00:00What did he mean to you as a Spanish athlete and was there anything you took from him about
00:07how he approached this profession?
00:09Just proud, you know, for how he has represented the country, the sport. I think as an athlete
00:17for everybody, it doesn't matter if you're a tennis fan or not, the way he acts, the
00:21way he behaves, the way he wins and especially the way he's lost, the way he has dealt with
00:26difficulties in life, it's just an inspiration. For me it's a very special role model because
00:32as well I know him and the people around him and how he had to adjust his career, adapt
00:37to it and what he has achieved I think is phenomenal. It's like Roger, I think they
00:43will be there as one of the best forever in the sport.
00:47I believe that during the break you went over to America to have talks with the ownership.
00:52How big a topic was the January window and have you ensured that Arsenal can move as
00:57quickly without Edu in the building?
00:59It's always really positive to spend time together. Obviously we had time to talk about
01:05the windows but as well about the club, how they're feeling about what we are doing, how
01:10we're feeling about where we want to take the club, next direction, obviously Edu. It's
01:15a lot of topics there but again it's a joy to spend time with them because it's a lot
01:20to learn. They have so much experience in this sport because you feel the ambition,
01:25especially when you go out there and they are very far, how close they live every day
01:30with us and what we want to achieve together. It feels great.
01:35I wrote Jason Eto'o, Edu's assistant, someone who maybe not a lot of people on the outside
01:40know about. How highly do you rate him and could he potentially step into it?
01:45Very good, very good. Jason and all the team. Edu and I got probably a lot of the prize
01:52but the work behind it is done by this guy and Jason has been phenomenal. It's not easy
01:57to wake up one day and having to move to a different office and do a different job like
02:01it was for the team but again the spirit, how people react, how they're willing to,
02:06okay that's it, that's the situation, let's move forward. With that ambition and as well
02:11with that determination and enthusiasm, that's something great and Jason has been great on that.
02:20Is there any sort of time frame on when he'll be back?
02:24No. He's going to be away now for a few weeks to continue with his treatments and as well
02:30change a little bit the environment because psychologically it's been really, really tough
02:34for him as you can imagine and he's a guy that the only thing he wants to do is work
02:3924 hours to get better and he feels terrible when he's not fit so it's a real shame so
02:44we want to give him the best opportunity to try that kind of thing as well. If we can
02:48trigger something, unlock something and try to help him to have him as quick as possible
02:53back but I think we need to be patient.
02:56On Pep's day, I think a lot of supporters would have thought Pep going is easy to win
03:05the title but for you is there part of the motivation that you want to win the Premier
03:09League by beating the best managers and Pep being one of those?
03:12Well we certainly have a lot of the best managers in the world in this league and that's enough,
03:17that's the challenge, that's the level. It's not about saying it on paper, it's why you
03:21live especially because you know the level and how opposition prepares and the things
03:25that they do to try to beat you so it's great to be in this environment and try to pull
03:31yourself and win.
03:37Can I just ask you about Martin Erik about this, obviously he had to go to report to
03:40Norway when he came back, how has he been since he played against Chelsea?
03:43Well he played really well obviously that has its consequences because after such a
03:47long time not playing he needed time to recover, the ankle reacted and other areas of the body
03:53obviously after putting so much load into it, it wasn't ideal but he's been OK the last
04:00day and a half he trained with the team and he's feeling good so pretty positive.
04:06What did you miss when he was not available and what do you get now that he's back as
04:10a captain and in the team?
04:12Well he couldn't but we did a lot of things and in some games work especially in certain
04:18games really well but obviously Martin brings everybody together, he has this capacity to
04:23win without the ball, his charisma, his leadership, that's why he's the captain and his intelligence
04:30to make everybody better and everybody click and that's a unique quality that he has and
04:35obviously that has been missed.
04:38And in the dressing room before games?
04:40Yeah but he's been really implicated, really on it in that sense but at the end when you
04:45step in there and you have to go through certain moments on the field having him makes life
04:51easier but that doesn't mean that other players cannot do it or can do it in a different way
04:55as well.
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