Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on player options, Nwaneri and adding pressure to Liverpool
21/02/2025
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
21/02/2025
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Just with Ethan, kind of watching from afar, it feels like he's growing with each game,
00:05that kind of personality, the confidence to beat people and take shots.
00:09Are you seeing that rate of growth seem to be speeding up?
00:15Yes, probably much faster than we all expected.
00:19But yeah, I think what is surprising is probably the confidence and his decision-making,
00:28especially in ball possession, the risks that he takes, the initiatives that he takes,
00:32and how careful he is about, OK, what's the situation?
00:36If somebody is more open, I just want to do it.
00:38And I love that on the player, and now he needs to do it consistently every three days.
00:43Is it a case of giving him freedom with regard to that decision?
00:45For sure, and especially I play with that talent,
00:49get him very, very far from thinking mode, let him express himself,
00:52put him in the environment, put him in the context that he can exploit his qualities,
00:56as often as he possibly can, surrounded by players that fit his qualities.
01:02Some people talk about this style of football,
01:04and also it seems that sometimes creative players have to think about the system more than the player.
01:10Is that the case with Ethan, that you kind of want him to not be coached as much?
01:15Well, there are certain duties that in a collective sport you have to be able to do,
01:20and you have to do it in the right timing as well, because that's essential, especially in football.
01:25But then you're going to have the freedom to express their creativity within sets and spaces,
01:31with their sets and connections that are developed within the team,
01:35that are just thought and agreed to improve the players' qualities, that's it.
01:41Hi, Mourinho.
01:42When Raheem first signed on loan in the window of the season,
01:46you were very gloomy in terms of him as a player, because you obviously knew him from Man City.
01:51In a way, because you've obviously worked with him so long in the past,
01:54are you surprised by the fact that he's not really hit the ground running per se so far?
01:58Because obviously you've known him so well and you know what he's capable of, what he's done in the past.
02:02Yeah, well, I think to compare two aspects when they are so far, especially in time,
02:07it was very difficult, and as well as context, where he was playing every three days,
02:11every minute of every game, every competition.
02:14And with us, since his arrival, he hasn't been the case for another reason,
02:18and we're all very aware that that wasn't going to be the case from day one.
02:22But he's still there, and the most beautiful part of the season is still to come,
02:26and he's going to have a big opportunity there.
02:28He's been playing, obviously, regular first-team football since he was about 17, year in, year out.
02:33How much do you think this is part of just the impact on his legs?
02:36Because obviously he's now 30, and a lot of players break through when they're 20, 21.
02:41Is this accumulation of just wear and tear, possibly?
02:43I don't think so. When I see him running, sprinting, accelerating,
02:47putting his brakes on in training or on the game, I don't think he's related to that.
02:51And for a while now, week to week, it's been always do or die, it seems, every game,
02:55you have to do it, you have to win.
02:57What's that like mentally to deal with, and how do you get the players on board
03:02that it's game after game rather than you have to add the pressure each week?
03:08That's it. I think the moment you're signed and you walk into this building,
03:11or you're part of this football club, that's the demands, nobody has to explain,
03:15you're at the highest level, that's what you expect to do,
03:18and you have to do it regardless of what the circumstances are.
03:22Hi, Miquel. Liverpool seem to control their emotions really well so far this season,
03:26they've had a few slip-ups, but you've been there as a leader,
03:30when you've had those slip-ups, how hard is it to regain that composure, that emotional control?
03:36When you don't win a game, for example, you mean?
03:39Yeah, when you're at the top and you have a few slip-ups and there are people chasing you.
03:42Yeah, well, there's always that concern, you know, because the moment you keep...
03:47certain results that you don't put together,
03:50the other teams are catching up if they manage to win those games.
03:53That's the pressure.
03:54And do you think in the last two seasons when you've been going for the title,
03:58that emotional control, that's what you were lacking, maybe?
