Mikel Arteta was delighted with the way his players swatted away Chelsea’s challenge as goals from Leandro Trossard and a brace apiece from Kai Havertz and Ben White earned the Gunners a 5-0 victory at the Emirates.
Here’s what the boss had to say when he faced questions from TNT Sports…
On what he’s most proud about…
Well, very happy, first of all, with the win, with the amount of chances and goals that we scored. And for the clean sheet as well. It shows again the consistency of the team.
On his message at half-time…
We weren’t disciplined enough in a few things that we did, especially with the ball and then defending the box. We had to be more disciplined, basically, to do the right things. We did in the second half, we created many chances as well and, especially, we defended much better at the box.
On identifying a weakness in the way Chelsea defends the edge of the box at corners…
Yes, absolutely. When teams defend with more men or they change their shape especially to defend the box obviously the outside is a bit more open. Credit to the players as well to identify that then to execute it perfectly.
On spotting something in Martin Odegaard when he was at Real Madrid…
We saw, and Edu especially. He was very insistent and we both agreed that he was a player with a huge talent that he could develop with us. We had the loan period, he was exceptional already, we were so convinced that he could add something special to the team and he keeps going.
On whether anything has surprised him about Odegaard after making him captain…
Yeah, because there’s always a question about how you handle a different role when you have to stand in front of everybody and you have to represent the club. He’s done it in amazing way, so natural. He’s loved by everybody he’s not someone that’s going to be knocking on your door and shouting, but the way he lives his game and the love that he has for this game, I think it’s more than enough to convince everybody to follow him.
On the message to his players after the game…
Congratulate them for their performance, for making our supporters proud and happy. It’s a big London derby and we know what it means for them as well. And it was a joy to watch them play. And rest, enjoy today and on to Spurs now.
On whether Ben White meant his second goal…
I haven’t seen it back from the touchline. It didn’t seem like he wanted to put the ball in that space, but I don’t know, I might be wrong.
On what it’s like in the dressing room and around the training ground at the moment…
Well, what I would like is that they can manage themselves in the dressing room. I think in order to achieve that, I think you have to leave some space. They know what we’re playing for. They are so excited about it. They are so at it. All of them, even the players that they haven’t played much, they have a very important role and they’ve been outstanding and I think that’s what holds the team and glides the team together. My role is to keep demanding, challenging them, demanding them and as well in the right moments making them believe that they can do it because I think that’s a very important thing as well.
On whether he’ll put his feet up now…
Very soon. We have a lot of games still coming up. The Sunday one is going to be a tough one against the top side again, as we know. So let’s enjoy tonight and let’s go back to work.
Always calm, always professional. Excited by the win but still keeping his feet on the ground. What a manager!
Can’t worry about other teams now, just get the wins and we’ll see where we stand
If I were Man U I would worry a great deal about us
Feels like Partey again will be a key player there to stymie their counters. Keep that at bay and play structured and we should crush them, they cannot cope with our movement, passing and pressing. They’re a mad frenzied team, we’re ultimate football.
I watched the game back, and Partey was just fantastic. Close–maybe equal–to his form last year. Live, it was obvious that his presence released Rice, which changed our whole attack; watching a second time, I was more aware of his direct influence on the attack–how good he was on the ball, how quick and sharp his passes were. If Ødegaard was a 10 yesterday, then Partey was 9.5.
Yeah Parteys forward passing was sublime, laying it inch perfect at speed in front of our attacking players that set us up, his best game for us in a long while, hopefully his injury days are over as he has a presence and skill to really make a difference to our side, fair play to the strength of Miki starting him also..
Yes, very similar games coming up against Tottenham and United. Partey should start both if he can.
I thought our run in was difficult.
It is. But we are making it a piece of cake game by game, baring the unexpected Villa results.
With today starting XI, Spurs are in for their money on Sunday.
They will be so fearful now, especially after being on vacation for nearly 2 weeks.
They will find it difficult to put passes together, and we can hurt them
True, we’ve seen it before with teams having too much rest – besides, spuds really need to win to stand a chance of forth place which, as we know, means they will do a bottleham
Spurs a top side? Please Mikel don’t speak with a forked tongue!!!
There is something extra sweet about spanking Chelsea.
The one benefit of both us and City going out of the Champions League is Sp*rs know 100% they need to get to 4th to be in it next year. And us losing to Villa, has the silver lining that they’ll need every single point they can get their hands on, which means they will be desperate to steal points from Liverpool and City, even if it means giving us the title.. 😅🤤🫠🤯
Oh christ,I shouldn’t even dare to imagine such a dreamy scenario…. *knocks on wood with a horseshoe, then rubs a rabbit foot with a fistful of shamrocks*
What better way to finally win the title again? If the points spurs take off Liverpool and City give us the title, I’ll take that any day of the week.
Just have to get win (and get st. Totteringham) on sunday; to make sure they get desperate
A victory against “that lot” this Sunday will put a lot of pressure on Liverpool and City. As an added bonus, we can also officially celebrate St. Totteringham’s Day!!!!!!!
It’s an established fact, that Tiny Totts would rather their team rolled over to get spanked by the dippers and Ardwick Petrodollars than get a result that benefits The Arsenal , even if it means losing out on a higher league position. That’s the sort of tinpot business we’re dealing with here.
I don’t know if they will roll over, but they had the blueprint for that laid out for them by Unai Emery, who took his best players out of his matchday squad (who all returned the following week!) and played a couple of rookies against the champs, promptly rolling over at their place.
Imagine if results went our way and we were able to win the fucking title again at Manure 🤣