Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on the European Super League, his four years at Arsenal, facing Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp's comments on the Anfield atmosphere and also an injury update
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00:00 Merry Christmas to you all.
00:02 The European Super League have now issued a statement distancing itself from any attempt
00:13 to start the Super League again. I'd be interested to get your thoughts on this.
00:19 Very clear, exactly the same. We remain in the same position, we love playing in the
00:23 Champions League and we'll continue to do so.
00:28 The PFA say the players and fans are against it. Is that the sense you get that the players
00:33 don't really want to be involved?
00:35 I think that's a question for them. But obviously football supporters and the passion they bring
00:41 to the game is the main reason why this game belongs to them and to the players because
00:46 they are the absolute protagonists and what makes this game so enjoyable. We have to look
00:51 after them and their opinion is very, very important.
00:54 In terms of injuries, Thomas Partey, is there any big update on him?
01:02 He's still finalising his rehab, he still hasn't trained with the team yet. Mo Elneny,
01:09 hopefully he will train with us this afternoon, see how he feels about it. For the rest, no
01:14 news.
01:15 Is Jorginho as well?
01:16 Still a doubt, yes.
01:17 Racing?
01:18 He's racing.
01:19 Anfield, Friday night football, always a special game, particularly under the floodlights.
01:28 It's going to be a special atmosphere. Obviously the two teams are in a great moment, in a
01:34 really good position, really strong position. Both teams I'm sure have prepared the game
01:38 to win it and to go for it and it's going to be an intense match.
01:44 Being top at Christmas obviously doesn't win you anything and you were top at Christmas
01:49 last Christmas and obviously didn't manage to win the title. Is it still nice to celebrate
01:56 and enjoy Christmas to be top of the table?
01:58 It's always great to be in the highest position in the league, especially in this league.
02:03 We'll try to maintain that and to do that tomorrow we're going to have to play really
02:07 well, compete extraordinarily well and be very intelligent to manage the moments of
02:12 the game as well.
02:13 Have you seen Jurgen Klopp's rallying call to the fans? Has he done that because he's
02:22 really worried about Arsenal? Is it a compliment to Arsenal in a way?
02:26 I don't know. That's a question for him. The way we're going to prepare the game is what
02:30 we have to do to play better than them, to beat them and to focus on our supporters as
02:35 well. I'm sure a lot of them are going to travel tomorrow there and they're going to
02:39 be always supporting the team.
02:41 It's quite unusual to think of Anfield not being an amazingly noisy stadium with massively
02:47 partisan home support. Are you surprised he made that statement?
02:51 I don't know. I have enough thinking about the team and how we're going to prepare the
02:55 game to win it.
02:56 You celebrated four years in the job this week. When you took the job, it would have
03:04 said to you in four years' time you'd be in the final stages of the Champions League
03:08 and top of the table. Would you have taken that?
03:12 I'm sure I would. But we haven't still won enough important things. We want to be better
03:20 and we want to be more successful. There's a lot of things we have achieved together
03:24 in those four years. But that's thanks to the people that have been in this journey
03:29 with us together and the ones that were behind us as well.
03:33 What were your favourite memories of Anfield?
03:44 Winning there, as always. Last time when we beat them, that was a really good moment and
03:55 something to replicate tomorrow.
03:56 The fact you played so well against Brighton and that Man Utd actually went there and got
04:02 a point at Anfield. Do you take those aspects as well and use them going into Anfield, which
04:08 has been a tough place for teams to go this season?
04:11 I don't know. Every game is different. They have a really particular way of playing. Like
04:15 Brighton had, like Villa had. And every game is prepared in a different way. The concerts
04:21 were different. The atmosphere is something that is important to understand as well. But
04:25 we have now the experience of what we did last year there as well for big parts of the
04:29 game. That's a lot of things that we have to replicate and some others that we have
04:33 to do better to win tomorrow.
04:35 Would you prefer playing or managing at Anfield?
04:41 I don't know to be fair. I always say that there's nothing like playing. But as well
04:45 there is something about managing that you feel that cohesion between the team, that
04:49 chemistry between players and a team producing what it was in your brain. I don't know if
04:55 it gets much better than that.
04:57 Mikael, just on Anfield, you played really well for 28 minutes last season.
05:12 Granit Xhaka then riled up a crowd. Will you speak to your players about doing that tomorrow?
