In the second part of his pre-Chelsea press conference, Mikel Arteta was asked about the important impact Mauricio Pochettino made on his career, how he tries to keep mental fatigue from impacting his players and whether plans are in place to strengthen Arsenal in the summer.
Here’s what the boss had to say…
On playing before City and the importance of keeping the pressure on them…
That helps, I think that helps because at the end you’re winning your matches and you bring in the margins smaller and smaller and that’s the only thing that we can do at the moment because it’s still not in our hands and that’s what we’ll try to do tomorrow night, perform really well, try to win the game and if we do that the pressure will increase for sure.
On whether it’s better being the chaser or chased…
We don’t know, but it [winning] really matters because that means that you’re doing your job and that’s what matters the most. Obviously winning has aconsequence to bring the margins shorter, I think that’s something that is positive.
On his relationship with Pochettino and the Argentine being a big influence on his career…
For sure. One of the most, I would say. I was 17, 18 years old in Paris. I was thrown into Paris on 1st January with no experience in professional football. And he doesn’t like it, but for me, he was like a father. He really took me under his arm, gave me incredible advice, he really protected me, he inspired me. I learned so much in those two years with him together. And from there, obviously, we maintained the relationship. and I knew he was going to be a coach. I admire him a lot for what he’s done in his career and he’s always someone that I look to because he was really impactful for me in the most important stage of my professional career, at the beginning. As a role model, I could not pick anybody better than him.
On leaning on him for advice…
When I had to stop [playing] and I had to make a decision, I asked him, I explained the situation and he gave me some advice and it was needed.
On fatigue being more linked to mental rather than physical factors…
There is a lot of studies that prove that you can change the context, you can manipulate certain things, you can get something out of people that you probably don’t expect. There is a lot around it. I don’t think we are in a stage where we need that. I think you can see that the team really wants it and there’s so much at stake. We will try to be as fresh as possible but certainly I think we can cope with it.
On what he and his team do to keep players mentally fresh at this time of the season…
Probably what I’m going to do is not defined yet. There will be a few things. We have excellent professionals as well at the club that are constantly on top of that much more than me. So it’s not something that you can do on the day to change the outcome in the next three weeks. It’s something that you do daily. I call it a drizzle, you know? You are out there, you don’t wear the umbrella, but you’re constantly getting wet every single day and then before you know it, you’re soaking wet and you are ready because it’s every single day as a habit.
On whether he knows what this time needs to go to the next level…
We have a few ideas, we have to see how we finish first and what we are capable of doing and then sit down again and review everything that we’ve done and see how we’re going to make another step or two steps forward because that’s what this team, this club and our people are demanding that we keep moving forward in a ruthless way because we are not satisfied with where we are.
On how Pochettino has shaped him as a manager…
The way he is, he doesn’t need to do it, he doesn’t need to talk to me about tactics. The best influence that he had on me is the way he approached his life, his profession, his family, who he was as a figure in that dressing room and the passion and the love he had for the game. That’s, for me, the most important thing that I learned from him.
On whether he’s able to switch off from football at this time of year…
Completely off, I don’t know, in our profession. I think it’s like you have to tweak a little bit of things and bring the noise down sometimes and be more relaxed, to change the context, change the environment, it’s something really good, change the people that you have around you. And we try to do that, the best possible way.
I love Arteta
Measured like Wenger. Classy per Arsenal Standard. Coaching legend in the making.
It’s hard to understand what other fan’s/pundits beef are with him. He somehow lives rent free in their heads even though he’s respectful towards every other team and manager. He’s also very self aware. Sure, he’s called out PGMOL for being corrupt shitheads (which everyone knows already) and he gets animated on the touchline (just like 90% of the managers in the PL do) but the grief he gets from certain sections is weird.
I honestly think it’s jealousy.
And jealousy is a strange phenomenon we all contend with if we are being honest. You just don’t allow it to rule over you.
He’s the manager of Arsenal F.C.
Yeah, but does he leave you soaking wet?
Every time I see a picture of Pochettino, I wonder if his mother ever met 60s singer/songwriter Joe South. I expect him to pick up a guitar and start singing “Walk a mile in my shoes” or “Games people play”.
Games was and is a great tune 🎶
Arteta has the potential to be far better than Pochettino if he contines on his current trajectory. He’s already won more trophies than Poch did at S***s.
I’d say he already is clear of him
I like Arteta and appreciate what he’s done so far. But I admit he lost me at “drizzle”.