Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has spoken to the press ahead of the Gunners’ Premier League opening weekend clash with Nottingham Forest, including the latest on David Raya, Folarin Balogun and more...CONTINUE READING
How excited are you for the start of the season?
Super excited. It’s a new challenge, a new opportunity. Very fresh to start again and very excited to play at home the first game because it’s been a while.
Have expectations changed this season?
Probably yes. But the reality is that in football you have to be at your best on the day and it’s only about today and tomorrow and training the way we want to play and increasing the probability of winning that game by earning the right to do that.
Has Raya been signed in time to be part of the matchday squad?
No. We have no news on any incomings.
Is his signing a sign that you want the highest competition everywhere on the pitch?
That’s what we’ve been trying to do. Increase the depth of the squad and the quality as well, the ability ability to be more flexible and have more quality and more interactions with players that can make us better. That’s the whole point of it.
Could the added competition for places make it hard to keep everybody happy?
I think you have to treat everybody with the sense that they’re important and to do that at the end they have to play matches. Football is a collective sport, only 11 players play and there are a lot of other players who most of the time they are not happy with the situation. It’s how they deal with that and how they accept that role, because every three days it’s going to change, we’re going to have a game.
It tells you a lot about the human being and the professional, when you’re playing and when you’re not, what actually is your contribution to that team.
Whether it’s not to play at all of play when it’s needed to win the games. I want players that have the feeling that they’re happy when the team wins regardless because this is a team sport. That’s what we have to build.
Do you think you’ll bring in any more before the end of the window?
At the moment we’re not planning to do anything. But the window is very unpredictable though. Things can happen, probably things that we don’t wish, so at the moment we are happy with what we’ve got.
Will Jorginho and Zinchenko be back for tomorrow’s game?
I think everybody is going to be available. We obviously have Mo still out and Gabriel Jesus is still with a knee injury but the rest should be fine.
Is there any update on when Gabriel Jesus could be back?
It’s a bit early still. He’s doing really well since his operation. Hopefully he can start to do some activities next week. It’s something that we want to be cautious about and make sure he comes back the right way.
You’re at home to start for the first time for five years. How much of a boost is that?
We love playing at the Emirates. We love playing in front of our people. We have created an incredible atmosphere and the boys and everybody can’t wait to be there tomorrow for the kick off and put in a performance that they deserve and that we want to do.
How tough a game will Forest be after they beat you last season?
Yes and they did it in a really clever way and they deserved to get the points on the day. Tomorrow we’re going to have to play better and deserve more. It’s a team that is very well organised. What they’ve done last season and especially the way they started and how they adapted to the league and their qualities is remarkable so they’ve done really well.
What is the confidence like in the camp after last season and winning the community shield that you can challenge?
If we start to think about the championship on the first fixture, we’re going to burn our energy. We have to focus on doing what we have to do to win matches and that’s it – go game by game.
Options at centre forward now. What factors are you taking into account in terms of who plays tomorrow?
A lot. First of all, how they train. The state they are in and the feeling I have with them. How they react to certain decisions is really important as well. Then building relationships regarding the opponents qualities and setup that can empower our qualities to help us win the game.
Spoke a lot about energy last season. What have you noticed around the training ground this week after winning the Community Shield?
That winning is the best energy booster that exists. It was great. Everyone was so happy and it raises the confidence and trust levels of everybody for what we can do but understanding as well there are things we must do better.
We can still play much better and the first game is going to be a completely different story with a different context. We’re going to need to be ready for that.
What do you make about the new rules regarding added time?
I understand we needed to tweak certain rules. What the referees and the association have done is try to improve the quality of the games we are seeing. I think it’s a really positive thing. We have to get used to it, mention it after the game, work on them and adapt.
Invincibles like Edu and David Seaman are here. How important is that?
With the incredible history we have and the experiences that group of players had, to put them at the service of the club to help us become better is something we must do. We are trying to bring that back in the best possible way and I think we are making steps in that sense.
Can the Invincibles be repeated and what can you learn from them?
They will be the only ones (to do that). They did it in their own way and we have to write our own history. It will be different but hopefully very beautiful as well.
You were a surprise package last season, different pressure this year with added expectation?
I think it is excitement, this is where we want to be and building a team that has the belief and the quality to be fighting for those places.
The competition this year is going to be even harder than last year, you see a lot of teams and the movements they have made and you have to expect something different from them. So we have to be much better still than last year and this is the way we are preparing, to seek for that.
Rivals still doing transfer business – yours done early, is that to your advantage?
I don’t know, we’ve done it and we had the intention to do it, sometimes it is possible, sometimes it is not. But we tried our best and we just have to focus on what we can do, the reasons we have done it and maximise the resources we have.
Must help to have them for pre-season etc?
I think it definitely helps, especially for the player and getting to the environment and getting set. Also for the coaches it is important, for the media, for the commercial for the clubs as well, especially when you go on tour to be certain and have the players you are going to have for the season so it was something very positive for us.
Been experimental in pre-season is that to get other players in the rhythm?
Yes, because they deserve opportunities and we have to put them in the right positions, next to the right players as well so that we can make fair judgement of those performances and we are going to try and do that a lot more this season.
Players with different qualities – big for you to change momentum of games?
Having that ability is something as a coach that you really want, you saw it in the game (last week). The moment we changed the game, we changed our formation, brought some quality players on the pitch with a different freshness and a lot of creativity and other things started to happen in the game. In the end Leo scored the goal, Fabio scored the winner and those finishers are going to be really, really important.
Bid for Balogun turned down, want to keep him?
I cannot talk about internal things here, sorry.
Lots of players, hard to plan in training etc?
They are our players and we have to look after them in the best possible way and they need to be treated in the best possible way. It is true that in some exercises, too many players but we have to adapt. It always happens in this window and it is part of the plan to be flexible and be understanding of the situation….READFULL
