Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on Gabriel picking up the ball against Bayern Munich
Sobha Realty Training Centre, London, UK
Sobha Realty Training Centre, London, UK
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00:00 What did you make of the game?
00:10 I did notice it, especially after when it was a certain reaction from them. I think
00:18 the referees used the law and what the law says as well, to use common sense and whether
00:23 you take an advantage or not from that situation, which there isn't any advantage, and then
00:28 I think that's Sefini.
00:30 Is it something you need to have a word with Gabriel and David about?
00:37 Just to clarify, I think it's worth doing it and to understand that just in case, don't
00:42 do it again.
00:43 How important is Zidchenko to the team?
01:04 It's very important and you have to ask the players as well to play in their strengths.
01:11 I think Alex has the personality to play in any game, under any condition, being himself
01:16 and that's a big thing to have. He has some difficulties, especially with injuries, to
01:23 find the rhythm and to find the consistency and now he's back on it. Now he's got a few
01:27 games under his belt and he's playing better and better and he's a really, really important
01:31 player for us.
01:32 How strong is your bench right now? You're probably going to have unhappy players who
01:41 feel they should be starting but aren't. How are you managing that? Is that something you
01:46 quite like, that they're on the bench and they're quite unhappy and desperate to prove
01:50 you wrong?
01:51 No, the behaviour of the bench, I'm unhappy. What I want players that are very happy to
01:57 come on the field to make an impact. Unhappy players on the bench, I don't want. I want
02:02 players that if they are unhappy to come and talk to me and understand why and try to explain
02:08 it. These relationships are always the same. They have to have that will to play and they
02:14 can be unhappy on matchday. It's not the moment to be unhappy.
02:17 Is that what you'd like, players to come on and be angry at you?
02:32 They can be angry at me, that's fine. But they have to make it professional, not personal.
02:37 It's my role to make those decisions. It's not the person I put on the bench, it's the
02:43 player. And Gaby had exactly the mindset that you ask him. I could see in his eyes that
02:48 he was ready to make an impact. He loves the competition and I think he was tremendous
02:53 when he came on on Tuesday.
02:54 If he was needed to start every game to announce the end of the season, physically could he
03:01 do it? Is he in that position?
03:04 It's possible that yes. He hasn't done it, but not now. He hasn't done it in seven years.
03:09 When you look at the history in seven years he hasn't done it. But can he do it? Yes,
03:14 he's prepared, he's physically well now. As well it will be determined how much he gets
03:19 kicked, the kind of fatigue element that builds into a game in relation to the scoreline.
03:27 A lot of factors, but he's ready. He looks really good now.
03:30 What have you made of Liverpool recently?
03:40 Enough in my garden to look after my garden. I don't want to give any opinion about other
03:46 clubs.
03:47 Can you learn something from that?
03:49 The difficulty of winning a match in any competition. You go to Europe, you go in the Premier League
03:54 to any round and it's so difficult to win.
03:56 With Gablo Jesus, on Monday he spoke of his injury, woes over the past year in terms of
04:03 his knee. In terms of his long-term career, do you think it could possibly have long-term
04:08 ramifications with his recent injuries?
04:10 No, nothing. I don't think there is any relation. When you see him train the way he trained
04:14 today again, there is nothing there. Injuries are part of football. He had a few. You look
04:20 how many games he already played at his age and the level of games he's played, it's an
04:24 unbelievable career this having. That's not a concern.
04:27 When you played away in Porto, for some of them it was probably the first time of that
04:33 type of game and they adjusted for the second leg to cope with the Porto tactics. The other
04:40 day it looked like quite a few of them couldn't necessarily deal with the occasion. Is there
04:45 something you would do before Tuesday to what you did between Porto and the legs and what
04:51 you did before Tuesday to get them back to that mindset that they can use the other day
04:56 for Tuesday?
04:58 For sure. It's like putting miles in a car. You have more miles, you have more baggage,
05:04 more experience and that's needed, especially in this competition. It's a lot to learn from
05:10 the other day and a lot of positive things to take as well.
05:14 The first goal against Bayern, you were in control of the game up until that point and
05:21 it was a real turning point in the match. How much have you analysed conceding that
05:25 goal with your team? Are you slightly worried that the wave of confidence that was in your
05:33 defence might have seeped away a little bit?
05:37 It does obviously when we concede the two goals the way we have done, it does affect.
05:43 But it's what you do afterwards. You are losing 1-2 after being in total control of
05:47 the match and then you have to play that game. You've never done it. It's Bayern Munich
05:52 and you're 2-1 down and the expectation was very different and now you have to cope with
05:56 that. I think the players were exceptional at that because any other team collapses and
06:03 we didn't. We stayed in the game and we were focused and we made some changes, we had some
06:07 impact and we got into the draw and we have learned a lot. It was a great experience to
06:12 have.
06:13 Do you think that shows you how far the team has come from this time last year?
06:20 Yes for sure. I was really impressed with that, I told them. It's not easy. It's easy
06:25 from the stand to just put in a single image without giving any context. Football game
06:31 is a story and the story happens for a reason. What happened in the first minute has an effect
06:36 in the second one. What happened after ten minutes has an effect on what happened three
06:40 days ago in a different game. You cannot isolate the pictures and then make adjustments. It
06:45 doesn't work like that.