Every word from Arteta’s pre-Bournemouth presser | Press conference | News

Ahead of the return of the Premier League, Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the press before we take on Bournemouth.

Mikel gave an update on his squad, facing Bournemouth and the final seven matches of the domestic season.

You can read every word he said below, with a video of the press conference to follow:

on the availability of Saka, Odegaard, Timber, and Calafiori:
Yes, there have been changes since yesterday.

on if all four are available:
I don’t know, some of them.

on the boost of having Eze back:
He is available. He has [been ahead of schedule], my first conversation with him after he felt a niggle, he wanted to be available the next week, we knew that was impossible. But the recovery, the will that he’s shown from day one to get back as quickly as possible, how he’s pushed the medical staff and himself to be there tomorrow, it’s just great to watch.

on if Hincapie is still out:
There will be changes tomorrow.

on how much he had to pick up the players after two defeats:
I think it’s a balance, as I said the other day, it’s better to observe first, you know, to see the natural reaction, to see what we are made of, to see what’s the first instinct, collective and individually from the players, and then you can intervene based on that. But to be fair, they didn’t need much because their reaction was top. The understanding of why we lost those matches, and how we are going to pull it right, and I think it was a really good reaction against Sporting.

on how big the opportunity is to go 12 points clear:
The closer we get, the relevance and importance of the match increases obviously, and tomorrow is a big day for us. The players know it, our supporters know it. It’s an early kick-off, so get up early, have an early breakfast, bring your lunch, bring your dinner, and let’s go all together for it because it has to be a big day.

on whether our pride is tested or reinforced in difficult moments:
I think reinforced because that talks about your culture and the identity of this club and the team, and to define that, you have to go through different scenarios, different moments, individually and collectively. I always said that that’s one of the proudest things for me, not only with the people but our supporters as well, they’ve always been with the team regardless of the situation, and that’s great to see in football. I think that attitude, behaviour and unity gives you more will to win for them. That possibility, the opportunity to make so many people proud and happy, increases, and that’s what has driven everybody, me first of all, and then all the players and the people in the organisation.

on if there’s anything to say regarding his contract:
No, there’s no news on that, I don’t think we’ll have time to discuss that now. The full focus is on what we have to do from here until the end of the season.

on how much belief he has that our players can win the league and the Champions League:
A lot, because I see them every single day and first of all, the capacity that we have as a club and as a team, the will to win, and we recognise the opportunity ahead. We’re going to do our best to try and achieve it.

on managing the DNA of the club with young players coming through at the same time as the ambitions of trophies:
It’s part of us, and I think at the end what has to define this football club is to seek excellence, seek the best, regardless of if you’re coming from abroad. If we can have players from Hale End it’s obviously much better because the identity is there, we grow with them and we know exactly what they’re looking for. But at the end, they have to earn it and not just for a week or a month, for years like anybody else. It doesn’t matter what department or what you have in the club, you have to sustain performance and that has to be at the very highest level if we want to win, and sustainably be where we want to be.

on if the period of time to prove that younger players can become a part of our team is becoming shorter:
The margins are shorter because we’re doing something that is unprecedented. We have players who play in competitions nobody else has done at that age, so I think the balance is there. We are doing everything we can to accommodate that, especially because they deserve the opportunity as it’s the best thing. Nobody’s here to give a gift, an opportunity, to someone who doesn’t deserve it. Everybody who has been in and around the first team is there because they deserve to be there.

on the pride of coming up against Andoni Iraola, who is from a similar part of Spain:
Yes, it’s amazing what he has done together with the club. The consistency that they’ve shown, the manner that they’ve done it and the amount of players they’ve sold – how they’ve then reinvented themselves. The run that they are on is incredible because we know how tough the Premier League is. When it comes to pride, it’s huge, when it comes to rivalry on matchday, it’s even bigger – it goes out the window.

on what’s challenging about a 12.30pm kick-off:
I don’t know, but I think for every game we have to be there. We know the meaning of every match here and the opportunity that we have, especially when we play at home. We need to maximise every result. It’s about each individual and how we turn up there. It’s actually impacting the game, the atmosphere and energy in the stadium. Whoever comes tomorrow, I ask them to be with that mindset, energy and commitment, because the team is going to respond beautifully to that.

on the benefit of most of our remaining games being in London:
We need to exploit that and use that advantage. We’ve travelled so much during the last nine months and now it’s not going to be that much. We’ll have two clean weeks in between now and the final game of the season, so that’s something very positive – let’s use it.

on what he’s grown to understand more about Eze lately:
I didn’t know that he was so determined, so obsessed and so willing to push his body. I didn’t know that part of him and it really surprised me in a really powerful way, how much he loves the game. When you take away somebody’s opportunity to play, you really see their reaction. His was – wow. How involved he was in and around the team, the energy that he brings every day in the building, and then we used that time as well to identify areas where he can impact the game, get his opinion wide and open about where he sees himself, where he’s more comfortable, what he sees about the team. I think we used that time in a really good way.

on the spaces he was in when he was in form before he got injured:
That’s on the attacking side, but there are other areas as well that he didn’t feel were that important, or things that we discussed that probably in other teams, he hasn’t discussed as vital and important to change games or to win football matches. He recognises now, he’s such an intelligent person and it’s so easy to talk to him.

on if he sometimes decides first who can come off the bench to impact the team:
There are games that is yes, not only for the impact as well, as well for some physical restrictions that we can have or to find some freshness or the type the opposition plays as well and how we can adapt to what they do or we can hurt them. That’s a big part when we have the players that we have, when we have players available obviously to do that. It’s a big advantage.

on what makes Martinelli so effective in the role of a finisher:
His mentality and Gabi is a winner. Gabi is someone that it doesn’t matter what you’re doing out there, he wants to be the best, and when he starts, great. When he doesn’t, he’s still the same specimen and wants to win and he will do anything to win. That’s what I love about him.

on if Arteta sees his long-term future here:
I’m fully committed here. I’m really happy and I feel good. My family is good. I still have so much ambition and things to do in this football club, and for now, we are in a good place.

on if he could be in the job for as long as Arsene Wenger:
I’m going to take what I said to the fans: bring your lunch, bring your dinner. It’s about tomorrow, and so for me, this is this job. It’s about the presence, what you do on the day. Give your very best and feel that you are the person who can lead and inspire the group to achieve great things for the club. At the moment, I feel that way, and hopefully, we’re going to feel that way for the rest of the week with a great outcome at the end of the season.

on how Mikel Merino’s recovery is going:
He’s another one who is going to push every boundary. He’s out of his boot now, he’s doing quite a lot of exercises already. He’s reacted really well to the surgery, he’s got no pain. It’s more for the medical staff to go a bit further on that. But I’m sure there is a chance to make that period shorter. If there is a person who can do it, I’m sure that’s going to be Mikel again.

on Aaron Ramsey announcing his retirement:
A long career full of great moments, full of challenges. That’s another one when you see those difficult moments, how he reacted to them, how he overcomes certain situations that look very, very difficult. A top character, top guy, a very good teammate of mine. What a career he’s had with different clubs, with his country as well. A different life starts, and I wish him all the best.

on trying not to concede set-piece goals to Bournemouth like we did last season:
We need to learn that lesson, certainly, and away from home as well, we conceded a set-piece goal the year before as well. So it’s an area where they are really strong, and we certainly have to improve to create the margin and the game context that we want. So we’re going to have to be really good at that.

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