Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to have sleepless nights over Liverpool winning team
25/10/2024
Sobah RealtyTraining Ground, London, UK
25/10/2024
Sobah RealtyTraining Ground, London, UK
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00:00Is that something that you also feel through the players?
00:03I'm sure you're insulting the players, but that's in them, that's in the dressing room.
00:08But that's the way we try to behave every single day and if we could be four points ahead,
00:13that's not going to change the season and we've been there in that situation as well.
00:17So probably we'll learn from it as well, but the possibility is tomorrow.
00:21Let's have a beautiful day on Sunday when we really perform,
00:25we are who we are and we win that game in the manner that we want.
00:29This has to be what drives our team.
00:31Last season, your success, your finishing the table,
00:36were built on results against your big rivals, weren't they?
00:40You had fantastic results against them.
00:42How much confidence does those sort of results and those sort of performances
00:45give a squad for another season?
00:46How much would it give you if you won and repeated it again on Sunday?
00:50Well, that tells you that we are capable of doing it and we did it, as you said,
00:54in a really consistent way this season as well.
00:56We went to Villa, one of the hardest grounds, and we won there.
00:58We went to City, played 55 minutes with 10 men.
01:01We did it and tomorrow is another opportunity and the team has done it.
01:05That's the good thing.
01:06They already experienced it.
01:07They believe how good they are and that's really important.
01:11Hi, Makaar.
01:12On Sunday, you obviously have to deal with Al-William Saliham in the back line.
01:16Against Bournemouth, Kibio has obviously sort of done a face-to-face substitution.
01:20Does he have a potential partner to play this weekend?
01:23And if not, what are the ways you could go around this for the back line?
01:27It is one of the options that we have, certainly, and Jacob has done it there.
01:31Obviously, the context that we did it the other day was very different for him as well
01:35because of the situation that we have to play with 10 men for so long.
01:39But certainly, he's one of the options.
01:41It's early days, but Arjen Slot is obviously a great start at Liverpool.
01:44It's very early to say, but looking towards the future,
01:47do you think... Obviously, we've mentioned you and Pep quite a lot,
01:50but with Slot, could that be a potential rivalry or a potential burst
01:54that you need to keep an eye on for the next few years to come?
01:57No, that means that we are all there fighting for the same aims.
02:01And that's it.
02:03Me, I admire and really like the way he sets his teams in,
02:07the way he communicates as well.
02:09Yeah, we'll welcome them on Sunday.
02:11Jordan?
02:12Hi, Miquel.
02:13Talk about those different combinations, those drawings of different back fours.
02:17When you're sat at home on Saturday night and they're going through your head,
02:20how stressed does it make you going into a big game
02:24not knowing what back four you're going to put out?
02:27The only stress, I mean, because it's not a back line,
02:30it's the midfield, it's the front line as well.
02:32For me, stressful would be two things.
02:34One, that you don't have options, and then what do you do?
02:37And the other thing that generates not stress,
02:39but you get in the shoes of the players,
02:41is that every time you make a decision,
02:43obviously it's a positive one for somebody,
02:45not so positive for the one that you have to deal with on the human level
02:49with that player, and that's what it causes a little bit of tummy ache,
02:52if anything, but that happens every week.
02:55That's a process of choosing the line-up
02:57and understanding how everybody's going to feel about it.
03:00And because it is so early in the season,
03:02it sounds like you could be in a situation
03:05where you're taking a risk on a player on their fitness on Sunday.
03:08Is it too early to be taking risks?
03:11Or because it's such a big game, do you think,
03:13I need to take a risk?
03:15No, obviously the risk that we take,
03:17normally we want to understand what the risk
03:20and what the consequences can be.
03:22You don't always get it right for sure because it's medicine
03:26and there's a lot of unpredictability,
03:29and as well the moment you extend minutes on players,
03:31but I think the player is a great indicator of how he's feeling,
03:35how much he pushes you every single day.
03:38If you have to do it, I don't think it's great
03:41when players are really pushing you
03:43and giving you the right clues to say,
03:45OK, I'm ready, I feel good about it,
03:47then it's easier to push
03:49and I think everybody's more certain as well.
03:51And finally to Gary.
03:52When will you make the decision on the team?
03:55Tomorrow night or Sunday morning?
03:57Normally I prefer to go to bed with the line-up in my head
04:01so I can sleep like a baby.
04:03But sometimes it cannot be
04:05because you have to wait for the next day.
04:07Sometimes two days before or just three days before
04:10you already have the idea,
04:11against this team, this is what I'm going to do.
04:14But when you have uncertainty with injuries, that's tricky.
04:17What's a knock-on effect for the rest of the team
04:22in terms of how he maybe squeezes play?
04:24You mentioned six changes at the back and the combination.
04:28What's a knock-on for the midfield,
04:30which obviously hasn't been slightly disrupted this year,
04:33and for the forward line?
04:35Yeah, obviously a player in one line,
04:38especially if he's a versatile player
04:40that can play in different places,
04:42is moved, that has a knock-on effect on the rest.
04:45And if he doesn't, it has a knock-on effect as well
04:48on the things that you are able to do
04:50because you have to fit the qualities of that player
04:52to deliver the game plan that you want.
04:54But that's always the case.
04:56OK, everyone, thanks very much.