Arteta confirms Mikel Merino is injured and will be out for weeks (Full Presser)
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta confirms Mikel Merino is injured and will be out for a few weeks following a collision with Gabi
30/08/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
30/08/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00Let's go with Gary from Sky Sports.
00:02Thanks Dan.
00:03Hi Gary.
00:04Is there some suggestion on social media that Cal Marino has picked up some kind of double injury?
00:11Yes, very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and he's got a shoulder injury unfortunately
00:19and it looks like he's going to be out for a few weeks.
00:22Wow.
00:23Yeah, first session with us.
00:25That's really bad luck isn't it?
00:27Yeah it is and it was really exciting, we're all very excited. Everything was looking very
00:32good and he landed on the floor, Gary went on top of him and it looks like he's got a
00:38small fracture probably.
00:40Wow. You only say weeks?
00:43Well we have to see, he was in so much pain, we have to wait and see with staff to do some
00:48more tests on that and they will have probably more conclusive answers.
00:54I was going to ask you whether or not you were excited by deadline day, but I guess
00:57after news like that you're not going to be excited?
01:00This is football. Overall we have tried to do all the things that we wanted, there was
01:05a lot to do, still a few hours to go and nothing and we are prepared.
01:11So in our wildest dreams there might be something before the end of today?
01:16Let's see, it's always possible and the last 24 hours in the transfer window never rule anything.
01:23In our wildest, wildest, wildest dreams, Raheem Sterling?
01:26You know that I cannot talk about any player.
01:29Because you spoke last week about your admiration for him and vice versa, how you work well
01:33together, it sounds like Chelsea are offering him a round, has he been offered to Arsenal?
01:38No, I'm not going to be talking about this kind of thing, sorry.
01:42One deal we know that has gone through, that's Arend, your thoughts on that?
01:50First of all I want to say thank you so much for what he's done for the club, for the team,
01:55for myself, when he joined he brought a lot of joy, he brought his charisma, his energy
02:01and he was really good at that time.
02:04Obviously things developed and he had a situation that was difficult for him and he was insisting
02:10a lot that he is very happy when he plays and we have tried to fulfil that desire that
02:16he had.
02:17He looked really excited and happy the other day and he's joined a great club, a great
02:22coach, he looks really excited so I think we are all happy for him.
02:26I know that Neto, the Bournemouth goalkeeper at the moment is in the building, is in the
02:32training ground because I saw him arrive, so I know you don't like talking about the
02:36team's players but that would be someone to come in and be a number two I guess?
02:40Well it's clear that obviously we have lost Carl as a third goalkeeper and then we lost
02:43Aaron so we have to replace them both.
02:46So Neto in the building having a medical I guess?
02:49Sorry?
02:50He's having a medical at the moment is he?
02:51We have to replace Aaron and we have to replace Carl.
02:54And what about Alex?
02:55What about you?
02:56If you are agile and mobile enough and you have the courage, that's right.
03:06Injury, fresh injury aside, getting a Mourinho and half a Calafiuri and having an improvement
03:17in that left-hand side, do you think that will assist in getting the best out of Martinelli?
03:23Well hopefully, obviously everything is very connected in order to, especially the wingers,
03:27the front players to shine and to be in positions with advantages against the defender which
03:33is the most difficult thing to do in football.
03:35You need players behind you that they give you that opportunity and put you in those
03:39situations as often as possible and we have brought two players that are exceptional at
03:44doing that.
03:45Can we expect some of the squad players like Beneri to play more and have some of an impact
03:49this season?
03:50Some of the youngsters coming up?
03:51It will depend.
03:52Certainly they have earned now the respect and admiration of all the team and they've
03:57done it in pre-season and now they're going to have to earn the right to play but they
04:02have the same chances as anybody else.
04:04Your players have spoken about how important the meticulous analysis you do of the opponent
04:09team is for your matchday.
04:11What have you made of Brighton's perfect start ahead of your matchday tomorrow?
04:15Well we try to prepare like every manager, every team does, giving them the exact information
04:22and the relevant information that can really help us and give us value to win the game
04:26and we have tried to do the same for tomorrow against a team that is doing really well,
04:31has won all the games with a new coach, with a new coaching regime and it's going to be
04:36a tough match.
04:40It started with two clean sheets so far.
04:42How pleased are you with the way that the team are defending from the front as well
04:46as the pitch?
04:47Yeah that's been a big strength of us, the commitment and implication of every player
04:54and every ball and every single action.
04:56In those two games it's true that we haven't given much away but the ones that we have
05:01given were pretty clear and our goalkeeper has made two big saves to keep those clean
05:07sheets so there are certainly things to improve but I think obviously the commitment of the
05:12team in that front is superb.