04:01And that's what any team can lack, getting loads of good pressure, maybe?
04:06I don't think that was the case, I think there were other factors, I think, more,
04:10and especially in some games, especially at home,
04:14that we generated so much that we didn't put them to bed.
04:17So that clinical aspect in the box, that is so crucial as well,
04:20to keep winning, winning, winning and winning.
04:22Just finally, with Sakharov, there's been kind of a lot of pressure on Declan
04:26in terms of corners and him being the main taker.
04:29Has that been a big responsibility on his shoulders
04:32to be the main delivery taker for corners and providing those assists?
04:37Yeah, well, it's been since we decided to use him
04:41because he's unbelievable in his delivery, so consistent.
04:44And we scored a lot of goals, and that curve is impossible to maintain
04:48at the level it was, especially at the start of the season.
04:51We know it's going to fluctuate, we have to improve again
04:54and have threats from everywhere, as I always said,
04:57and that's an aspect that in recent weeks we can do better.
05:00OK, Ed.
05:01You mentioned that you managed to try and re-energise the team after all these injuries.
05:06For you personally, how difficult was it for you to come up with a plan to fill these gaps?
05:11Were you sitting up all night thinking,
05:14who can I play up front, or how did it take you through the process?
05:18Yeah, I had those moments, obviously, because it was a big worry,
05:22losing four front players of that level and the importance of the team.
05:27You're scratching your head to say,
05:29OK, how are we going to now compensate this lack of threat, of goals, of assists,
05:37of options, of who's going to fill those minutes?
05:41You start to generate a lot of options, some more realistic,
05:47some of this thinking in a completely different way as well,
05:51and then what really re-energised me is the team, the staff, the players,
05:57looking at them, that if I tell them to play in any position, do anything,
06:02I know that they are ready for it and they're going to do it really convinced.
06:05Not because it has to be done, it's because they really feel it.
06:08Was there something in particular about Mikko Mourinho
06:10that you thought he could be the guy to start off as a striker?
06:14Was it a particular skill attribute that he's got?
06:18No.
06:19Well, he's a massive goal threat, from positions that he can attack
06:24and arrive in the box, the timing, how he's menced danger,
06:28how he can execute as well with many parts of his body as well,
06:32and the fact that he's very experienced and very intelligent.
06:37So if somebody's going to have to adapt to another position,
06:40it's him, it can be Leo, it can be Raj that has played in that position,
06:45we have Nathan as well that can play there, we have other options.
06:48OK, last two now, Gary from The Times.
06:51Gary, in the last couple of years you've been at the top
06:54for quite a few periods of the season,
06:56this year you haven't been top of the league at all.
06:59Can you apply the same pressure on Liverpool,
07:02and how would you apply the same pressure on Liverpool,
07:04that you had City breathing down your necks the last year,
07:09the last two seasons?
07:11What's the feeling of that, the sort of nipping feeling,
07:15and can you apply that same reverse?
07:19I prefer to depend on me, because when you depend on somebody else
07:23there are too many factors.
07:26But it feels different, it feels like we can generate the right momentum,
07:33and the team with these performances is able to convince themselves
07:38that we can do it, it's a big factor, because suddenly we feel really, really strong.
07:43And that's probably mentally a point that can go for us.
07:48OK, finally we'll go to David from Cassandra's Aerosport.
07:51Hi, you have a situation in which you have basically three forwards
07:54to run in probably the international league.
07:57How much effect have you been playing every three days,
08:00and you have so few players, has it changed the way you rotate the team?
08:06Yeah, we have to be very cautious, because as well as those players
08:09that have to now be loaded in a very different way,
08:13they haven't had that exposure.
08:15So the risk increase is more uncertainty, how they can cope with that,
08:20and the thing that we really need is, first of all, availability,
08:25and those players to be fit in the best conditions to compete.
08:28We have made some adjustments.
08:30OK, everyone, thanks very much.