Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on facing PSG tomorrow
30/09/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
30/09/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Hi Michael, can we get a fitness update please?
00:05Well no big news, obviously we have a training session this afternoon, we have to review
00:09a few players, but overall, especially returning, nothing to give back.
00:16And a first Champions League game at this campaign, how important is that moment?
00:21Yeah, we're looking forward to it. This is the kind of night that we want to experience,
00:26we want to have against an unbelievable opponent and we're just ready for it.
00:33So far this season you've had to show so many different types of mentality, 10 men at Man City,
00:39losing the lead at the weekend and going right to the final whistle to win.
00:43How pleased have you been with the mentality that the team have shown so far?
00:47Yeah, as you said, a very different one. We end up having to play a very different game
00:52in the second half against City and at the end losing two points in the last minute.
00:55We did completely the opposite, playing a low block like we did against them and with
01:00different challenges, but watching the game back, the amount of things that we generated,
01:04so pleased with the team.
01:06Can I just clarify some of those injuries? Ben White didn't play on the weekend,
01:11is there a chance he can make it tomorrow night? And also there are unconfirmed reports
01:17about Ricardo Calafiore leaving the game in tears after a problem with his knee.
01:22Can you dispel those myths or otherwise?
01:25Yeah, those are the two players that are in contention and we have to review today.
01:30But Calafiore is not a serious injury?
01:34No, we didn't do any training session yesterday. Obviously he was a bit emotional after the game
01:40and let's see how it is today.
01:42For you, PSG was your first professional club, I wonder, you've spoken a little bit about
01:50what it did for you, how has it shaped you into the manager that you are and the manager
01:54that will step out at the Emirates tomorrow night?
01:57Well it was my first professional experience as you said, it was an unbelievable time that
02:02I spent there, I loved every minute of it. I will always be grateful to the club, to
02:10Luis Fernandez because he was the one that believed in me when I was 17, 18 years old
02:14and I played professional football and from there it was a platform to share an experience
02:19in a club of that size, in a city that is probably the most beautiful one in Europe.
02:25An experience that stayed forever with teammates that helped me and shaped, as you mentioned,
02:32who I wanted to be as a player and then as well I think igniting something in me to become
02:38a manager in the future and there were some very important individuals in that part of my career.
02:45Hi, how are you?
02:46Hi.
02:47When you went to PSG, you played with some great players there, they wanted to keep you
02:52but you went back to Barcelona, can you just tell us what it was like to play with the
02:56standard players you played with and why you didn't stay in France?
02:59Well unbelievable, Ronaldinho, Anelka, Okocha, Pochettino are all unbelievable players.
03:06I wanted to stay there but I was in that moment owned by Barcelona and they didn't
03:11find an agreement and then I had to do something else but I was so happy there and I wanted
03:16to stay there but at the end I had to do something else.
03:19This is football.
03:20And he came to England, did you ever get close to going back there as a player?
03:24No, once I was here then my career started to develop here and it's been a few years
03:30in there.
03:31And how important is it this season to show you can win games like on Saturday in the
03:37last minute in injury time or other games where you put them to bed much earlier?
03:42How good this season is, the different ways you've won games?
03:46Well it shapes I think the character and the body of the team, that they have the certainty
03:52that they can win in any contest, that they can adapt to very different contests during
03:57matches.
03:58The Champions League demands that you can pretend to play against this kind of opposition
04:02and dominate 95 minutes.
04:03It does not happen at this level so you have to be really good in other phases as well
04:08to stay in the game, to be comfortable there and still have always a belief and intention
04:12to win it.
04:16Last season at home in the group stage it was three wins, 12 goals, none conceded.
04:21What is it about Champions League nights at the Emirates that's so special?
04:26Well everybody's looking forward to it.
04:27We missed it for a number of years and last year it was the first one after so many years
04:32that we had the experience to do it.
04:35The group stage is a bit different this season.
04:37The opposition we're going to face tomorrow is probably at the highest level that you
04:41can find in European football but honestly it's a great opportunity for us to see how
04:46we deal with that night, how prepared we are and how we can impose ourselves in this kind
04:51of context.
04:53Can I just ask you what your memories of Luis Enrique were when you were at Barcelona?
04:59A smile on my face, a huge admirer of him, an unbelievable personality, huge charisma,
05:08huge energy, very supportive with the young players always and what I love about him is
05:15that whatever he's been as a player or as a manager his fingerprints are all over the
05:20place.
