Every word from Arteta’s post-Wigan presser | Press conference | News

Four goal in the first 30 minutes helped us reach the fifth round of the FA Cup and after the match, Mikel Arteta spoke to the press.

Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and an own goal steered into the last 16 against Wigan Athletic.

Here’s everything Mikel had to say following the win at Emirates Stadium.

on our performance today:
Very happy with the results and especially the performance, the way we started the game. You really want to show how much you want it when you play against this kind of opposition in the cup, and we certainly had that attitude, and then I was a bit surprised with the level of cohesion and connections very early in the match, because when you make that many changes, that can be a part of the game – that can be lacking. But it certainly wasn’t [for us] and we scored some very, very good goals. I’m very pleased with that.

on why Bukayo Saka played centrally:
That’s something that’s a possibility and I wanted to try it, and we might use it in the future. There are still so many games, competitions and different scenarios to play in this season, and that’s a possibility that we have.

on Calafiori’s fitness:
Him and Ben [White] are the only doubts. We have to wait and see in the next 48 hours how things develop.

on bringing on our goalkeeper Tommy Setford:
I think everybody has to feel that he’s got a chance, and if there are players, one of them would be Tommy for his attitude and the way he helps everybody every single day. So if we have a chance to play him in some minutes, we have to try to do it. I think he was very happy.

on what Saka can offer in a central position:
Well, he’s more central, he’s closer to the goal. It’s a bit more difficult for the opponent to get his reference constantly. He can interchange positions with a wide player as well, and he’s so good at picking those spaces. When he’s there, he can really hurt you with the ball.

on the squad cohesion:
No, [I wasn’t surprised with Bukayo in particular] – there were a lot of them and most of them haven’t played that much together, so that’s not easy. But some of the goals were exactly what we wanted to do. 

on Myles Lewis-Skelly’s performance:
No, that was another learning moment and I always tell them, be ready because in the role that you have you can change any minute and Bukayo had to be ready and he was made aware of that very, very, very late. But you need to understand the position, you need to understand the global intentions of the team and if you do that then you can perform and I think he might have had a really good game.

on Eberechi Eze’s involvement in the goals today:
Yes, some superb balls and his intentions, I think the risk that he took in the final third, the amount of shots that he tried to take as well, I think that’s really positive. That’s what we want from him.

on whether Eze will have a big role to play:
Yes, he’s already playing a big role, he’s played a lot of games for us and he will continue to do that.

on what this game can give Eze’s confidence:
That’s what those players need, those moments and especially when we talk about the creative players, they need to feel that they are producing those moments and I’m very happy with that, very happy with Gabi as well, the run that he made, the timing of that and then the finish in action, really, really positive. So it’s good for the mood, for the confidence, it’s a really good thing.

on Odegaard’s fitness:
With Martin we have to wait and see, obviously he picked that knock on the action where we conceded the goal and he wasn’t fit for today. 

on the injuries adding up recently:
Yes and especially because we are going through, before it was the strikers, then it was the defenders, now it’s the midfielders but we are still coping with that but we need some players back and fit and to give us as well not only numbers but different options in relation to the opponents that we have, so the quicker they are the better. 

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