Mikel Arteta faced the media after arriving in Munich for our third league phase game in this season’s UEFA Champions League against German champions Bayern Munich.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The boss was asked about the latest team news, his excitement to face Bayern again and the importance of magic moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here’s everything Mikel said at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zubi is back with us, so he will be involved tomorrow, and Piero, let\u2019s see if he\u2019s able to train in the next few days as well, he can be available for Everton, which is great news.<\/p>\n
On how big a step winning in Munich would be:<\/p>\n
Well I\u2019m really looking forward to the game, this is the stage, this is the kind of team, this is the kind of coach, this is the kind of club, the stadium that you want to be involved in. So we have prepared the game with lots of enthusiasm, and really thrive to come here and win the game tomorrow.<\/p>\n
On speculation on Eberechi Eze’s form:<\/p>\n
This is good because we have some really good players, the expectations are so big for all of them and we want more from everybody, and that\u2019s the mindset. That\u2019s what is going to make us better individually as a team so I hope that continues because that\u2019s going to push all of us to reach different kinds of levels and be better.<\/p>\n
On Olise being suspended:<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know [if it is an advantage], I don\u2019t want to say who is the best player in these kind of games. He\u2019s out, but when you look at the squad the starting possible XI that they have, you know, first of all, as a team, how incredibly well coached they are, the mindset that they have, the competition that they have in every action and the individual quality moments that they can creator throughout the game when you look at the goals and chances that they generate. So that\u2019s the opposition that you want to be facing and we will be facing tomorrow and we\u2019re just going to confront that and go for it.<\/p>\n
On Vincent Kompany not being well:<\/p>\n
Well I hope that he gets [somewhat] better, I hope that he\u2019s there tomorrow because it would be very good for the game that his presence is there. I\u2019m a huge admirer of him, one as a person, because I get to know him, I got to work with him for a few years, and then what he\u2019s done as a coach, his career, started first of all in Belgium then at Burnley and now what he\u2019s doing here because I think the identity and the quality that his team shows in the last few years, it\u2019s another level, and that\u2019s a big credit for him.<\/p>\n
On comments from ex-players:<\/p>\n
I haven\u2019t heard it so I’m not going to make any comment<\/p>\n
On whether opinions can become reputations:<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know, we are open to opinions, it\u2019s part of our job, it’s part of our roles, and those opinions have to be respected, especially if they are done in a respectful way. We are here to prove that we belong to this level, to this stage, and as I said, we always have the intention and the ambition to improve and be better, that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
Yeah, we know the kind of game we\u2019re going to play, I think both teams are very clear on that, and we experienced that at the Emirates, and it\u2019s going to be a very similar one in many moments, especially we have a lot of connections and positiveness in and around the team, so yeah, very excited about it.<\/p>\n
On how difficult it is to face a low block:<\/p>\n
Again, a low block demands a different kind of game to the high block, with a team that is constantly putting a ball in the last line, it\u2019s different. I think it requires something different to the team. Still, I think on Sunday, we could have done things better, but that\u2019s in our hands and we need to recognise that openly as well, but we did a lot of great things as well during the game against a really tough opponent, very, very well coached as well. We did something that we didn\u2019t manage to do two years in a row, so that\u2019s another step and a positive one, a really positive one. Then we learn from it and we go.<\/p>\n
On whether he used the summer to get over the Champions League final:<\/p>\n
I tried, but I haven’t managed! So I tried for many weeks in the summer, even today. And when I see the ball, when I see the music, when I see the scenes, I want it so badly. We know that we have to go step by step, but I think that fire is within the team and all of us individually because we know what we have to go through. By a penalty we were not champions of Europe, so let’s try again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On whether extra scrutiny comes with being champions:<\/p>\n
This is for every team. If you analyse the top teams in England, I don\u2019t care what they are talking about, but they all have a list. We all have a list because none of us are perfect. Thank God that we are not perfect, thank God we can still improve, even though we have won the games we have won, because otherwise, the next day, what do you do? You just expect to be better than the opponent and that’s it. And especially in the Premier League, we know that’s very far from the reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the debate about our style of play:<\/p>\n
I don’t have that impression because I heard that the style was incredible because we have scored so many goals. We have more possession, more shots, different players participating, no goals on set pieces. So the story is completely different to last year. I think we are talking about a very small minority. I think the bigger ones, they know that they have enjoyed a lot the way we have played and dominated games this year. I think we have proven that. So, that’s my opinion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On his memories of play in the 2-0 win here with Arsenal:<\/p>\n
I remember it was a quite bizarre game that won because of the feeling [of winning but going out]. But you know that when you come to that stadium, you know what you’re going to be facing, and you have all the standards and the quality that’s going to be required to get out of this stadium tomorrow with another three points.<\/p>\n
On the away goals rule going:<\/p>\n
My opinion is it\u2019s much better [without it], and I think it gives both teams as well very much at it and less speculation, this is my opinion.<\/p>\n
On Oliver Glasner’s opinion that Konsa and Gabriel are the best defensive partnership in the world:<\/p>\n
That’s a great opinion! For me, my players are the best in the world, and I think the partnership that they have developed in such a short period of time is remarkable. Credit to both of them, credit to the rest of the team as well. But I think on Sunday, both of them, specifically in key moments, they were exceptional.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On whether Harry Kane is the ultimate test for them:<\/p>\n
Well they get tested a lot in the Premier League certainly, and they have already done in the Champions League. But I think what Harry’s doing, and has done in the last few years, is just something else, another level. That\u2019s what we have to face tomorrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On whether he sees enough magic moments in his team to win big games:<\/p>\n
We\u2019re going to see at the end of the season. I think so far, yes, because in the games that we have played, we have produced those moments, and they’ve been produced by different players, which is something very positive, and it’s football. Tomorrow we’ll have to show it here in this arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Kane never scoring in open play against Konsa:<\/p>\n
On Serge Gnabry evolving his game:<\/p>\n
No, it’s true that playing wide he was very comfortable coming in, because he dominated both feet. He was a 360 player for a winger, which is quite unusual to do, but maybe like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. They both had that kind of range and capacity and qualities to play in these spaces. I’m really happy for him personally, and I’m happy for why he’s done for the last few years, and the way he’s developed himself and what he’s done in the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta faced the media after arriving in Munich for our third league phase game in this season’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-935917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}