Hello and welcome to HYBR1D, Powered by chinkseyMEDIA.
Back again for every word from Mikel Arteta's
pre -Aston Villa presser, where he talks about
the title, potential title decider, Arsenal's
January transfer plans and more. Here is every
word from Mikel Arteta's pre -match press conference
ahead of Arsenal's Premier League match with
Aston Villa. Mikel Arteta faced the media ahead
of Arsenal's Premier League title -defining clash
with Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium. The
Gunners were beaten by Unai Emery's side less
than a month ago. Arteta spoke to the press in
the wake of yet another victory in the league
as a Martin Odegaard goal and a Jorginho Ruta
own goal. gave the Gunners a 2 -1 win over Brighton.
With days until the January transfer windows
opening, this was yet another focus of the Spaniards'
press conference too. Here's every word from
the press conference. A huge game against Villa
coming up. You're having a great run of goals
going in your favour at the moment. Is that good
luck or is that a sign of the pressure you're
putting your focus on? Well, that's what we want.
That every opponent... that comes here, suffers.
And we are as dominant as we were today for the
majority of the game. And against Villa, we have
a really tough match. We know them, what they're
doing, and a beautiful game as well to prepare
for and play. Yeah, I mean, Villa have proved
to be a tough nut to crack in recent years for
us and in recent months for them in terms of
the fact that they were in such a phenomenal
winning run where they amassed so many wins.
But it's an opportunity for us to make a statement
and show what we're capable of doing. Also to
create some leeway between us and Villa and third.
Increase the gap from three points to six points
with goal difference on our side. And also put
the pressure on Manchester City who have a tough
game against Sunderland coming up. So I see it
more of an opportunity. I wouldn't call Villa
a bogey side because I think they're too good
a side to be our bogey side. I think bogey sides
would be... A team that you should really be
winning against, but for some reason you struggle
against. Whereas Aston Villa are a very good
side. You know, they're top five, six side. So
they're just a good side that can beat anyone
really. So, yeah. That's the way I summarise
that. It's not long since you played Villa and
lost to them. What leads to a change? And what
did you learn from that game? We'll watch it
back. I have a few ideas and things that we have
to do better. And it was quite cruel as well,
the way we lost it. But yeah, we learned from
it. Well, I think the main reason I remember
saying in the press conference analysis of that
game, that just the fact that we made so many
changes, it affected the way we usually... line
up and defend and our shape, especially with
Gabriel Magales out of that team, also drew in
Timba, I believe, was injured in that game. So
knowing that both players would have returned
for the return game, I'm expecting a different
outcome because my belief is a team with Raya,
Timba, Saliba, Gabriel, either Hinkapie or Calafiori,
Martin Zubimendi, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice.
Bukayo Saka, either Jokeres, Jesus, Havertz,
and either Trossard or Martinelli can beat any
team, should beat any team even. You know, I
think that team, that 11 or 13, stroke 13 players.
is the best team in Europe we know how much the
club invested in the summer and how deep the
squad is when players are fit but players aren't
fit at the back and January is coming around
quite soon is there a chance you think you can
look in January for maybe more defensive options
I don't know We're going to be really obviously
aware of the situation and the timescale of certain
players. If going from the front line, then to
the back line, but that's the depth that you
need. And when you look across to other clubs
as well, they have 24, 25 squad players. And
so there's nothing, especially in our squad.
The thing is, although we have more injuries
than expected, some of them not avoidable, I
would say, but we want to be better. And we know
how important the part of having the right availability
with players going to play in the season. Injuries,
where it started off with all our attackers getting
injured, now they're all coming back. In fact,
they're all back. And now all our defenders seem
to be getting injured. But gradually, some of
them are coming back. So obviously, Ben White
has come back. Gabriel has come back. We're just
waiting on Mascara now. Calafiori's went down
a few times in recent weeks. But I've always
said that I think the position we do need to
strengthen in, if we were to, is a midfielder.
I think we need another body in centre midfield,
although Mikel might look at it and say Kai Havertz
can cover midfield, as can people like Wanyeri
and Marino. But the fact that he's not playing
Wanyeri much is quite telling. And I'll be surprised
if he's still here come the end of January. Because
I think he'll leave on loan. So you don't feel
like the squad is full. There's space for more
if you need it. Depending, as I said, on the
availability of certain players. So the window
is there. I mean, we're Arsenal and we have to
be looking at it. Okay, what do we need? And
we have to be actively looking. And then, can
we do it or not? That's a different story. But
our job is to always be very prepared because
something can happen. So hopefully very positive.
