Every word of Mikel Arteta’s pre-Monaco press conference

In his pre-Monaco press conference, Mikel Arteta touched on the knock-on effect of not being able to rest players as he deals with fresh injury concerns.

The Spaniard also reflected on Sunday’s draw with Fulham and said he remains positive about his side’s attacking credentials even if others believe they are overly reliant on set pieces to score. There were also questions about Martin Odegaard becoming a dad and Gabriel Jesus’ ongoing issues in front of goal. 

On more players missing training…

We have to manage a lot of the players. Some of them are probably not going to be fit for tomorrow, some of them are still a doubt. We have 24 hours still to make those decisions and hopefully, they are the right ones.

On how frustrating the injuries have been…

It is what it is. At the end, we have to accept the challenge and there are opportunities for other players as well to do that. In the ideal scenario, we have to be in charge of making those decisions because it’s forcing us to make it for the wrong reasons, but as well we need to accept the reality and move forward.

On how hard it is to play the football he wants with the defence always changing…

I’m really happy with the way we are playing and the good thing is that it’s not conditioning the team in such a way that we have to become a different team. I’m very pleased with that, the way the team is adapting, the way players are making the effort to play in different positions and, hopefully, the ideal situation will come up very soon and we can do what we want. 

On needing to create more chances from open play…

We want to create more from every angle and from set pieces as well. We could have created more [at Fulham], we created and we should have scored another one or two. We’re always trying to evolve and be better.

On feeling positive after Sunday’s draw with Fulham…

​​Yeah, and the more I watch it – to concede what we conceded and how the hell we draw that game is difficult to understand, but it’s the beauty of football as well. We will adapt and put our heads up. It was disappointing, it was very emotional as well because scoring the second one and getting it disallowed, it was tough. But we have to move on, every three games it’s another opportunity and we need to keep going. 

On what Arsenal learnt from last season’s Champions League…

We have to do a lot of things that we do in the Premier League. The tendency always is to look at the Champions League like it’s something else. So how big is the Premier League, how big is the Champions League? The Premier League is this size [small] and the Champions League is this size [big. We face incredibly difficult opposition every week. That’s the good thing, that when we come up now against a really good team like Monaco, who are doing incredibly well, we are so used to it because we play every three days against this kind of opposition. It’s learning about certain things, certain scenarios that are different because the Champions League is different in a certain way, but there are a lot of similarities in the way we have to compete day in, day out in the league. 

On Martin Odegaard’s development and him becoming a dad…

That’s for him probably to discuss it, but so proud to see them [the players] growing in our club, surrounded by our people, and making them feel happy that it’s the right environment for them to grow as a person, as a football player, as a father in this case. We are really happy to have this great news in the team.

On Josh Nicholls’ availability…

He’s been with some issues. We don’t know still whether he’s available or not.

On Gabriel Jesus’ state of mind given his goal drought…

Like all strikers, they go in phases, in moments, and that gap has become big, it’s true but there have been a lot of things there. There have been injuries, absences, not playing or starting games that much, but his attitude has been really good, it always is. We’re going to try to help him to overcome that situation as quickly as possible. 

On reports that Arsenal could be willing to let Jesus leave…

No, nonsense. 

On whether he feels the injury situation is “an absolute nightmare” like it was last month…

I was hoping to improve it, and it did improve, but very quickly after the first game we started to have issues, probably more issues as well than we expected. But honestly, the good news is that the team still reacts, plays in the way that we want, becomes so dominant, and we want to continue to do that regardless of who plays. I think that belief is within the team, and that’s very positive.

On whether Kieran Tierney will be needed…

Yeah, he’s ready. He’s trained really well and he’s going to have an opportunity for sure. The way the team is looking [with injuries] at the moment, he’s going to do that [play] for that reason and because he’s earned it as well. The way he’s behaved, the way he’s been with us, because he’s willing to do it, and when that happens you have to give opportunities to those kind of players.

On injuries upsetting his ‘units’ on the pitch…

Yeah, because [incoming players] haven’t played together enough, and you have to alter things. And you have certain positions, in relation to especially the outside play, where you have two, three or zero left footed sometimes – that affects in certain ways our dynamics and the way we want to especially attack. But again, we have to adapt. We have to find ways to overcome that and still be very efficient and positive in the way we want to play. It’s been a good challenge.

On why his players keep getting injured…

We have some that have been through tackles, for example, that are again quite difficult to avoid. And the other ones probably is overload, the amount of minutes that they have to play. The knock-on effect of having one or two players not available means that you put more stress and more minutes in somebody else, and that’s not a good change because the consequences and the load of other players starts to be too high or much higher than what you want to do. But this is where we are. 

On whether he’s worried about a lack of goals from open play…

No, I don’t worry because when I watch the [Fulham] game, the situations that we had in open play and what the opposition has created in open play, I don’t know if we can do much more than that! Especially when I watch Fulham in their previous games and the positions they’ve played. The set pieces are a consequence of what we do in open play and how we do defensively and it’s a phase that is part of that. I know that you see it like this is a set piece [picks up one bottle] that is open play [picks up another bottle] and I see it like this is open play and set pieces [picks up one bottle representing both]. It’s all together with the rest of the play. But I respect that [your opinion] a lot but I don’t agree, but I respect it.

On what he makes of Monaco…

I’m really impressed. A really good side. You see the run they’ve been on in the Champions League and in the league, especially against top opposition. So a real threat. It’s a team that is superbly well-organised, really intense, really good in transition moments as well and with a lot of quality. So it’s going to be a very good test for us tomorrow. 

On his memories of playing against Monaco…

Yes, we did. I think we have a really good link with Arsene, with Thierry as well. There is a big history there as well. It’s a very special club, a very special place. We welcome them here and hopefully be better than them and try to win again.