
of football for years to come. 1 ,000 games in
football is amazing. Obviously Pep Guardiola
has changed the landscape of football since around
2009. I think since 2009 football's changed for
the better. And obviously it's down to him. He's
had like a major, major impact in the way football's
played, the way football's seen with playing
out from the back, with the tick attacker, with
inverted fullbacks, with false number nines when
he started it with Messi in 2009. So his fingerprints
are all over modern day football for sure. On
if he will be watching Manchester City v Liverpool.
I'm just focused on tomorrow's game, today's
game. How crucial. how difficult and how tough
it's going to be. And that's the first step we
have to make. Yeah, I think the main thing is
we need to focus on winning the game later on.
And if we can do that, then we can now look to
other fixtures, namely that big fixture tomorrow,
Manchester City against Liverpool. If we can
win, that's the main thing. Because now we know
that for sure, one or both of our... direct opponents
are going to drop points. And if he's surprised
by Sunderland's performances this season? Not
surprised. When you analyse them and see how
well organised they are, how they adjust things
and the spirit they have within the team, I'm
not surprised. They fully deserve the position
that they have at the moment. We know the type
of game that we expect to play tomorrow and where
the opportunities are and the things that we
have to do very well to beat them. And that's
what we're going to try to do. OK. Yeah, he was
never going to say that he's surprised, would
he? Because you don't want to give the opponent
any kind of determination, any more determination
than they already have to beat you. I mean, the
fact that we're top going into that game is enough.
You know, they've got nothing to lose, Sunderland.
They're currently fourth, so they're exceeding
expectations anyway, so they can play with a
free spirit and they have the fans on side. We
don't want to really do anything to rile them
up even more. However, I think if he's being
honest, you asked him away from the cameras,
you have to say that even the most ardent Sunderland
supporter would be surprised with how well they've
done. They're literally halfway towards the points
tally that would be sufficient enough for them
to stay in this division, as they've got 18 points,
if I'm not wrong. And I'd say about 35, 36 would
be enough. for them to secure their survival.
And it would take the worst fall off for them
to not stay in this division. But I think they'll
be fine. On if we get enough credit for our clean
sheet run. It's not about credit. It's about
doing it. And once you've done it, do it again.
And that's what we have to do. Today, we train
at our best. try to improve, try to give a lot
of clarity to the players and understanding of
the game that we have to play and execute it
again and again. Yeah, obviously, it's pretty
simple. If you keep clean sheets, you're not
going to lose football matches. We've only conceded
in three different games this season out of around
15. So, in essence, we've only lost one game.
to a phenomenal free kick, unstoppable free kick
from Dominic Schoppersleier. And I don't think
we deserve to lose that game anyway. So obviously
we're giving ourselves a good basis to go and
pick up results, namely wins, because the only
two games we haven't won were against Man City
and Liverpool in two games where we should have
picked up more than we actually did. So that
bodes well for the future if we can continue
in this way on how we continue to improve. Everything.
Because you learn from your team, from your players
every single day, from the opponents that you
have to play every single time. And that's information
that is so valuable to us. It's going to be a
very different game to Tuesday. A very different
game to Tuesday and to the week before. We need
to read it. We need to understand very early
what the game requires, what we have to do to
be better than them and hopefully to beat them.
Yeah, I think today is going to be a tough assignment.
It's going to be different to Tuesday. I think
it's going to be tougher. Although we had a kind
of hostile atmosphere, but we weathered the storm
after the first 20 minutes and we took the game
away from them. I think in this game, it's going
to be about patience and perseverance. Just like
I said last week against Burnley. And even if
we're level or struggling after 50, 60 minutes,
we've just got to keep probing. And eventually,
I think we will find a way to prise them open
one way or another. On if he aspires to reach
1 ,000 matches as a manager, I would be extremely
happy and proud if one day I am able to do what
Pep Guardiola has done in his career because,
as you all know, he's probably been the most
important person in my football career. I'm incredibly
proud of him and what he's done. Well, what can
I say? Friends, on if Xhaka was underappreciated
by supporters, I don't know. Certainly, internally,
he had a lot of appreciation. I'm laughing because
I just visualized Granit, and it makes me laugh
because he was such a character, a huge personality,
very funny, super professional, and one of those
guys that can change the dressing room and the
spirit of a team. That's a superpower to have.
