Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his young side after Arsenal secured a 1-0 win at Chelsea that returned the club to the top of the Premier League table.
Gabriel Magalhaes grabbed the winner from a corner just past the hour mark and it was no less than the Gunners deserved given the manner in which they played the game.
Here’s what Arteta had to say when he spoke to BT Sport…
On responding to City’s win…
Well obviously, we want to get back and be at the top. The competition is so difficult in this league, the job for us, the challenge for us, was to come to this stage and against a top team in the league and play and perform the way we’ve done today. We deserved to win the game. And the boys did that.
On what impressed him the most…
I think for such a young team, the maturity that they showed, the composure they showed, the resilience and the courage to play the way we wanted to play, it was phenomenal. It’s easy to say before the game but actually to do it on the pitch against this opponent, these kind of players, it’s a different story.
On belief and togetherness growing in the team…
Absolutely, we’ve been saying that for a while. Obviously winning in these stadiums against these opponents is an extra thing, it’s another step for this team, for these players to keep believing that they can do it, that they can do it under pressure against big opponents. We have to enjoy it. What they’ve done today, I think they deserve a lot of credit.
On Jesus setting a great example…
The energy and the belief that he transmits to the team is just phenomenal. That, in my opinion, is his biggest quality. His all round play today was phenomenal, how he competes, how he holds the ball, the movement, the anxiety he creates inside the box, the uncertainty he creates for the opponents is something that takes us to a different level, you know. We’ve said that from the beginning. He’s done it today again, he didn’t score but what he did for the team was outstanding.
On dominating the opposition without the ball…
Absolutely but the boys are willing and they are physically capable of doing it. Their understanding of timing and spaces as a unit and how they have to do it is getting better and better, every single day. They want to do it, they feel much more comfortable playing that kind of game, playing a different way, they feel it. When somebody feels it, it’s much more efficient when you need to do it.
On what he’s planning to ensure the World Cup break doesn’t halt momentum…
That plan is not finished yet. We are planning to win again on Wednesday [against Brighton] and to win again on Sunday [at Wolves] and then we have time to finalise what we have to do. We have some ideas of how we can help our players to maintain first their mental state – that it stays in the right way – the ones that are going to be here and the ones at the World Cup and how we’re going to reunite everybody. I think for every manager and club it’s going to be a challenge because it’s unprecedented.
On communication being key…
Yes. At the same time, they have to focus on their national teams and they will have time to do that after next week. We cannot be too much on top of them because we don’t want to add pressure. We want to give them support and hope for the best. We’ll see what the future brings.
On getting some time on the beach…
It is actually [part of the plan].
Great manager!!
Elite manager!!
As it stands, we are 13.points clear of Chelsea and after Liverpool beat the scum we are still 15 points clear of them. Sit back, take a deep breath, and get your head round that. COYG
That’s true and welcome obviously, but they aren’t the immediate danger at this time, I suggest. The real and obvious threat is right behind us in City and I wouldn’t exclude completely Newcastle as a potential threat – they demolished Southampton, and team we only drew with a little while ago. So let’s celebrate we’re on top but also remember that the season isn’t half over yet.
Chillax mate.
City and Newcastle don’t have the same training ground, dressing room and on-the-pitch spirit we have.
They don’t have Mikel Arteta.
We do. 😉
Actually, we’re only 8 points clear of the scum, but I like the idea that they’ll lose their next 2 games while we win ours.
Fab but someone tell Arteta that we’re playing Wolves on Sat night, not Sunday 🤣
fab but someone tell Arteta that we’re playing Wolves on Saturday night, not Sunday 🤣🤣
You can say that again.
Our passing out of the back and through midfield today was mesmerizing. Look at Chelsea with no cohesion, they could barely get past halfway. It shows how good we are now, MA’s plan is coming to bear. Everyone is confident in the system and chemistry all over the field. And the bravery required to play that way. Super Mick Arteta indeed.
Saliba’s got the composure of Gandhi after a whole day’s worth of meditation.
He needs to get those glasses
Jesus just trying too hard right now.
I will admit, I was a little frustrated with him at times in that match. He seems to be making poor decisions and has a reluctancy to shoot except when he really should have passed.
But I think it’s down to the fact he just wants that goal so bad.
And imagine how scary he’s going to be when he gets on a scoring run…
I agree. The fact he’s gone for so long now without putting the ball in the net (lots of other great stuff as we know, but he is one of our principal strikers after all) seems to be having an effect. Hopefully, the coming break, whether he plays in the World Cup or not, will help him in the new year
_On Auba showing the world how much we missed him in our front three today:
“Yeah, we missed him a lot, he’s an incredible player and he demonstrated that again today”
_Thank you Mikel
Great performance, just lacking a bit of ruthlessness in the final3rd. It was similar to the United game at OT actually, but the big difference was Thomans Partey. A cheat code player when on form, he was unreal today. Between him and Saliba for MotM, and we absolutely need to keep those two (and Jesus) fit.
Arsenal were absolutely brilliant today.
Imagine how they will be when Jesus puts his scoring boots on.
What a performance !
I’m starting to believe, buy the Ukrainian kid, a new winger, a striker and a back up to Partey.
Hi blogs, for the arsecast extra intro mashup jingle tomorrow, I think mikel has said all the words you would need to compose ‘stronger better faster’ daft punk style
It’s fucking unbelievable
The key for us is going to be keeping key players that we don’t have a replacement for healthy (such as Jesus, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, etc.). We lose Partey or Jesus we are a totally different team.
Partey playing more than the group stage at WC depends on the performances of Ronaldo, Son and Suarez. So conflicted!