05:21You can sense that that's his team.
05:23You can see in our PSG that's his team.
05:25The way the players behave, the way they want to attack, the way they want to dominate games,
05:29the spirit, the energy that they have.
05:32He has this unbelievable power.
05:34He's done it in all the clubs that he's been.
05:36He did it with Spain, with the national team and then his approach to life and his profession
05:42is something to really look at and I learned a lot of things from him.
05:47How much did he influence you, particularly the way his management teams, like that Barcelona
05:51side he had with Messi, Suarez, Neymar, did you look to that and see an aberration in
05:56some of this?
05:57One word is honesty.
05:58He's like this, straightforward, he looks in your eyes, he tells you what he thinks
06:02and I think at the end players appreciate that.
06:06You might like it more or less depending on how it happens.
06:09By the way, everybody talks and I have two or three players here that have been with
06:12him in the national team.
06:14They always say the same thing and they all enjoy playing under him.
06:18When somebody can make you feel like that in your profession, that's a big quality to
06:23have.
06:24I was just going to ask about Jurien and Ricardo because you started the last two league games
06:30as your full-backs and I guess have they brought something to those positions that you didn't
06:35really have last year, even with Jurien when he was injured?
06:39That you probably wanted a little bit earlier?
06:42Yes, obviously we missed Jurien 11 months and Ricky wasn't here.
06:45There are two players that have, first of all, the football brain, the intelligence,
06:50the courage, the quality and adaptability to occupy different spaces, both attacking
06:56and defending.
06:57That gives the team a different flow, a different dynamic.
07:00Very unpredictable for the opponent to defend certain ways.
07:04And both have a huge personality to play, which I love.
07:09On that unpredictability, is it the fact that all your full-back options have their
07:13own little qualities that are different to each other that makes it so good for you as
07:19a coach to pick and choose when you use one or the other?
07:22Yes, they have to have one in common, that they have to love defending first because
07:26they are defenders and after that every quality that we add is great.
07:30But as well, playing full-backs, natural foot, especially when we play inverted attacking
07:35midfielders and wingers many times, for the flow of those units is incredibly important
07:40and you can see that at the weekend as well.
07:43You spoke a bit about Jurien as a player and what he's like on the pitch.
07:46I'm just interested to get a sense of his character off the pitch and what he's like
07:49around the training ground and what he's like in the dressing room.
07:52A leader, a guy that is constantly thinking how he can help others, bringing unbelievable
08:00energy and commitment to everything that he does.
08:03Of course, in the very little time that he's been with us and especially with the amount
08:06of time he has spent on the pitch for everybody to speak so highly of him, to respect him
08:11and look at him in the way that they do, he tells you the story of the kind of personality
08:16we have in that team.
08:18Obviously when he was out last year you worked really hard to keep him close to the team.
08:21Can you just talk a bit about the process of keeping him there and keeping him involved
08:25and why you thought that was so important?
08:28Just getting his shoes.
08:30He comes from Ajax, he was the captain there, big move, different country.
08:36He comes here with his expectations, he starts really well and he gets injured in the first game.
08:41And then what?
08:42You have to look ahead, eight, nine, ten, twelve months maybe, difficult periods.
08:47And if you are disconnected to the team you can feel very lonely and far from the expectations
08:54that you had.
08:55It can be very disappointing and very difficult to handle personally and emotionally.
08:59And he did completely the opposite.
09:01He started to build unbelievable relationships.
09:03He started with the physios, with the teammates, he started to gather all the information about
09:08how we were playing.
09:09He was in every meeting and that really helped him to develop himself as a person but as
09:16well to understand what we wanted in a much better way and be prepared when he was back.
09:22How highly do you rate PSG and what sort of message do you think it would send out tomorrow
09:28night if Arsenal can beat them at the Olimpics?
09:30Really tough.
09:31They are an exceptional team.
09:34They dominate every phase of play.
09:36A team that it's very clear intention how they want to dominate the ball, the game through
09:41the ball.
09:42And when they don't have it they want it straight back.
09:44They are really aggressive with it.
09:46And they confront you.
09:49That's Luis.
09:50Everywhere he plays, against any opponent, in any context, that's the way they do it.
09:55And that's the biggest strength that they have.
10:02How much tomorrow game is very important?
10:04Arsenal is one point, PSG is three points.
