Mikel Arteta spoke to Sky Sports after the 1-0 win over Man City at the Emirates this afternoon.
Here’s what he had to say.
Reaction, how proud are you?
So proud. We discussed it. It was the moment and it was with the right people, with the right players. And we had to make it happen. And there were going to be moments that we have to suffer and we knew that. And I think the team was excellent.
Belief grew throughout the game …
Yeah you are right I think the way we started we conceded on the corner and the first chance and nothing really happened. After we grabbed the game and some control, and we looked a threat in the second half, and we started really well. We could not compare to that in goals, but we were there and we were really aggressive. And then the changes, I think, really helped us. The more we brought in the three lads, new energy, the quality they produced in the goal was top.
On City causing Arsenal problems – like a little game of cat and mouse.
They give you a lot of problems. We gave them a lot of issues as well in the high press. And when you see the big teams putting pressure, it’s not easy to get out and you have to prepare a situation. You need the right timing, the right support, the right movement. And a lot of times it’s not easy because the distance of those passes are big but what I like is the courage and if it doesn’t happen, keep doing it, keep doing it. It’s the team that we are and we have to continue to do that and the crowd needs to understand that if not shout or maybe go ahead it’s my fault
You gestured to the gee up the crowd …
For sure, because you’re going to have these moments against this team, and you’re going to give balls away in this phase, you know you’re going to have to kick it long every single time. But it has to be direct, you know, and you have to manage the motions there, and make sure that you don’t get caught on things that you don’t want to get caught against this team, for sure.
A big hug for David Raya at the end …
I think he was excellent. He can miss play one or two passes and I demand him to stop the ball when he needs to, to get clarity, to get understanding, to provoke the opponent. But then, overall, the way he controlled the ball, how dominant he was, how high he played. I think he was excellent. I love players with big courage and David has big ones.
Martinelli with courage …
Another one with big ones as well because nobody expected him to be in the team. The physios weren’t really having it and he said ‘I’m going to be there, I’m going to be there.’ And yesterday he came up, he was in training and he said I’m ready to go and Leo got injured and we needed him and I looked and he was already stripped ready to go. So he’s just a joy to work with.
Is it more than three points?
It’s just part of the journey, you know, and you learn from every defeat from every defeat, from every time that you don’t get what you want. But the team is showing, you know, the attitude, the application that they put in. It’s just a joy to work for them, and today they deserve to live this moment, and we have to carry on.
Should Kovacic have been sent off?
I don’t know, I’ve seen the action, but that’s done, and we managed to win the game, and we are all happy. I don’t know, I’ve seen the action, but that’s done and we managed to win the game and we are all happy.
“I don’t know, I’ve seen the action, but that’s Dortmund and we managed to win the game and we are all happy.”
AI transcription got a little creative? 😉
heh – it did!
Dortmund
Rhyming slang
Dortmund BvB, refs are paid by City.
That’s Dortmund??
Maybe I m drunk
“I don’t know, I’ve seen the action, but that’s done, and we managed to win the game, and we are all happy. I don’t know, I’ve seen the action, but that’s Dortmund and we managed to win the game and we are all happy.”
The A.I. is glitching.
Also, I’m still genuinely flabbergasted that the Premier League does not think it’s a conflict of interest to have a ref on the payroll of UAE officiating a PL game involving a UAE-owned club. It’s absolutely bonkers!!!
I’ve said on here for ages that corruption is afoot and an awful lot of brown paper bag money is changing hands between people with oil on their hands and people with ‘officiating’ in their job description. I won’t have anyone tell me anything different. Sorry to piss in your cornflakes, folks, but we live in a corrupt world. Do you really think that an institution that has as much money changing hands as modern football, that routinely employs people of such moral pillars of society as Sep Blatter – is 100% squeaky clean? Answers on a postcard to Qwaliteee… Read more »
So proud of these players, you can really see the belief in this team, how hard they all work, to fight for each other, to learn and get better every day, so of course this was going to happen eventually. And hopefully just the first of many, many, many, many, many times we beat that lot…
Happy flowers innit!
We’ll soon all start speaking like Mikel Arteta, because that is the language of winners
Happy flowers indeed! What a result. COYG!!!!!
“I love players with courage and David has big ones.” anyone else get the feeling Mikel had to stop himself from using a different word than ‘courage’ there…
Juevos
Cojones
*huevos, by the way… 😉
Juevos is when you’re courageous on a thursday
Dortmund means doesn’t matter or just oil money?
So so proud you guys
Should Kovacic have been sent off?
Why yes, yes he should and not just because he’s a monumental thundercunt. The first challenge is an obvious red card, but he gets away with it. The challenge on Odegaard? I can’t see how that’s not a card. Mrs Phyllis Evans of 31 Acacia Villas, Carshalton phoned me to say it was an obvious yellow and she’s 124, has advanced Alzheimers and is blind! It was that obvious!
LOL! Indeed!
Even Micah Richards agreed that. Obviously I do too but feel we might not have won if Citeh just shut up shop after that.
First time I’ve watched Haaland play live, we made him look shit
Great words about Martinelli… a proper player who is co.iited to the cause
He’s glitching at the last part
“David has big ones”