05:14It's an early kick-off tomorrow, in those games especially is it important to set the
05:19tone early to be on the front foot?
05:21Yeah we always want to do that and we play at home as well and get our supporters going
05:26and create a special atmosphere and we know how important that kind of energy is.
05:34If you don't do any more business would you be happy with the squad and do you think you
05:38can achieve your aims without any more business?
05:40I'm always happy with the squad, I think I have.
05:43We have tremendous players, a magnificent group of human beings and we always want to
05:48be better and we cannot deny that.
05:50The most important thing is to try to improve our own players and then in terms of the numbers
05:56and the quality, can we improve in the squad?
05:59For sure there are margins still.
06:01Can you talk about Ian Ketty, he might be leaving, can you talk about what he's looking
06:06to put in a similar way to Aaron Ramsey?
06:08Yeah when that happens we can talk about that.
06:11If he leaves do you think you have enough firepower and sort of attack because last
06:16season there was a bit of time in the season where people said maybe you need a strike.
06:20Do you think you can find extra goals in the squad to achieve your aims?
06:25Yeah it's what we have.
06:26One of the biggest strengths that we've had over the last two, three years has been the
06:29way we have shared the goals and we're going to continue to do that.
06:34If we can on top of that get players to score 25, 30 goals in the season then it's the perfect
06:40combination and that's what we are trying to do.
06:42How do you do that?
06:43How do you make players score more goals than they did in the last season?
06:47Put them in better situations, train them more, make them hungrier on that, bring clarity
06:52to the team that we can score goals in many, many ways and score in all the ways that we
07:00can basically.
07:02If you beat Brighton tomorrow, that's nine wins in a row, it's the first time Arsenal
07:08have done that since the 2004 Invisible season.
07:11Show us how difficult it is to win that many games and the levels you're trying to reach
07:16I guess.
07:17Yeah for sure and that would show unbelievable consistency.
07:20It's already difficult to do what we've done but we want to be better and tomorrow we're
07:23going to have to really earn it because we're going to face a really good Brighton side.
07:27Can you talk about how big of an impact Deandre Trossard has made since he's signed him?
07:42Yeah, huge.
07:43Again, not only starting from the bench but when he has to start against big games and
07:47last season if you look, especially the last quarter of the season, the amount of runs
07:52and games that he had was huge and he's been really consistent with his threat on goal,
07:58with his capacity to create situations and especially big chances and then without the
08:05ball what he's doing.
08:06I'm really, really pleased with him.
08:09How is Gabriel Jesus?
08:15He's progressing really well.
08:16He had a little muscle injury and he's doing quite a lot of stuff already so we expect
08:24him to be with us pretty soon.
08:27Sorry?
08:28No.
08:29I know you spoke last season about how at the back you didn't have many numbers and
08:35you got a bit lucky in this next step, Gabriel Saliva and then Michael Thicke.
08:39It doesn't look as if you're going to have similarly smaller numbers up top.
08:44Does it feel like a risk going into the season with such a small number of players?
08:49I know you say you're happy with the players you've got but obviously the Champions League
08:52draws yesterday and there's going to be more games and more intense.
08:55Is it a bit of a risk?
08:56We know about the depth of the squad and it's something that we cannot change dramatically
09:01in one or two seasons.
09:02It's something that we are constantly trying to build.
09:05Build the numbers, build the robustness of the squad as well which is something critical
09:09and on top of that bring more quality.
09:11We are trying to bring some quality as well from our academy that looks like it's happening
09:17and that's going to be very, very helpful.
09:19And trust the players that we have and do the maximum that we can with the squad.
09:25Can I just ask one on Tommy Assu?
09:28Has he still got weeks to go until he's back?
09:31Are we talking months?
09:32How long do you think he's going to be out for?
09:34At the moment it's difficult to say.
09:36It's a bit slow the process of the first phase of that injury.
09:40Probably for the medical team to say more on that.
09:45Has he done any sort of training or anything?
09:47No, not yet.
09:51Everyone's talking about transfers today.
09:54There are some teams that seem to be scrambling a little bit at the end of the window.
09:58Do you feel in these final few hours you're fairly comfortable?
10:01You can look at it as an opportunity to rise as great if not.
10:06I wouldn't use comfortable words in the last hours of the transfer window in this league
10:10but we've done a lot of the things that we wanted to do.
10:14And there's still a few hours and let's see.
10:18In general, would you rather the window close before the season starts?
10:22Yes, ideally yes.
10:23If that happens in the rest of Europe, I think that would be very helpful for everybody.
10:28Why?
10:29Because we are already competing and the fact that all the windows are still open
10:33obviously creates a lot of uncertainty on the players and the clubs
10:37and the managers to understand exactly what you need to do and when.
10:42But I don't know.
10:44My opinion.