So that means yes, no, and maybe at the same
time. So that paragraph is not really saying
much. There's obviously a feeling that it will
be between Arsenal and Manchester City for the
title. Obviously, Aston Villa are in third position.
Do you think that they are genuine title contenders
with you and Manchester City? Well, they're meant
to be there. Look what they are doing and how
consistent they've been, what Unai has done with
the club. So I think they fully deserve that
credit because they are doing it on the pitch
where you have to show your level. Well, I mean,
Unai Emery clearly has the bit between his teeth,
clearly wants to beat Arsenal, clearly loves
beating Arsenal and clearly has a chip on his
shoulder from the way he was treated, perhaps.
I say treated in quotation marks. whilst at Arsenal,
especially the latter part of his tenure, and
obviously after being sacked, clearly hurt his
ego. Every time he's played Arsenal since, he's
done some damage to us in some shape or form,
whether it was knocking us out of the Europa
League in the semifinals with Villarreal, or
whether it was... crucial victories at the emirates
or against arsenal in recent years most notably
the 2 -0 victory at the emirates in april 2024
and just one on victor it's now seven games without
a goal in open play are you concerned at all
about that i know you've spoken about him a lot
but is that Yeah, because we want him to score.
Obviously, he had a few chances, a few great
positions. The ball didn't arrive. So keep insisting
is the only way. I'm worried about Victor Yocarez
now, you know, because I keep saying the movement's
not the greatest. And I think he needs to move
because the defenders are bullying him. He's
easy to mark. And also for the players like Saka,
Trossard, to be able to find him, to be able
to connect with him, he needs to move. He needs
to make runs to make him difficult to mark. I'm
worried because he's getting out -muscled. He's
supposed to be strong. Because he's top -heavy,
he can't run past players. So it's like, what
is his main asset? Because his main assets are
being neutralised. He's been halted. Especially
now that Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, the cavalry
are on the horizon. So I'm really worried about
Victor Jokeres going forward now, actually. What's
on transfers in terms of outgoings, given we've
seen a situation where players can go down? Would
it make you reluctant to let anyone leave the
club in January? Again, we assess... Yeah, I
mean, like I said already, I'm anticipating Arsenal
loaning out Ethan Waniere, especially because
I think... He's going to go to Bournemouth and
replace Antoine Semenya. And also, I think Kai
Havertz will probably feature in midfield quite
a bit in the second half of the season. That
also creates an opening and an opportunity to
potentially get a central midfielder in as well.
And with the Villa game that I'm watching back,
you said that it can be cruel. But sometimes,
can it be positive? for the players to watch
it back. If you use that motivation and that
hunger in the right manner, then for sure, and
it did prove to be the case. Hello and welcome
to Hybrid, powered by Chinksy Media. Back again
for every word from Mikel Arteta's post -Aston
Villa presser. After seeing us beat Aston Villa
to remain at the top of the Premier League table,
where we always were going to remain at the top,
no matter what the result, Mikel Arteta was soon
in front of the media. in attendance at the Emirates
Stadium to discuss a good night's work. He spoke
about why we recorded such a big win, key performances
from Martin Odegaard, Gabriel and Martin Zubimendi,
the month, and provided an update on Declan Rice's
injury. It was everything he had to say. On the
result. I'm so happy. We play every three days.
We played an opponent today that comes from 11
wins in a row. A superb team. Very difficult
to play against. And we knew that we were going
to have periods throughout the game. We talked
about how demanding it was going to be emotionally.
And we struggled in the first 10 minutes, arriving
a bit late. They were playing through us and
creating some open space situations that they
are very dangerous at. Then we adjusted, got
a bit more control. Two big chances by Victor
and one scrappy situation inside the box. But
we didn't manage to score. In the second half,
we clicked. Everything went much better, timings
were better, and the individual duels were fulfilled
in an extraordinary way. So efficient in everything
that we did. Unlike the last few games where
we had so many big situations, today we were
very prolific and accurate to make the difference.
Yeah, I mean, in recent games we've been criticised
for being profligate quotation marks, relying
on own goals and set pieces. However, yesterday
we only scored one set piece. We were very prolific.
