Mikel Arteta met the press this afternoon ahead of our Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday, and provided some information with regard to players who are touch and go for the game.
Later, he was pressed about the injury situation at the club, and about how and his players are going to manage a difficult fixture list and some tricky games before the next international break.
Asked if he had an explanation for how many problems there are right now, of it was just bad luck, he said, “Well, in a lot of cases, it’s been very bad luck. We have certain difficult knee injuries.
“We have certain traumatic injuries. We have three injuries with the national teams, difficult to control. But, yeah, luck.
“I don’t know why you call it luck. What happened with Ricky the other day, what happened before with Tomiyasu, it can happen but it’s about how we react to that.”
“Obviously, we didn’t want to be in those situations, but we are really lucky as well to have the squad that we have, to have the players that we have, to have the attitude that we have when it comes down to reacting against a difficult situation and don’t feel sorry for ourselves …face it!
“We know how good we are as well, and how difficult we can be for the opponents, and having that ruthless mentality in the team is something that I love.”
As fans sweat over the availability of Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and others, Arteta was questioned about how he doesn’t react negatively when, as we saw on Tuesday, Riccardo Calafiori suffered the problem he did.
“Because it gives me zero for the next moment, for the next day, for the next preparation,” he said.
“It just takes things out of me. And if it takes things out of me, it’s going to take things out of the staff, because they are close to me, and then the players, and then belief … throw it away. That’s it.
“Get on with it, show your teeth, show how much you want it. That means opportunity for other people, that is opportunity for us as a team to rebel against certain situations.”
Let’s see how that reaction goes on Sunday when the Mugsmashers come to town.
Just love the brilliant attitude from Arteta. Having only just (finally) watched the Arsenal All or Nothing, am really impressed with the current Arsenal set up and general ethos permeating the club.
That’s my manager.
Full back seems cursed at the moment
Get on with it ! Show your teeth !
Not Gary Busey confusion teeth. We want Hulk Smash Teeth!
No news on the injury front then?
I have a feeling we will se Dec at centre half, the comment where he says some players have played there before. That’s where he started his career might be wrong but………
I could be wrong, but I still believe the players had been called early from their season preparations and never got sufficient rest.
Monster mentality. This man is a winner. And we will soon, I am sure, have the big trophies to show it.
For me he’s still great even if he never wins a big trophy. It’s enough just to see his teams perform week to week to see that he is special. But there’s also the historically great win%, the connection to the club and the fans, the teams he has built and the players he’s brought here, the regard his current and former players have for him is incredible. We should not ever underestimate how lucky we are to have this guy in charge.
This positivity is contagious