Arteta on Ben White serious injury, other injury issues and Nottingham Forest challenge (Full Presser part one)

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on the injury to Ben White, other fitness problems and the challenge of facing Nottingham Forest Sobha Realty Training Centre, London Colney, London, UK

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00:00Some positive, some others not so. Trosa seems to be okay. He trained this morning and he

00:25seems to be feeling good. We will assess everything with the doctor right now but he was able

00:29to do part of that session so that's good.

00:32Bukayo and Declan as well, they have the first session today, partial session, so very good

00:40as well.

00:41Ben is going to be out for months, unfortunately, yes.

00:47It's been a different kind of struggle, it's never been the same thing but we had to make

00:56a decision, it's not been improved in the last few weeks, unfortunately. We know that

00:59Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point where we had to protect the

01:03player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that and obviously that's going

01:09to keep him out for a few months.

01:11A few months, so when you say a few months that could be anything, have you got a full

01:17cut figure?

01:18I don't know at the moment. We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don't expect

01:23him to be half of a year but I cannot tell you exactly.

01:28Calafiore?

01:29Ricky trained today, so his rehab has gone really well. He was able to set some things

01:38last week with the physios, he trained on the pitch this week, he trained with us today

01:42as well so he's back in the squad.

01:45Chiellini?

01:47Chiellini and Tomiyasu and now I think we're done.

01:50Kieran not yet, he had a couple of sessions with the team but not ready yet to be with

01:57the team and Tomiyasu is going to be out as well for a period.

02:01Anyone else?

02:03You went through a lot of players at the moment, so not that I can think of.

02:11I know that you like to break the seasons down into blocks and in that last block there

02:17were no Premier League wins, so I wondered how much you've taken this time to almost

02:24reset, reset yourself, reset the squad, where you've maybe got inspiration, how you've

02:29thought about getting your side back with their manager, the sort of processes you've

02:35been through?

02:36Well, analysing everything that we've done, the reason why we haven't won games is because

02:41the opponent is superior to us, the clear answer is no. Should we want more of those

02:47games? The answer is yes.

02:49Do I like what our team is doing? The answer is yes but we have to improve certain things

02:54in terms of especially how we have defending and attacking the box.

02:58But overall I can think of a lot of things but I need to understand how the players are

03:04doing and the only way to do that apart from communicating with them on the phone is when

03:07they come back. And the energy of the staff and players yesterday, it was unbelievable.

03:12That's the joy of being with these guys in this journey. They love being here, they love

03:17to be back with us and that brings the energy up straight away. It's not much that I need

03:23to do but it's always good to paint the picture and make sure that we are on the right track.

03:31Pep is staying on. How is that news received in the Arteta household?

03:42If it's what he really wants and I'm sure it is, congratulate him. I already did it

03:47and I'm happy for him because I want the best for him.

03:50It's great for Premier League, is it great for you and Arsenal's title ambitions?

03:55Well, we can only do what is up to us and we have to be our very best to try to achieve

04:00what the others can't do. It's not our decision.

04:05Tomorrow will be your 250th match in charge of Arsenal in the competitions.

04:09I wanted to ask you how much you've enjoyed the experience?

04:12A lot.

04:14And how satisfied you can be with what you've achieved so far?

04:19Well, extremely grateful, very happy, enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoy it because of

04:28the people that I work with every single day and because I understand how lucky we are

04:32to be sitting where I am and you always want more. I feel a huge pride to see the people

04:41that work in the organisation, how they feel about the club right now, what we transmit

04:46as a football club, as a team, the people that I work with. It's about winning at the

04:52end. You want to win more, you want to win big trophies and we are on that journey.

04:58Do you have another 250 in you?

05:01If it's about energy and what I love doing, for sure.

05:06Just on Nottingham Forest, 11 points with them on the table. Has that form this season

05:10come as a surprise to you?

05:13Well, they've been really good, they've been really consistent, they've been top against

05:17the best opposition especially, so big credit to Nuno, the coaching staff for what they

05:22are doing. Very clear, their intentions, how they manage to take the games where they want.

05:29Really impressed to be fair, we've already done.

05:32On beating at home this season, how much confidence does the home support give you playing at

05:36the Emirates?

05:37We love playing at the Emirates, we know that we have a unique atmosphere with our supporters

05:42there and again, the way I saw the team the last 48 hours gives me a lot of confidence

05:49so we're going to be full tail to go on and try to win the game.

05:57You asked about your 250th game in charge of Arsenal, what would you say your achievements are?

06:04If I ask you right now, what is one or two things you massively achieved in those 250 games?

06:11I would bring the club together 100 per cent, lifting the spirit, giving a very clear DNA

06:19to the football club and I said pride again to be representing this club and this shirt

06:27from the players and everybody involved for the club in the way that is expected at this level.

06:32Is the only thing you need to do now are trophies?

06:34It's not the only one, you have to maintain a lot of the things that you do.

06:39Sometimes you achieve them but they can drop very quickly so it's maintaining them,

06:44that's a work that you have to do consistently every single day but now it's about winning,

06:48that's the next step for sure.

06:50You asked about Pep's new contract, you said you were happy for him, you congratulated him,

06:54did you ever think he wasn't going to stay?

06:58Have you seen signs recently that he was getting bored or tired?

