After seeing his team edge a 1-0 success over Crystal Palace, Mikel Arteta was soon in the press conference room at Emirates Stadium to answer questions from the media.
He was asked about injuries, results elsewhere, Ebere Eze’s performance against his former club and much more.
Here is everything he had to say:
on the importance of this win:
I just told the boys that I probably value this victory more than any other victory this season, because we knew the difficulty of it after playing every three days. We had a big opportunity as well with the things that happened during this weekend and I knew we played against a team that, in my opinion, has been one of the best recently in terms of organisation, how difficult they make it, how frustrated they can make you, and the moment that you lose that concentration, they will punish you.
We have managed to be very stable, playing the game that we have to play. In the first half we were a bit stuck, but we found a way to score a goal and in the second half we attacked better and were more fluent. But with 1-0, we knew that we had to suffer because a team has to score goals to beat any other opponent this season, so to keep the clean sheet is very important.
on the crowd playing the game with the team:
There were a few moments when I described that, Riccy going on the floor and putting a tackle in, Jurrien the same, the way Viktor was chasing every single ball. Some individual actions on the ball as well, I think we are getting better at. The crowd was playing the game with us and it makes such a difference, so thanks to them.
on how Palace made the first half difficult for us:
Big credit to them, because when we tried to do something they adjusted to it, the way they are set up, they don’t jump to things, they don’t get attracted to things. The two outside players in the back line are really aggressive, so it’s really difficult to find those spaces, and then you know the moment they regain the ball, they have a focal point of Mateta, two runners, and you have to be very disciplined, because the moment you lose that, on top of the two wing-backs running, you can get very exposed. I said to the boys, we’re going to have a long match, we have to be really stable emotionally, very direct when we have the opportunity to attack them and take our chances, because there’s not going to be that many.
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on injuries to Saliba, Rice and Calafiori:
The first one was Willy who had to be taken out after the first half, Declan was struggling from the first half with a knock that he took and Riccy, let’s see how that will go.
on if the squad knew that Manchester City were losing to Aston Villa:
No, I wasn’t aware. I just found out at the end of the game. I think most of the players as well, they aren’t allowed their phones at half-time, so hopefully they didn’t know about it, but maybe through the staff. But I think it was a really positive weekend for us, especially because we did what we had to do and then it shows the difficulty of the league, and how complicated it is to win these games.
on if Eze’s goal was the kind of moment we signed him for:
Yes, 100%. To strike the ball in the manner that he did it, very similar to where he did it last year, but against us when he scored from that corner, directly on the post. So he’s got the ability to do that, against a team that defends with that many bodies, so physical, don’t allow any space with nine defending your best player, you have to generate chaos or open space to generate big chances and he took the ball and the goal really well.
on Martinelli needing treatment after the game:
We have to check that one, he was a bit uncomfortable, he said he felt something. We don’t know whether it’s a muscular issue or not, so tomorrow we’ll have more news.
on the decision to withdraw Saka in the second half:
He’s been ill, he hasn’t trained really, so we didn’t know whether he was going to be fit, so he made a big effort to be available today. The doctor was brilliant as well to guide us, to give us the best opportunity for him to be in the best possible condition, so he’s managed to play a few minutes. The longer the game went on, the more he was going to fatigue and risk an injury, and we didn’t want to take that risk.
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on the importance of leading Manchester City by six points:
We are where we are. It’s a credit to us because we’ve been very consistent, but knowing the difficulty of every match as well. It is early, so it doesn’t mean anything other than let’s keep doing a lot of things that we’re doing really well, but there are things to improve to give us better margins as well.
on if he could provide more information on the players who went off:
No, because I don’t know – not because I don’t want to tell you, but because I don’t really know. On Willy, there are two things related to his substitution, and with Declan, I don’t really know, because it was a knock, but I don’t know if it was the calf, or if it was the Achilles, or exactly what it was.
on how Eze handled the occasion of facing Palace:
I didn’t see any difference. He’s always super relaxed before the game, always a big smile on his face. He’s desperate to play games, and I haven’t noticed anything different. It might be inside him, he was there a long time, he has such strong feelings and gratitude to Crystal Palace, and today was a very special game for him.
on if he’s happy to have won through a set-piece goal:
It doesn’t make a difference how difficult it is, I think they all have the same value. We are noticing a shift, the moment the physicality increases, methods that are implemented are more efficient, and the game is more difficult to play because you can constrain spaces, because physically you are better. You have to find ways to score in different ways and that’s what I think everybody’s trying to do.
on if it was easy for Eze to deliver a strong performance against his old club:
No it’s not, that’s what big players do and he’s certainly a big player. Hopefully that’s going to give him a big boost and confidence to generate many more moments like this, because these are the moments that sometimes define a season.
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Highlights: Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace
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