Arteta on Gabriel picking up the ball against Bayern Munich
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.