07:04I had no clue to be fair and he's done that in the past as well, in Barcelona it was every year,

07:09then in Bayern when I was there it was very similar but I don't know, it's his decision.

07:15He seems very happy with the club as well so congratulations.

07:19And finally from me, from now until Christmas, a lot of games both domestically and in Europe,

07:25more in the Premier League because of Liverpool's fantastic start and maybe you and City

07:30not having to run a formula wanted in the last few weeks,

07:33how big is tomorrow and how big are the next six weeks?

07:37For sure, it's a lot of games as you said, it's about building momentum and getting results

07:41and getting back-to-back wins and that will create the energy that we need,

07:47the belief that we need with a lot of the good things that we are doing.

07:51Just on the 250, you must be very proud of that,

07:55I mean that's quite a considerable number, I also think we've done I think 1,200,

08:00but you know, 250 is quite a lot.

08:03That's perspective, you know, what is a lot and what is very little.

08:07But I mean in your first job, are you proud of that?

08:11Yeah, it could have been much shorter to be fair,

08:13especially in the world that we live in right now, I really appreciate it,

08:17that's what I said, my first word I think was gratitude,

08:20not only for the job that I do, where I do it, with who.

08:23And yeah, that's what I love what I do, there's no coincidence,

08:27I feel really lucky and hopefully we can continue for a long time.

08:32Across those 250 games you've had lots of ups,

08:36can you just talk to us about probably the last two months or six weeks,

08:40how that's been, I know you've been quite positive going into press conferences,

08:44but you must feel like you've had some bad luck,

08:47some things go against you, just what's it been like for the last two months or six weeks?

08:52I know from my side, when I plan the season,

08:55and I have a start and finish and it's a journey,

08:58it's like we all go travelling in the bus together,

09:00it's going to be a bump, it's going to be bad weather, things are going to happen.

09:04My thing is how I'm going to navigate,

09:07how I'm going to make the other navigate with me throughout that period,

09:12because it's going to happen, it's guaranteed that it's going to happen,

09:14unless we become invincible, we win every game and then fine,

09:17we don't have to go through it.

09:19In the way that I predicted the season, it was going to happen.

09:23As many things that have happened, no.

09:26But I love how the team reacts, how the club reacts when there are difficulties.

09:30Before you went up the Chelsea game, you said you wanted all the players to come back fit and healthy,

09:36so you might have a sack of rice back,

09:38but now you've just told us you're going to lose Ben White for a couple of months,

09:41so how are you going to plan for life with that kid?

09:45It is a challenge, it was something that we didn't expect at all,

09:49because we talk about consistency, availability in the defensive line,

09:53Ben has been probably the best with Gabi and Willy,

09:56so we miss him, but that's it, we're going to have to find alternatives.

10:00There's a lot of positives as well, because Declan is back, Bukayo is back,

10:04Jurgen is in a good place because he could not play the last game as well,

10:08that's the one that I was missing.

10:11And Leo came back in a good place, Ricky is back that we're missing for five or six weeks,

10:16so there's a lot of players, and that's great news.

10:19Saka and Bryce missed England, are they in a better position now

10:23than not playing for England in two weeks for you?

10:26I prefer when players are in their routine, in their rhythm to play.

10:29They couldn't do it because they were injured,

10:31so we have tried to facilitate everything that we could for them to be in the best condition for tomorrow.

10:36What do you want now, just no more injuries for the next couple of weeks?

10:40Don't even talk about it, getting some normality,

10:44things that happen normally, not everything that happened lately.

10:48But again, it's like everything, it's a lot to learn from those periods,

10:52from yourself and how you can start too low constantly and get frustrated,

10:57and you have to get really out of that, fight for excuses or fight for something else.

11:01The team hasn't reacted in that way,

11:03and I really love the experience of going through something difficult with them,

11:07because some individual cases were quite tough emotionally to deal with,

11:10but this is it.

11:15Hi.

11:16Last season, before you went on a fantastic run,

11:18you felt a bit senseless in the sense that in the run-up to January you had a difficult run,

11:22and then you had the break to Dubai.

11:24I know you've obviously not been able to go to Dubai this time,

11:26but do you see similarities?

11:28You don't know if I've been in Dubai.

11:34Some of the players have been in Dubai at least.

11:37But do you see similarities in the last season

11:39in the sense that the way the players have come back for a bit of time away,

11:42do you feel like they can go on a run now in a similar way to they did last season?

11:46Yeah, but not because of Dubai.

11:47It would be too simple.

11:48It's because I see, and looking back at all the games,

11:51I look at a lot of the opposition in the Premier League, what they are doing,

11:54just to understand what is the context that we're in

11:56and how good we are in relation to the opposition,

11:59and I'm very confident that this team,

12:03the moment we find a bit of consistency and a bit of normality,

12:07that is going to kick on.

12:08What is the key to the consistency?

12:10Is it just getting the same players out on the pitch?

12:11Availability.

12:12That's it.

12:13I'm not asking for anything else.

12:14And obviously now it does look like he's got another one of those runs that he did last season.

12:18Is there any margin for error anymore,

12:20given how far behind you are from the top?

12:23Well, it's much smaller, obviously,

12:24when you see the consistency in terms of results that Liverpool are having.

12:28They're making, obviously, exceptional improvements and results,

12:34but we are there.

12:35We have played against them and we have seen life,

12:38where we are in relation to them,

12:40so that gives me a lot of confidence.

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