And I've already mentioned Granit. He's like
a leader. He's obviously gone into Sunderland,
captained them. He captained Switzerland for
around 10 years. He's captained Borussia Mönchengladbach.
He captained Arsenal. So one thing is in common.
He's been captain at all the clubs he's been
at pretty much. So that tells you he's got leadership
qualities that rub off on his colleagues. And
if we are the only team that can stop ourselves
winning a league, no, I don't agree. Sorry, because
any team has the capacity and I'm sure the belief
as well that they can do it. We are fully aware
of that. We know our strength. We know the things
that we have to improve as well. And we just
focus on that. Well, he's not going to say yes,
is he? I mean, let's be real. But the league's
not over. Man City are not too far away and neither
are Liverpool. You know, we come up against tough
opponents. Sturdy opponents in Sunderland, but
after the international break, that's when it
gets even tougher, where we go straight into
a North London derby at home to Tottenham. Then
we have Bayern Munich alongside us, the top side
in Europe. And then we have a tough assignment
at Chelsea, who will be, you know, they'll be
riled up to beat us for the first time in around
four years. So obviously we need to just take
things step by step. On if he wants our game
against Everton to be moved, I remain super optimistic
that this is not going to be the case because
from every angle, from the Premier League, from
the EFL, from UEFA, all the time, the only thing
that we talk about is the welfare of the players
and the supporters. If we want to maintain that
principle, we cannot play Sunday and Tuesday.
We have been very positive in talks with the
clubs and the Premier League and hopefully we'll
find a way to help as much as possible. Sometimes
you cannot help 200 people that have an issue.
But for that reason, if I can say that I can
help 100 people, I'm not going to do it because
what about the other 100? No, no, no. Help the
100 if you can and the other 100. Next time you
have the opportunity, do it as well. I think
we need to be very thorough and we cannot allow
ourselves to be put in that situation. Well,
that was a lot of waffle and fries with that.
But I think it's fair to say he's not happy with
the scheduling. I think as we get closer to the
time, common sense will prevail and the dates
will be changed anyway. So I don't think we have
to worry too much about that. On what Gabriel
Jesus brings to our team, a player who's very
unpredictable, full of energy and super competitive,
a player who comes from a context of difficulty
in the last few seasons. due to various nasty
injuries. So the level of hunger and desire that
he's going to bring to the team is going to be
amazing. So I'm thrilled to have him. I think
he's going to add something extra to the team
that we don't have. And make sure that very soon
we see him on the pitch making an impact for
the team. I've mentioned Gabriel Jesus already
earlier on, but I don't think we should expect
to see him until December at the very earliest,
and if not January, because obviously he's been
out for nine, ten months. He's back on the training
pitch, but obviously match fitness is completely
different, so he needs to have a good month of
contact training for us to be able to consider
having him on the bench and trying to build his
fitness from there. And if he sees Jesus staying
for the long term, yes, because we haven't had
our forwards and now we don't have Victor and
we haven't had Kai again for three months or
many other forwards. Unfortunately, that's becoming
something that consistently happens. So we need
these options. What an option to have with Gabby.
I think he's deliberately answered a completely
different question. But I think the question
was, do you think Gabriel Jesus will stay beyond
this summer? And Arteta's deliberately not answered
it on the use of AI in football. I don't know
enough to make a decision, but I think it is
a tool that is super powerful if you use it in
the right way. And if you ask the right questions,
it's in use already for many things and many
processes that can help not just a team, but
an organization as well. I think it will improve
and it will give us good insights of things,
at least. It's assisted football in a sense with
goal line technology and things like that. But
obviously in terms of training, it'll probably
help in terms of statistics, you know, things
like that, where the tech savvy geeks would know
more about people like myself. And if we use
AI at the club. I'm not the most expert on that
to comment, but it's a valuable tool. We have
developed certain things that, in our opinion,
can help, especially to understand ourselves
better and what we do and evaluate what we do
and what we can improve. Then I think it will
extend to many other areas of the club. Well,
as Arteta said, he's not an expert and I certainly
aren't either. or managing Xhaka's absence from
the club. It wasn't an easy decision because
I knew the impact that he could still have at
the club and on the team. But then when you have
one of those leaders as well, you need to have
them in the right frame of mind and fully committed
and have him feeling that this is the best place
for him. Granit, when he expressed his idea,
the reasons why he believed he was better now
or the right timing after everything we went
through together to take on another challenge
and to take that journey somewhere else. It really
made me think whether it was the right thing
again to try to persuade him to stay and if he
was having a deep feeling about moving. So, yeah,
I mean, Granit has left, but I think Declan Rice
was effectively brought in to replace him. And
I think, if I'm being honest, as good as Granit
Xhaka was, top player, I think Declan Rice is
a better, younger version of him. And obviously,
he's, you know, 20... 26, mid -20s, he's not
even in the prime of his career. However, having
both of them, I'm not sure how that would have
worked, but Granit Xhaka is now 33 years old,
Declan Rice is 26, already at a higher level
now, and he's in the engine of our team, and
effectively our key player, or one of about three
or four, on players stepping up since Xhaka left.
