• 7 hours ago
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta previews West Ham saying, "you are going to suffer in life whatever you do. In every profession there is not everything beautiful."

29/11/2024

Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
Transcript
00:00After the sporting game, you said that your team isn't very good at controlling past games.
00:08Can you explain more what you meant by that and what you'd like to see?
00:12I talk about that particular moment because after half-time you need to get through those 10-15 minutes in a different way.
00:19We gave so many balls away, you know, and that doesn't allow you restarts.
00:23We give the ball away and that gives them some confidence.
00:27They score the goal and then the game becomes a little bit more open.
00:31After that we dealt with it much better.
00:33It was just for a period of time.
00:35Ideally for coaches, 96 minutes, you dominate that.
00:38Very difficult to do, especially when you play the kind of opponent that is Sporting.
00:42Is that just the importance of being ruthless and constantly being at it?
00:48Is it a case of this team is very good when it's constantly on the attack, not sitting back and waiting for opponents to...
00:55Yes, but in order to achieve that, there are a lot of things that you have to do really good.
00:59There were periods with a lot of simple things we did not at our best.
01:04That has an impact. You lose territory, you lose the ball in areas that doesn't allow you to press.
01:09You have to sit a little bit deeper to get out of that situation.
01:12It's tricky because every player is back to goal.
01:14It's easier to unlock that first press.
01:17There are a lot of things that are attached to that.
01:20Is there any update on Ben White since his surgery?
01:23What is he doing right now?
01:25Is he going back in the gym soon or is it still very early days?
01:28Well, it's still early days.
01:29The surgery went really well.
01:31There's no reaction after that.
01:33He's improving day by day, but it's a process.
01:36The first four, six weeks we have to be really cautious.
01:39Don't put any stress on that knee.
01:41Then we'll see how quickly, how fast, and how the knee reacts after that.
01:50You touched on this earlier on, but with Jurgen Klopp resigning,
01:55because he's just put up and kept looking like his age for 10 years,
01:59it seems that this job that you're in, even if you're successful, it's bad for your health.
02:03How do you cope with that?
02:06I don't know. I love what I do.
02:08I love every minute of it.
02:11I take it like this is going to happen.
02:14If you want to be a coach, you're going to lose football matches.
02:17You're going to have tough periods.
02:19Most probably you're going to get sacked.
02:21It's part of it.
02:23When I did my coaching advice, I said,
02:25I don't know when, but one day it's going to happen.
02:27If it doesn't happen, okay, beautiful.
02:29You have to go through that journey.
02:31It's actually how you go through that journey, how you take it.
02:35You know how much perspective you have, what the people around you,
02:38how much they can help you through it.
02:40You're going to suffer in life, whatever you do.
02:42I'm sure you have difficult moments in your profession.
02:45There's nothing, everything beautiful.
02:47But learn from it.
02:49Take it on board and move forward.
02:51From an early age, you told yourself that this was the way to cope with it.
02:56Well, that's what I tried.
02:58Because if not, I'm not going to enjoy it.
03:00I really want to.
03:02With the opportunity and the position that I'm in,
03:05if I don't enjoy it, I think that would be crazy.
03:09That would be very selfish.
03:11It's something that I don't want to promote to my kids or my family.
03:14I've been choosing to do this job.
03:16So I need to enjoy it.
03:18Losing a match, I hate it, absolutely hate it.
03:21It drives me mad.
03:23I really suffer from it.
03:26But it's a way to improve and do things differently.
03:30Okay, move on.
03:32Mike.
03:34After Liverpool's win at St Anton last weekend,
03:37Arnaud Slot said we're not getting carried away.
03:40The lead is eight points.
03:42And you referenced Arsenal 18, 20 months ago
03:45when you were eight points clear in March-April
03:48and didn't win the title.
03:49So he said we're not getting carried away.
03:51Now you are the chasers, if you like, rather than at the top.
03:55Does that give you the belief that it can be done,
03:58that eight points is not an insurmountable lead to overhaul?
04:02And you have the squad, possibly the best squad left,
04:06the best squad at the top, to re-limit, haven't you?
04:10Well, yes, we've been there.
04:12And to sustain it for ten months is extremely difficult.
04:15Everything has to go your way.
04:17And sadly, when you think that you have it,
04:19one day, plop, collapses.
04:21And it can be through a result, it can be through injuries,
04:23it can be from other kinds of decisions.
04:26And it can happen at any moment.
04:28And we have to be ready for that.
04:30But again, it's something that we don't control.
04:33What we can control is what we can do,
04:35and do that our very best.
04:37If anyone's got the squad to re-limit an eight-point deficit,
04:40it's Arsenal, isn't it?
04:42Well, I really believe in my team, yes.
04:44Ed.
04:46On Man City, obviously you've had a few injuries this season,
04:51and now they've got quite a few,
04:53and I think that's really affected their result.
04:55Do you have any doubts that they can come back from this position,
04:58obviously, when they get people like this back,
05:01real threats to the sides and stuff?
05:03No, because even with those injuries,
05:05they deserve to win every game.
05:07It's simple, you look at all the stats and everything that they do,
05:10they are always better than the position,
05:12they deserve to win the games.
05:14This is football, they deserve it, you don't win it,
05:16OK, it's for a reason.
05:18And likewise with your side,
05:20you're sort of starting to click now,
05:22last time you went to play West Ham away,
05:24you won 6-0 a few months ago,
05:26do you sense that the team is, you know,
05:28having scored five in midweek as well away,
05:30really sort of hitting the straps very quickly?
05:32It's another game.
05:34Don't take anything for granted,
05:36just make the preparation the best that you possibly can,
05:38focus, understand the difficulty, the importance of the game,
05:41and go with that mentality into the game,
05:44to be at our best and go to win the game for sure.
05:48And finally to Gary.
05:50You said you hate losing a game,
05:52what does it look like when you lose a game,
05:55what does it look like when you win a game?
05:57What does hate mean to you?
05:59It's that pain, you suffer,
06:02you try to find the answers to a lot of things
06:04that are very difficult in the moment,
06:06try to change decisions,
06:08it can come from other things,
06:10you can be upset with a performer,
06:12you can be upset for certain decisions,
06:14you can be upset for many ways,
06:16especially because you put so many hours,
06:19effort, energy into something,
06:21and you don't get it.
06:23And especially when you feel,
06:25I deserve to get it and I don't get it,
06:27and this game is so unpredictable,
06:29it is painful, so that's it.
06:31Okay, thanks a lot.

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