Mikel Arteta said his side showed the necessary patience to overcome a stubborn Oxford United as Mo Elneny’s header and Eddie Nketiah’s neat brace secured a 3-0 win.
Here’s what the boss had to say when he faced the ITV cameras…
On whether he was anxious at any point…
It’s always tough to win in these grounds. They make it difficult for you, you have to compete really well and you have to be patient. We were patient and we found the right openings and the goals helped us to control the game better in the last 20 minutes.
On Fabio Viera making two assists…
He has the quality, he is a really creative player and has the capacity to decide games in the final third. The moment that we got him in to the right spaces, he made a difference.
On what Arsenal needed to get through…
Well, everything. The contribution of the subs was important as well to change the dynamic and then when we had the openings we took them really well.
On Eddie Nketiah getting better game by game…
That’s what we want from every player but Eddie is obviously scoring goals and as well is contributing a lot to our way of playing. I’m delighted, he has to be scoring goals and he’s doing it.
On Saka taking a knock…
He’s fine. He’ll be fine.
On needing new recruits for the big games ahead…
We go game by game. Now we have a big game against Sp*rs and we’ll prepare for that one first.
On Joao Felix heading to Chelsea…
My job is to make those players [in the Arsenal dressing room] as good as I can, we try to do that.
Good news on Saka… ready for his Hat-trick at the Scum.
Great to see the goals coming the way they did. Let’s Rock!
‘nuf said!! COYG!
I _cannot wait_ to see Conte chew up a pack of fags as he goes mental with his stupid rug-like hair and his wild gestures like he is communicating in semaphore to a distant boatload of chimps. He makes MA look like a Zen master. Thank you Spuds for appointing a misanthropic lunatic to preside over a team of bottlers and has-beens.
That’s very good.. Keep up the good work!
That’s an insult to has beens, never beens us more appropriate me thinks.
I might be down voted to hell for this but I thought both starting Martinelli and Saka tonight and leaving them both on for as long as they were was criminally negligent from Mikel. I’m an absolutely huge admirer of Arteta’s but we have a once in a decade chance here of winning the league and Saka and Gabi are absolutely paramount, to the extent that if both were to be injured for a period of time simultaneously I would harbour doubts about our top four chances let alone the title. Anyway all’s well and ends well. Let’s smash the… Read more »
I had the same feeling until I looked at the bench: Marquinhos and a half-fit ESR. I suppose he could have started Odegaard and played Viera and Marquinhos on the wings, then put on the big boys when needed.
That’s it, he’s not a rotten smell under our nose. This club’s scouting team takes no prisoners hostage– Marquinhos was scouted! He can do the job if given the game-time. A lot of people were adamant that Nketiah won’t suffice after the sad Gabriel Jesus’ injury and they had evidence– Nketiah wasn’t moving mountains as a sub this season. I told them,especially fellow Gunners folk, that the boy only needs game time, no worries. Wasn’t I correct? Marquinhos can start a game like this, whilst a Saka be rested and can come in later. I was even scared for Nketiah.… Read more »
Somebody needs to convince Eddie that Spurs are a weak team. Eddie loves to destroy weak teams.
Shouldn’t take much convincing, he has eyes after all!
All he has to do is walk into Hale End and have a talk with Jack Wilshire
Really stark to see Arteta in press conferences constantly delivering clear messages about what he expects from his players. He’s not shy about saying he expects Eddie to score, and the front line in general with Saka, Martinelli and Ødegard to decide games, he needs ESR to “get on the train” and help us in the second half of the season. I keep wincing thinking maybe he’s putting too much pressure on these young players
(Prematurely posted) but it’s probably because I’ve been conditioned by decades of Wenger and maybe this is the biggest upgrade Arteta has been over Arsene, holding players accountable and giving them clear messages of what’s expected of them. So far it seems to be working, I really like what I’m seeing from Eddie especially.
MA fills them with confidence so why wouldn’t he expect them to be successful… They all seem pretty happy to me… Its not like he undermines them a la Mourinho
Oh wow… I think that comparison with Mourinho has really clarified why I’ve always liked the cut of Arteta’s jib. He’s never tried to hide what he’s saying, or vaguely referenced who/what isn’t to his liking…. never mind directly naming players he isn’t happy with, as Mourinho is prone to doing (even when the Auba sitch was playing out, Arteta never really slated the guy) Perhaps Arteta is an anti-Mourinho, in many respects, whilst still expecting that high level of performance from his players. Basically, he doesn’t go about it like a sociopathic mega-cnut, like our dear Jose is prone… Read more »
Great result, but some individual poor performances against Oxford which is not good enough. Lokango has to go on loan and let someone else take his place. Clearly he is not ready for this level. I can’t think of any game that he played and I said wow. Also Tierney is getting worse every time I see him play. One time he was our best player giving 200%. Something is seriously off with him. The quality of his deliveries and his defending is not good enough.
Was concerned about Saka with the next few games ahead, pleased he’s fit and well.
Not over fussed about Felix, 20 million for half a season is ridiculous. At least he is going to the current laughing stock and not a rival.
He will probably be injured for half the games anyway. I am glad we didn’t waste money on Felix.
I watched Atletico against Barca and he was completely unconvincing again–very different to his World Cup performances for Portugal. Maybe that’s Simeone’s system but, although of course I could be wrong, I don’t see him adapting immediately to the Prem and helping Chelsea very much and I think that might have been the case if he had come to Arsenal too.
On Joao Felix heading to Chelsea…
My job is to make those players [in the Arsenal dressing room] as good as I can, we try to do that.
Arteta ☝️ love it.