And we rode a storm. Tough first half. It wasn't
great. It was poor, in fact. Second half showed
our mettle. Obviously, I always say set pieces
is a good weapon of armoury to have in your arsenal,
especially opening up stingy, pragmatic sides
such as Aston Villa. We had a similar situation
against Atletico Madrid where I'd say the game
was effectively a carbon copy where it took set
piece to open them up. And then after that, we
got in time and time again and put them to the
sword. On the importance of the win, especially
when you play against a team that is in such
a moment, they are really good. They are extremely
well coached. Very clear what they want to do,
how they want to hurt you, and they are very
efficient at it. So they can drive you into a
game that is constantly a very thin line and
you have to navigate it. It can be uncomfortable
navigating through that. And we did it in a difficult
moment. And then we took the opportunities in
a great way. Yeah, as I said, the first half
was a really tough slog. It looked like we was
getting opened up at ease. Aston Villa probably
should have went into the second half ahead.
However, a few tactical reshuffles, a few changes.
Changing mentality. We got the opener through
Gabriel, then a second through Martin Zubimendi,
and after the second went in, you knew we were
going to win the game. Obviously, Trossard's
goal icing on the cake. So, it's also incredible
to have a player like Gabriel Jesus come back
and score, you know? Especially after what I
thought was his winner against Wolves, but it
was an own goal. In recent weeks, he's come back
and looked... Back to his best. He looks fully
fit now. Against Crystal Palace, he was a bit
rusty with his finishing. But now I think he's
not just in contention to start. He should start
the next game against Bournemouth. On the period
following Gabriel's opening goal, we wanted to
continue to go on. We talked at half -time about
the things that we would have to alter to be
more efficient. But actually, after, you have
to. You can smell blood. But after, you have
to really grab it. And we did it. I think individually,
we had some huge performances. We were very efficient
in the final third attack in the box and that
made the difference. Yes, Saliba was phenomenal.
I mean, he made a great challenge in the first
half that obviously it turned out to be offside,
but he didn't know that. We didn't know that
at the time. His mate, Gabriel, phenomenal. Best
centre -back in the world. Got the opening goal,
which was crucial once that goal went in. Villa
had to come out more and we put them to the sword.
Martin Odegaard, fantastic captain's performance.
Since he's come back from injury, he's been back
to his best and he's hit the ground running.
He's keeping players like Eberreche, Eze and
Ethan Waniere on the bench. Martin Zubimendi,
a strong case for signing of the season. He's
come in, replaced Thomas Partey, been phenomenal.
Got a fantastic second goal and controlled the
game as usual. Speaking of Martin Odegaard, on
Martin Odegaard's performance, he needed some
consistency and some games. Obviously, he had
two times the shoulder injury, then he had the
big knee injury, and that takes a little bit
of time. Now you can see that it's flowing, that
his energy level is back to where it is. He's
taking risks, he's affecting the game in a great
way, and I think he was really, really good again.
Yeah, I mean, the better Odegaard plays, the
more pressure Eberechi Eze is under. I mean,
Eze has had some moments, some key games. where
he scored the winner against Crystal Palace,
his assist against Manchester City, his hat -trick
against Tottenham will never be forgotten. Since
and before then, struggled a little bit. We know
left wing isn't for him, so now it begs the question.
It's three from four with Eze, Odegaard, Declan
Rice and Zubimendi. We know Declan Rice starts.
We know Odegaard's the captain. And if he's on
form playing like that, he starts. So now you've
got to look at it and say, is it a courses for
courses thing where... Eze and Zubimendi are
sharing games and potentially you can go attacking,
which I don't think Arteta would do and play
Declan Rice, Odegaard and Eze. I really doubt
that would happen. So effectively, you're saying
Eze's got to play in the cup competitions, stroke
coming on for Odegaard and seeing the game out
and things like that. So, I mean, there's pressure
on him. It's tough. This is what you play the
game for. I'm sure he will come good in the second
half of the season, on December as a whole. I
always say that to continue to win, you have
to win in different contexts. Some games we did
very good and the margins should have been much
bigger and we didn't manage to do that. So we
went for smaller margins. Today, maybe the margin
wasn't that big. We made it big because we were
extremely efficient and ruthless in the position
box. And that's the way. And we won with a lot
of injuries. Today, we lost Declan, Ricky. Some
others have come back. Gabby Jesus comes in after
such a long time without scoring a goal. And
he scores a wonderful goal. Everybody is ready
to contribute. And that's great. And the great
thing is Ben White and Kai Havertz are back as
well. Hopefully Declan Rice and Calafiori can
return to be in contention for Bournemouth on
Saturday. On Gabriel's performance, he comes
back from an injury of six weeks that probably
should have been a bit longer. He plays against
probably the team that is the hardest to control,
especially the front players and the striker
that they have in terms of their movements. And
he impacted the game in an incredible way. with
defending in the opposition box. That's probably
true with Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rodgers being
so hard to control, so hard to subdue. People
like Amadou Onana, great movement, you know,
a lot of strength, power in that team. Ezra Konsa.
