Mikel Arteta faced the media after our 1-1 draw with Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

The boss was asked about the performance, his team selection, the impact from the subs and more. Here’s every word from his post-match press conference…

On his assessment of the team…
I’m extremely proud of the players and the team. That’s the overall feeling, and I’m very disappointed with the result. 

On the similarities to last season’s game at Etihad Stadium…
No, because that game we played I think 54 minutes with 10 men, so that’s a different story. The pride that I feel is to do and to play and to dominate the game the way we did against this team and with 11 players.

On if the half-time substitutes was an admission that the team selection wasn’t right…
It’s too easy to say that. I think it’s very clear what we wanted to do, and we started the game very well, I think we completely dominated. I think after they scored the goal, doing absolutely nothing before that, we were a bit shaky for five or seven minutes and after that we got the grip of the game again and started to dominate it, and the second half it was a continuation of that, with one different player and then with two or three different players.

On if the starting XI was ‘safety first’…
I’ll leave that to you. But for me it’s a lot of attacking players in that team, yeah.

On if he was surprised by how ‘withdrawn’ Manchester City went…
I think everyone tries to do their best to get the result that they want, so it’s fine.

On Madueke’s half-time withdrawal…
No, he had an issue very early in the match and he wasn’t well enough to continue.

On if he sees Eze as someone who can impact the game in a central role
Yes, that’s why he played today in that position.

On facing Donnarumma again…
He’s so dominant in the box and every ball that is in and around the six-yard box, his timing, the way he executes the action, it is super efficient. It’s very difficult and today again he made some very important contributions not to lose again.

On the timing of Martinelli’s introduction…
We had very good momentum and we needed to time that well. He’s in a really good moment again after the game he had in Bilbao and that period of time probably he deserved more, but his energy again, his attitude was really good and that’s why he made the impact that he made again for the team.

On Martinelli’s impact off the bench…
We want consistency on that, for every player that doesn’t start the game to be able to do that, because you see how long the match is and the level that it requires to beat them, and we’re very happy with him.

On his thinking behind the starting midfield three…
Because I thought it was the best one to start the game. Nobody asked me about the midfield three in Bilbao. 

On Gyokeres’ performance…
Well there were a lot of very good balls in the box, especially I remember three of them that he was very, very close to doing against City. To have very big open chances is extremely difficult, but he’s certainly trying his best and trying to do that and we have to provide more for him, that’s it. There were a lot of situations where the chances were there and then the final pass was missing today. In many moments it was very, very open.

On Eze’s positional versatility…
Today he played a little bit more shifted to the right and there was a reason for that. When play shifted from the left whether it’s as an attacking midfielder, as a winger coming into that space as well, he’s someone that is very, very efficient and very creative. We know that, that’s why we brought him in. So we’re using him in different spaces.

On squad depth factoring into team selection…
Well, there are a lot of factors, obviously. The first one is their performance level and the emotional state that they are in. That’s one. After that, it’s what we believe is the best thing in relation to the opponent and the type of game that we predict. And after that, there is as well chemistry and relationships that make each other better and we need to understand it.
 

Read more Match report: Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City

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