Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits that on his first day as Arsenal manager he 'was probably terrified. You haven't coached anybody at the highest level.'
20/12/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
20/12/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00You read it?
00:02I re-watched it.
00:03Ah, okay.
00:04It's interesting because you sound very different than you do now.
00:07My voice?
00:08Yeah.
00:09Yeah?
00:10The whole thing feels quite different.
00:11You see, I'm changing.
00:12Not in appearance.
00:13Looking back, were you nervous that day?
00:17What were you thinking at that point?
00:19Probably terrified.
00:20I mean, you haven't coached anybody at their highest level
00:26and in the middle of the season without any preparation,
00:29without really coaching the staff,
00:32you get asked to do this amazing and big job.
00:36And I was looking around at the people that were making that decision
00:41and they were so convinced.
00:43So, first of all, obviously you want to respond to that trust.
00:47Obviously I had very strong feelings towards the club,
00:50so I just wanted to make sure that I didn't disappoint anybody,
00:54that I was capable of doing it.
00:56The only way to do it is start day by day and start to experience that,
01:01start to get close to the players, to the staff,
01:04and see, okay, this can work.
01:07You couldn't say at the time, but it was obviously a bit of a mess
01:10that they would do that when you came in.
01:12It was a difficult time for the club.
01:15Was there a moment in those first few weeks where you were like,
01:17wow, this is a bigger job than I thought it was before?
01:23Yes, because there's a lot of situations that kept surprising us,
01:26that it was very difficult.
01:28I mean, the COVID-19 brought all the kinds of stuff
01:30that made life much more difficult.
01:34One internally and the limitations with how we could change the squad
01:38and the staff as well, there were a lot of issues.
01:40And the other one, it was related to,
01:43yeah, we could not communicate with our supporters.
01:46So that distance was something that I was really worried about
01:49because I could absolutely break anything before we started.
01:54But they had some patience, we started to win games
01:57and it started to look better and we had the time to shape it up
02:01and it started to be what we wanted.
02:03Yes, sir?
02:04Hi, Mika.
02:05Hi.
02:06Of the five years, one big element that struck out to me
02:09was the change of culture you obviously led in the club
02:12from when you first took over to now.
02:14It's a completely different set of values and culture.
02:17And part of that was the contract termination
02:19of some of the older players a few years ago.
02:22How difficult was that at the time
02:24and what did that teach you in terms of players
02:27that you were then going to bring in afterwards?
02:30Well, the first thing is understanding
02:33what is a good culture and a bad culture.
02:35And to do that, what I did is basically ask through somebody
02:40that I employed to give me their opinion
02:43of how they feel to work in this football club.
02:46Players, staff in all kinds of roles,
02:49in and out of responsibilities.
02:51And then I had a very clear picture of what they thought
02:54and how they felt about it.
02:56And it was clear that it had to be changed.
02:59And that must have been a one-shot,
03:01because once you got your roots in,
03:03the culture changed everything.
03:05Yes, because that were the roots of our football club.
03:07So if those roots were damaged at that level,
03:10there was nothing to build without it.
03:12So the first emphasis and how we have to put the energy
03:15and big decisions, it was to make sure
03:17that those roots were clean and were in the right context,
03:20in the right place to be able to create
03:23and build what we wanted to build.
03:25Jordan?
03:26Who was that person?
03:28Sorry?
03:29Who did you employ so much?
03:32A person that is specialised in that.
03:35A very good friend of mine.
03:38And did that ultimately help?
03:41Well, I think it helped.
03:43It brought a lot of clarity.
03:45And it's not something random that is a feeling.
03:49I wanted to get away from a feeling.
03:52No, because in the past this happened.
03:54No, no, it's not a feeling, it's a fact.
03:56You tell me how you feel every single day about this,
03:59about this relationship, about the way we communicate,
04:01about your part, your responsibility, this and that.
04:04And then it's something that is real.
04:06A friend in football.
04:10You're not going to get the name.
04:13We can try.
04:19Just going back to when you were first,
04:22you were really young, you were like 37 at the time.
04:25Looking back, can you believe how you managed to cope
04:28with all that pressure at such a young age?
04:31And how have you matured as a person?
04:35I have managed because I have people around me
04:38that they had a lot of faith and trust in me.
04:40And I have people that are much better than me in many aspects.
04:43Like always, surround yourself with the best people,
04:46with people who have more experience than you,
04:48a different vision, different kind of eyes,
04:51different ways of thinking.
04:53And make sure that you listen to them,
04:55you give them responsibility and help you in the process.