05:21 They'll have to calm their emotions maybe because Jürgen Klopp really fired up the
05:26 Liverpool crowd. Is it a game that you and the squad have got to manage in a different
05:30 way that you haven't done before?
05:33 All the games. But Granit Xhaka did that in many games. And we won and then nobody talks
05:37 about that. It's a little bit too simplistic. There are certain things obviously that we
05:42 have to manage very well in big games. And the emotional state is something that is crucial
05:48 when you play against big opponents away.
05:51 What have the players learned from that?
06:02 There are certain things that we didn't manage very well. We allowed them to run especially
06:09 after a few things that we didn't do well enough that we have to correct and be much
06:13 better at. Because when they get that momentum and space, they are a really dangerous team.
06:17 But as well we had some big, big situations even after those moments that we could have
06:22 killed the game and we didn't. When you have the opportunity to do that, you have to do
06:26 that.
06:27 You're four years into this plan. How happy are you with where you want Arsenal to be?
06:32 You've come a long way since where you started. But in terms of where this team is at, how
06:36 pleased are you with what you've done in four years?
06:40 It's something to reflect on. But now we're in the competition. I think you live the present
06:45 in a really intense way and you're just looking for ways to be better and to improve and to
06:51 evolve the club, the team, yourself individually as well as the manager. How you can be better
06:56 for this group, what the team demands. But overall I'm really pleased with what is happening
07:03 around the club, with the people that we work with and how people feel and our people especially
07:07 feel about what we are doing.
07:09 Can't be a super league without England's biggest club, Barcelona, saying they're not
07:15 going to be in it. Does it have a future?
07:18 I don't know. Everybody will have their own opinion and commitment. Now in a year's time,
07:23 in three years' time, who knows how this is going to end up.
07:26 Is it better to play now than it was last season?
07:39 It's something we cannot pick. It's around the Christmas period, it's under the footlights,
07:45 it's going to be a special night and it's always great to go to Anfield. So looking
07:49 forward to it.
07:50 Your players have played in big atmospheres all around the world for club and country.
07:55 Is it still something you have to talk to them about, keeping their heads in a game
07:59 like this?
08:00 They know. They know. We have experience that for many years now, for this group of players
08:04 now it's the third or fourth time that they've been there. A few years ago it was the first
08:07 time for most of them. Maybe you have to clarify and explain certain things. I don't think
08:12 that's necessary now.
08:14 Manchester United went with a game plan last week which was perceived by most people as
08:18 being quite pragmatic, quite negative. Will you attack Liverpool tomorrow?
08:25 Sorry, can you repeat?
08:26 Will you attack Liverpool tomorrow?
08:27 No, the first part of the question?
08:28 Manchester United were, I think their game plan last week was a bit boring. But will
08:37 you go with a more attacking game plan tomorrow?
08:41 We'll have the game planned to beat them and to leave Anfield with three points. That's
08:45 how we're going to prepare the game for sure.
08:47 In terms of last season, you were tuning up there. When you came back into the game, did
08:54 you know that writing was on the wall in terms of the title and your ambitions for last season
08:59 from that point or was it later on in the run?
09:02 No, it was that run of games that after we have a few draws in a row as well. That was
09:08 part of it. We had moments where we could have killed the game to get away with the
09:13 three points and we didn't. Then in certain moments, especially in the second half, we
09:17 suffered in many moments to maintain that draw.
09:20 In your four years here so far, you've changed so much about the club. You've brought in
09:26 the phrase 'believe in the process'. Would you consider so far what you've done a success?
09:34 I'm really happy where we are and how we have achieved things and how we have behaved through
09:41 difficult moments, through good moments and the involvement of everybody at the football
09:46 club and how they feel that they have participated in what we are doing. It's a joy to be here
09:53 with these people and I'm willing to be better because we are for sure not satisfied.
09:58 A few years ago when the plans for the Super League first came out, you spoke about how
10:05 this was a big moment for fan power to show that the game belonged to the fans. Have you
10:10 spoken to the board and how does it be to have assurances that they won't ever engage
10:15 in those conversations again?
10:17 The conversations that we had were very clear as the experience that we had, as you said,
10:22 two years ago. I think the club has issued a statement that is very clear and transparent
10:26 and we stick to that.