When you have such a character there, other players
are taking different roles and when that person
is not there or that role is not there, some
other people have to step in. Whether players
are already there or players that we identify
that we want to recruit as well that could provide
something different because it's always going
to be different. It was a good exercise to do.
Yeah, I think in terms of leaders, we've had
other people come. you know, step up since Shaka's
left. People like Gabriel Magales, definitely.
And as I've mentioned already, Declan Rice, Bakayo
Saka as well, taking more of a leadership role.
So, you know, as people leave, other people step
in and take different roles and adapt and develop
as a consequence on the importance of our match
against Sunderland. Every weekend is crucial.
There are weekends for other possible results
or for other games. Maybe they are a little bit
more important. But at the end, you just need
to conquer a certain amount of points if you
want to achieve our goals. And three points against
Sunderland tomorrow is going to be really tough
and we're going to have to really earn them.
Well, yeah, it's pretty clear that this is a
crucial week in the Premier League, the most
crucial so far. If Arsenal can win and extend
their lead, it puts pressure on both sides tomorrow.
especially Liverpool, who are away to Man City,
who are in a good run of form right now, especially
with Haaland. So if we can win and get our noses
further ahead, then effectively whoever loses
tomorrow is in trouble. in a precarious position
in terms of the league challenge. What if Xhaka
has been used in the wrong position before Arteta's
arrival? No, because when we signed him, it was
for the right reason, because he was playing
in a different role, but he was excellent. When
you see him playing for the national team and
with Leverkusen in a deeper role, he did very
well, as well as the necessity of the team. or
the understanding of the manager or the coach
about a player or the chemistry that he can create
around other players as well. And we believe
that Granit's position had to be modified. It
brought him a challenge as well. But I think
that was quite positive for him to say, I'm going
to show everyone that I can do it. And Granit
needs that as well in his personality. OK, interesting.
Well, I mean, Arteta had used Xhaka in various
positions. Remember, he actually used Xhaka as
an inverted full -back, as a left -back that
goes into midfield. And you wouldn't have seen
that as a natural position for him. But to be
fair, he did well in the rare occasions he played
there. But I think he found Granit's best position
as a box -to -box number eight, the position
that Declan Rice currently plays in. But obviously
I've seen him play deeper for Switzerland and
Leverkusen, just as he's mentioned as well. So
it just shows that he's very adaptable and versatile
because I remember when... Arsene Wenger first
brought him in he was used deeper and he struggled
he has exhibited his versatility over the years
for sure on Declan Rice's form he's been super
consistent and playing at such a high level and
now we see him impacting the games in various
ways in different areas of the pitch in different
phases of the game and this is exactly what we
want I think his role is growing at the club
in the team naturally as well, in a really organic
way. And he needs to maintain that because he's
been exceptional. Yeah, I think with Declan Rice,
I think he started the season slow because maybe
he was tired from pre -season, from last season.
But similar to last season, he started the first
half of the season, when I say slow, I mean good.
But then obviously the second half of the season,
he was outstanding. And I think he's starting
to grow. into his new role because his role slightly
changed with Zubamendi coming into the team,
with Eze coming into the team. So he's kind of
learning to mesh together with them to assimilate
with those new players and kind of know how to
adapt to those players as a consequence of them
coming into the team. Because last season we
had people like Partey and Odegaard that played
with him. So he's a completely different person
now.