04:59Because obviously I'm still very young,
05:02and as I said, I have so much to learn.
05:04But in that period, obviously, I had zero experience.
05:08And do you think that you've become a little bit calmer,
05:11you've talked about this a little bit this season,
05:13but during games you've mellowed out a little bit
05:16than when you first started?
05:18I think so.
05:20I think it was necessary, I think it's better,
05:22I think the players need different stuff, as I said before,
05:25and hopefully it helps them.
05:28OK, last couple.
05:30The first five years of the Archer era,
05:34I saw you in the Amazon documentary
05:36when you were jumping about with lightbulbs.
05:38How did you react to that?
05:42Well, thank God you haven't seen a lot.
05:44So that was just a small part, I haven't seen it,
05:47so difficult to say.
05:49I think people comment on those aspects.
05:52I don't know, it's the way I am,
05:54I like to think of different ways to inspire players,
05:57to get the staff players together.
06:01It's a very special, unique generation
06:03that we have in our hands,
06:05very different to when I was a player,
06:07even though I'm still young.
06:09So I think they require other stuff,
06:11and certainly the dressing room requires other stuff
06:13that probably now they don't.
06:15And that was a way for a lot of people
06:17to see the human side of you,
06:19or a side of you that they haven't seen.
06:22Yeah, I think it was at the end, obviously,
06:25at the beginning I wasn't probably a big fan of it
06:28because we had enough.
06:30And then we have to go through, OK,
06:32having cameras and mics every single day for 24 hours,
06:35there's no intimacy, everything is shared.
06:38And yeah, everybody was a bit worried.
06:41I think the reflection, especially from the club's perspective,
06:44was it was positive to be transparent
06:46and everybody to understand how we work,
06:48how much people care about this club.
06:50And if that was the case, then great.
06:54Do you keep mementos, Riquelme?
06:56If you get mementos in the last five years,
06:58what would they be?
07:00Ah, that's like in Spanish, mementos.
07:07I have a lot, you know.
07:09It's constantly recording, I have so many.
07:12The first day, honestly, it's like a dream comes true.
07:16Because I really dreamed about that moment,
07:20but really, realistically, three or four times.
07:24And talking to my wife, my kids,
07:26I think one day it's going to happen.
07:28And when it actually happens, it's like, is it really happening?
07:31So I better enjoy it,
07:33because I feel so privileged to be where I am,
07:38and I don't want to not do it because of the responsibility
07:42and what the role brings with it.
07:44Does that mean things you may have kept, you kind of reflect on?
07:47Because the other day you spoke about
07:49you might actually watch some of the videos from that period.
07:52I mean, we weren't really sure if you were being joking,
07:55but actually you will do that.
07:57No, and I do that, and I have people who does that for me, for sure.
08:00Because my opinion, my tendency is going to be looking
08:04and focusing on one thing,
08:06but I think I have to improve in many, many levels.
08:09My communication skill, the way I talk to players,
08:13the decisions that I make, what decisions I make on the bench,
08:16when I have time, the way we prepare things,
08:19the staff that I have around you, are they in the right roles?
08:22Do they feel that they can increase responsibility?
08:25My relationship with ownership support,
08:27there's so much on that job that you can get better at.
08:30So there's no limits.
08:32Were you doing anything tonight for the team hotel?
08:34Sorry?
08:35Were you doing anything tonight for the team hotel, the market?
08:38Tonight, my thing?
08:39Tonight, yes.
08:40No, I already done the tunnel, everybody hit me hard.
08:44That's enough, let's focus on the game tomorrow.
08:47Sorry, Rachel.
08:49You spoke earlier about how you're constantly thinking
08:51about how to be the perfect manager for Arsenal Football Club.
08:54Obviously, just like there can't be a perfect football player
08:56or a perfect football club,
08:57is part of that impossible target what keeps you going?
09:00100%.
09:02And how imperfect we are, especially,
09:06and how many areas there are still to explore and improve,
09:09and that's the beauty of this job.
09:11That is limitless, you can work 24 hours
09:13and you still have a lot of things to do.
09:15And every day is a new day, brings you new challenges,
09:18and you open one window and it's like,
09:20wow, and it gives you energy, and let's explore that one.
09:23And I love that.
09:24I love it because I have as well a lot of staff
09:26that they are exactly the same.
09:28So you get in the building
09:29and there is always that energy going on.
09:31And I think the players value that as well,
09:33because if not, it becomes a little boring
09:35and very systematic every day.
09:38Okay, Paul, thanks very much.
09:39Yeah, thank you.
09:41Well done, congratulations.