10:28 You've been in English football for a long time now, so there are two big Spanish clubs
10:32 that are driving it. Is English football, with the depth of the league, is there anything
10:40 that can compete with English football? Is that what you treasure about it?
10:44 I don't know. I think we are so privileged to have the league that we have, to have the
10:48 competition that we have, to have the uncertainty that we have every single game of what's going
10:54 to happen and what it drives. I think this league and a lot of football supporters to
11:00 watch it every time because it's beautiful.
11:03 You've conceded the second few fills in the league, leased a minute yellow cards. Is there
11:22 something about your management that has changed that has reflected in the temperament of the
11:26 team?
11:27 Yes, it's true. You try to coach the team in the best possible way to be efficient.
11:34 We don't want to fall. We want to regain the ball as high as possible. We want to nullify
11:38 the opponent's strength as much as we possibly can and we want to be dominant, that's for
11:42 sure. But there are certain things, there are qualities of players that allow you to
11:46 do certain things better than with others.
11:49 As well, I think experience is something that is very important as well and understanding
11:55 what you have to do in each area of the pitch, in each moment of the game. That's something
12:00 that in my opinion we have improved.
12:01 How key are Gabriel and Saliba?
12:04 I think they clicked straight away. That's something that as a coach you really hope
12:21 for because when you talk about partnerships, those two positions are key. There is that
12:26 chemistry, there is that understanding, they complement each other in a great way. Everybody
12:31 has his role and he's very clear and he's very well accepted. They are getting better
12:37 and better. They are still super young for the position that they play in and they can
12:43 still get better.
12:44 Is this another one of those moments where the club need to get off the back and get
13:03 results? Why do you think it has been so difficult in those years?
13:06 We have done it in Old Trafford, we have done it at Stamford Bridge and in many other places
13:11 that for many years we haven't. That's the next challenge. Go there and win. If you want
13:16 to be at the top, you're going to have to go to those places and be dominant and win
13:20 the games and that's what we're going to try to do.
13:22 You went there as a player with Everton and since you've come here, in the documentary
13:27 you played the music and last year you said it's a bit of a jungle atmosphere. Do you
13:32 think that silence in the crowd is key to getting the result there?
13:37 I think you have to play better than them and you will silence the crowd if you are
13:40 dominant and you are better than them. Like in any other ground there is no difference
13:44 there I think.
13:45 Last weekend's game against Brighton was one of your worst performances in your time
13:53 in charge. At Liverpool it's going to be difficult to maintain that level of control over the
13:57 game for the full 90 minutes. Will you tell your players that they have to accept there's
14:00 going to be periods where they can't control the game?
14:03 You're going to have to suffer and in every game you have to suffer and how you go through
14:07 those moments together, how you do it, how you overcome those moments and that's a big
14:12 thing. Last year we went through those moments, especially in the second half, and we had
14:18 some difficulties to get over them. They extended for a period that was too long and you have
14:25 to be able to turn those moments around and come back to the state of the game that you want.
14:30 Is it calm ahead? It's easier to say it than do it on the pitch but is that what it takes?
14:38 You try to teach them there are certain things that you can do but especially have the ball
14:44 as far as possible from your goal and be dominant in the areas that you want to be dominant
14:49 and that's it. Sometimes it's great to the opponent that they manage to do that to you
14:53 and you are struggling to get out of that position.
14:56 Given your history with Barcelona, would you be sad as an ex-Barcelona player to see them
15:09 effectively leave mainstream football and go and play in a new competition?
15:14 That's not for me to judge. Everybody's got their reasons and I'm sure a lot of thoughts
15:19 why they defend their position, the club's position, in the best possible way and I can
15:24 talk about what I think is best for us and the decision that we have made as a club.
15:29 Is the issue of the current game that people talk about and things that are perhaps forgotten
15:44 about until something like this appears from the side?
15:47 I don't know. Whatever the decision is of any club or us in football and everybody that
15:52 we are involved in, it's two things. One is the soul of this game which is our supporters
15:57 because that's what they make this game possible and then the players and look after those
16:02 two in the best possible way. I think that's our responsibility, our duty and everything.
16:08 Every decision has to be focused on those two aspects especially and then to have a
16:12 game that promotes the integrity and the beauty of the game and try to find that.
16:19 Now I'll go to 10.30 to 9.30.