Arteta delight after Arsenal thrash Manchester City 5-1
02/02/2025
Emirates Stadium, London, UK
02/02/2025
Emirates Stadium, London, UK
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00:00How much did you enjoy that person watching from the side?
00:12Watching during the game, maybe at the end a little bit more than usual, but it's a great
00:18day for us, for the result, for the manner that we've done it and especially against
00:22the level of the opposition that we played today.
00:25You've been criticised for not being clinical enough, but you took chances today?
00:32To beat them in the manner that we've done, a lot of things have to go your way. We were
00:36very aggressive, we played with a lot of courage, we went without the ball and our high press
00:40with the limits are really, really thin. If you score a goal, you should have scored another
00:44one clearly. Even if you wanted, they are that good that sometimes you just have to
00:50stay deep and defend deep and suffer and enjoy those moments as well. We had a bit
00:56of luck in certain moments and then we had the opportunity. I think it was our intentions,
01:01our aggression with the ball, how we wanted to help them and the way we finished the actions
01:07exceptional.
01:08To win like that against a team like Manchester City, why does that rank as one of your achievements?
01:16I don't know, just enjoy the day. I think it's something that we will learn from as
01:21well and understand still that a lot of things have to go your way to win in that manner.
01:28One of the main things again is to create the unbelievable energy that we created in
01:32the stadium. We cannot waste one minute without playing with that because I think it infects
01:39the team, transforms the team and it makes it really difficult for the opposition. For
01:44the players to believe that we can compete against anybody in our day when we play at
01:47that level individually and collectively we compete at that level. I think it's going
01:53to be very helpful for the future.
01:54After the first goal Gabriel celebrated in Harlan's face, when Miles scored he celebrated
02:00in the Harlan celebration. How much do you think the game in September had an impact
02:05on this and your team?
02:06I don't know, I haven't seen that and there's nothing that I want to discuss about that.
02:10That's down to the players but they know my view on it and we have to focus on us.
02:17Hi Mikel, I just want to take you back to quite a long time ago, just before you were
02:22Arsenal manager, when you were here with Man City and won 3-0 in a freezing cold night.
02:29That kind of swing, to go from there, where people call it a normal contest, to being
02:34able to dominate in the way that you did and create such a big scoreline against Man City,
02:39do you feel that there's something in the psychology of the team changing, that they
02:43feel they can do that now and what it brings them going forward?
02:47I think your emotional state in any sport at this level is crucial. It's how you feel
02:54about yourself, how you feel about the team, the confidence, the trust in your ability
02:59and how you are looking at your position. That took some years as well and a lot of
03:05good decisions but it's down to the players. When they play with that tenacity it's because
03:09they believe they can win and they can face to face the opposition and that's the best
03:14thing. After the outcome you can win or lose because both teams are really good but what
03:19I like is the attitude.
03:21Did you tell them at half-time to go for it a bit more because it was a more ageing first
03:24half?
03:25Yeah but I think you won it and we had great moments in the first half. You really won
03:29it but they are that good that they can't. In the second half they won it certain things
03:33that we didn't allow them to do as well. You have to navigate, there are a lot of micro
03:37games in the game when you play this kind of opposition and you have to be happy to
03:43be in each phase of that game, if not you don't win it I think.
03:46Tom from London, less than two years ago Miles Lewis Scully scored an FA Youth Cup goal against
03:53Manchester City to win the game. It's been quite a rise since then, what was your emotions
03:58like when that ball from him hit the back of the net?
04:00I wasn't expecting it. I was talking today with one of our staff members about that,
04:06that he needs to thread more in the final third when he gets in this position and Enrique
04:12did it the other day against Wolves and scored and our full backs now generating this kind
04:17of thing, the same with Julian. He adds threat, he adds a different problem to the opposition
04:23so great.
04:24It's fair to say the fans got a huge boost off the back of that. I think they'd get an
04:28even bigger boost if tomorrow was also a good day. Are you hoping tomorrow will be a really
04:33good day?
04:33I don't know. My phone has been off with transfer window, forbidden to call me, to text me about
04:38any of that. My focus was that that's the best preparation we can have for Wednesday
04:43and that was the only thing I was interested in.
04:47Another one on Miles, you mentioned tenacity there. It felt like he as an 18-year-old was
04:54almost setting the tone for that. Could you reflect a bit on his character as well as
04:58his performance?
05:00That's on him. He's been nurturing the academy, he's got it inside him, he feels it and he's
05:07very good at expressing it as well and some players struggle with that. He does it in
05:11every action, he does it with his body language, he does it with his facial expression, how
05:15he leads the game and then with the ball because he takes it and he wants to make
05:20things happen. He takes risks, he takes initiative and at his age that's not easy to see.
05:24It's such a dream having so many talented young players come through that. When you
05:29arrived there you had Ethan, Miles, it's fantastic.
05:33There's a lot of work that has to be done in the academy, a lot of people that have
05:37contributed to that and hopefully they are really proud because a big part of their success
05:43is a lot of people that have been in that process.
05:45Going back to Sam's question about the players mimicking Haaland, you said in your answer
05:50that the players know your view on that. What is your view?
05:54We have to focus on us and to leave in anything that happens, it's just part of the game
05:59on the pitch and whatever happens there. I think I've been in football a long time,
06:04just leave it, there's nothing there to do.
06:07In the Amazon documentary you've seen you use comments from opponents in the past in
06:13your team talks, you didn't do that with what Haaland said before this one.
06:20You've got some rise in performance, how crucial were they and the moments in the games?
06:27That's when we talk, a lot of things have to go your way and in those moments you have
06:31to be very efficient, you need a bit of luck, you need an individual action. We had it all
06:35today, that's why probably the result reflects that distance because a lot of things go our
06:41way today.
06:42You've given quite a few opportunities to both Eton and Milan this season, why is it
06:46about them that made you put the faith in them initially and then obviously go and pay
06:51dividends? What's the impetus for that?
06:53That I believe in them, that we believe in them. When I put them next to the boys they
06:59feel that with them they are as good or better and that's really, really important. They
07:04play with a lot of purpose and they play truly to contribute and to make things happen, that's
07:11what I like about both of them.
07:16Pep said that the third goal was the one that really killed them but if Thomas Partey hadn't
07:21scored that second goal so quickly after they came back it could have been a very difficult
07:24game?
07:25That's another thing that went our way because emotionally I think that was a turning point.
07:29We reacted so quickly, had a bit of luck in that action and that set the tone for the
07:35team in the stadium as well to go and win the game. After that I think the team took
07:41a different level, growing confidence, started to control the game much better and dominate
07:45certain areas much better and we went and won it from there.