Aston Villa's a really powerful, energetic, athletic
side. Rigid, pragmatic type of side. So we managed
to beat a side like that with consummate ease
shows that, like the manager loves to say, we're
able to adapt to different contexts. and be the
version of Arsenal that we need to be for that
particular game to pick up the three points in
any particular game or context. And we did that.
On his post -match discussion with Unai Emery,
you saw it, but it's okay. It's all good. It's
okay. That's part of the game, and it's not an
issue. I guess the less said, easier to mend.
On if Declan Rice will return in time to face
Bournemouth, it depends. The swelling has come
right down for him to have a chance to function.
He wasn't able to do that today. He's improving,
but let's see what happens in the next couple
of days. I'm anticipating Declan Rice may not
play in that game, especially considering we've
got a tough game against Liverpool days later,
less than a week later than that, next Thursday.
I wouldn't be surprised if Declan Rice is on
the bench or just doesn't feature at all so he
can now focus on his rehabilitation to be fully
fit for Liverpool. On why the team clicked tonight.
When it happens normally, it's a lot of factors.
And I think we were more aggressive and we were
more determined. At times, we were much better.
And then it's about execution and just dealing,
especially when you are man -to -man orientated.
It's winning that action, yes or no, that clicks
everything and makes a difference. And we were
very good in the second half doing that. Yeah,
I mean, to score four goals, all four goals in
the second half. After that... first half performance
you gotta give props to the boys it just reminds
me of the atletico madrid game where after the
first goal went in they crumbled and we just
tore them to shreds on what changed from the
early stages of the game certainly our behavior
had to change because the moment you allow them
to attack your back line it's a big problem because
they have runners from inside they have people
that can pick up passes from deep positions they
have players in the last line that are excellent
at making the runs pulling shoulders and attacking
fullbacks you have to control that because every
time you give the ball away they have the capacity
to do that. Yeah, as I said, on the counter -attack
especially, they are a huge threat, but we managed
to just about survive that first half so we could
do what we did in the second half. On how the
team dealt with Aston Villa's threats, I really
liked that because you're going to go through
different patches and periods against top opposition
like Villa, and then you still have the ability
to come out in the game and the chance to win
it. And we did. Yeah, it's one of our best performances
of the season. Probably the most crucial game
of the season so far. So now it's over to Manchester
City, who play tomorrow, to see what it takes
to go to such a tough place like the Stadium
of Light and have the beat. Sunderland just to
get the gap narrowed back down to two points
on the confidence in the squad it's belief it's
energy as well because they put in so much we're
playing every two and a half days the schedule
is very very demanding we have some very tough
matches and injuries but the players are still
winning so winning helps all that all the sacrifices
and commitment that he put in gets reflected
in results and great performances and that's
so satisfying but we know There's still so much
to play for. It's a great way to end the year.
That's for sure. And tomorrow we'll have a good
night with our families. And then the next day
we are in and we have to go to Bournemouth. And
we know what that means. We definitely do know
what that means. I mean, playing Bournemouth
is going to be an interesting game because one,
it's the only team that we haven't faced this
season. Two, we lost two times to them last season,
home and away, 2 -0 at the Vitality Stadium.
I'm 2 -1 at the Emirates in the game I was there.
So also the caveat of the fact that Antoine Semenya,
a huge Arsenal fan, either will be at Bournemouth
and be playing, if not his last game, one of
his last games for the club as he prepares to
join Manchester City, or he won't be in a squad
because one of two reasons. He's not in the right
frame of mind to play and doesn't want to risk
injury. Or two, he's joined Man City already.
So that Bournemouth game, the team that isn't
in the greatest of forms, will be an interesting
one for me. On Martin Zubimendi's season so far,
I've mentioned a lot of times that it's a position
that is very, very difficult to make an impact.
And in the manner that he's done it, so early,
so credit to him. Credit to his teammates as
well and how easy they made it for him. and make
it for him. Today, he's done something that,
in my opinion, he has the ability to do. He's
arrived at the right moment, attacking the box
and finalising actions, and he did it with such
composure. Martin Zubimendi has been a phenomenal
asset, phenomenal purchase from the club. He's
come in, hit the ground running, been one of
our key players. And obviously, Mikel Arteta
used to play in this position, so he'll know
what he's talking about.