10:07If Arsenal win, will we avoid to play another two games?
10:11How much tomorrow is very important for you and for the players?
10:14And the second one.
10:16Now both of you is a coach with Enrique.
10:18How do you feel about him?
10:20One is a coach, one is the most successful one of them all and he is as well.
10:25Is this making a difference for tomorrow game?
10:28Well, the first question, of course we want to win the game.
10:31We know after they join Atalanta with the number of games that we have still.
10:36It's going to be really important.
10:38Nothing is going to be decided obviously tomorrow.
10:40And regarding Luis and I, we both want to do the best for our club.
10:45Obviously he has won, I think, every competition you can imagine already in his career.
10:50He has transformed now a club that has a very clear identity under him.
10:55And that's a big achievement, the way he's done it personally.
10:59So, yeah, a very good test for all of us.
11:03Okay, Davide.
11:04Hi, Miquel.
11:05Hi.
11:07Despite Independence League is going to play around,
11:10what have you seen from him so far that has allowed him to play so well?
11:18How willing he is.
11:19The moment I spoke with him on the phone the first time, he wanted to come here.
11:24He understood what we wanted straight away.
11:26And he felt that he was going to be a perfect fit here.
11:30And he was.
11:31He landed, big smile on his face.
11:33He's got this energy, this aura around him that is very likeable.
11:38And then he's a fighter, he's a player that wants to play in the way that we want to play.
11:43And he will do anything for the team.
11:45So, straight away, when you have those qualities, I think a lot of things have to be wrong not to succeed.
11:52When he came straight to you and hugged you, is there a particular relationship between you two?
12:00Like with all the players, we try to give them the best possible environment for them,
12:04for the families to feel in the best way.
12:07I think he appreciates the efforts that the club and every member of the staff have done
12:11since his arrival to make his life the best possible way.
12:16And I think he's enjoying it.
12:18OK, from French TV, from Arthur, at the back there.
12:20Hi, coach.
12:21Hi.
12:22We have just learned that Ousmane Mbele is not in the PSG squad.
12:25It's a disciplinary issue.
12:27Is that something for you?
12:29Yeah, we just got the news before.
12:32I don't know if it's true or not.
12:34We're going to prepare like we always do with every possibility.
12:37And let's see.
12:38But obviously they have many other options.
12:40You have a very strong group on three kicks.
12:43Do you think that's a really good advantage for you tomorrow in this game?
12:48I think every team has its own strengths and weaknesses.
12:52And tomorrow we will try to exploit ours for sure.
12:55OK, we'll finish the live session with two in Spanish.
12:57What do you got?
12:58Hi, Miquel.
12:59I would like to ask you in Spanish.
13:01Your special relationship with the PSG, which is so important,
13:04is going to be the game tomorrow.
13:06A club where you started your career as a professional with Ronaldinho,
13:08with Heinze, with Muchetino.
13:10A special game for you tomorrow, isn't it?
13:12Very special.
13:13First of all, for what I feel for that club, for the eternal gratitude
13:16that gave me the opportunity to play for the first time at a professional level
13:20and what I enjoyed about the experience of the club, of the city,
13:23of the teammates, of the coach I had.
13:26And facing them again is obviously something very special for me.
13:30And Luis Enrique, another very successful Spanish coach.
13:33A special game to face him tomorrow?
13:36Very special and a big challenge for me.
13:39One of the best coaches in the world and someone I admire a lot
13:43and respect a lot for the way he is and the way he works.
13:48Any more from you?
13:50In Spanish.
13:51Yes, here for TV3 Sports Brasil.
13:53I wanted to ask you about Gabriel Varela.
13:56If it can be an important offensive weapon,
13:59especially if we have a game that is very tight
14:02and it is not a surprise but an attack as well.
14:06Yes, the truth is that Gabriel has evolved in a way in the defensive part,
14:10he is a weapon because of the solidity he gives us,
14:12and in attack because every time he steps into the area
14:15he feels the danger, the threat and the confidence that the team has in him.
14:20And what do you think of Gabriel?
14:22Can we see him starting or how is he evolving in this pre-season?
14:25Also good, he started very well in the pre-season,
14:27he had an injury that separated him and stopped his rhythm a bit
14:30and now he has returned.
14:31He has already played two starting games with Atalanta and Bolton
14:35and has already entered in another two or three games.
14:37And that, he takes his maximum level
14:40and he will be a very important player for us.