00:00Hi, Miquel. How's Gabriel going on?
00:03Well, we have a few, obviously. It's matchday minus two, so we have to modify a few players.
00:08We have another training session tomorrow, so we'll see how everybody is for Sunday.
00:12How would you rate his chances?
00:14Sorry?
00:15How would you rate his chances?
00:16See, we don't see tomorrow's training session, but it's difficult to say something.
00:19And Calaf Diori?
00:21The same.
00:21The same. Is his slightly longer term, would you say?
00:25Depends how they evolve in the next few days.
00:28OK, corners. You've been labelled the corner kings after your efforts this season.
00:34What do you make of that and how has it been taken?
00:37Well, we want to be the kings of everything.
00:39On set-pieces, the best in the world.
00:41High press, the best in the world.
00:42Attacking open spaces, the best in the world.
00:45Best atmosphere in the stadium, the best.
00:48The best at everything.
00:50Before it was about, we didn't score enough,
00:53we were self-defending, we didn't have mentality,
00:56we weren't physical enough, we could not challenge the top teams.
01:0022 years, 17 years, 20 years without winning away from home, big matches.
01:04We want to be the best at everything.
01:06We want to have the best academy, the best individual development for players.
01:10The best of the best.
01:11Recruit the best players, best coaches.
01:14That's the aim.
01:15Just the kings, then?
01:17That's the objective.
01:18If not, we have to go and do something else.
01:20A lot of people have been impressed with Devin Rice and Makaio Saka's delivery as well.
01:25How hard a skill is that?
01:27How hard do they work on it?
01:29Well, they work like with any other kind of finishing.
01:32Constantly.
01:33We want to be a threat from everything that we do,
01:35and we have to take every opportunity to make it count and be a threat.
01:41Because Rice didn't originally take corners,
01:43and that came about in your trip to UAE, Dubai in the winter.
01:49Can you tell us how that came about?
01:51I have the players' qualities to the team needs,
01:55and how we can exploit the qualities that we have within the squad in the best possible way.
01:59It's all about the players.
02:00Every tactic, every decision, every position in the pitch is towards that.
02:05And you've been compared, tongue-in-cheek, to Stoke.
02:09Are you planning any long-throw plans?
02:11I understood very well what Berbatov said.
02:14It was in the best possible way.
02:15So we'll take it as a big compliment.
02:18100 per cent, yeah.
02:19Because they were so good at it.
02:20Sorry?
02:21Because Stoke were so good at those set-pieces.
02:23I think so, no?
02:24Yeah.
02:25Yeah.
02:26And just on Martin Odegaard, he'll make, if he plays, his 100th.
02:32Great.
02:33As a captain, how important and integral a player is he?
02:36A massive player.
02:37He showed again on big matches what he can deliver,
02:41what the speed that he brings to the team, the quality he has.
02:45The speed that he brings to the team, the quality he has to play in the way that we have to play.
02:50So, really happy.
02:53Steph from the Premier League.
02:53Hi, Miquel.
02:55Were you watching the Fulham game last night?
02:57Yeah, sure.
02:58What did you make of it?
02:59Is it going to be a big challenge?
03:01Yeah, a big challenge.
03:02Obviously, we experienced last year we lost five points against them.
03:06I was being very complimentary about them, about the coach and what they do.
03:13So, yeah, it's always a really tough place to go.
03:16Of course, they have a lot of former Arsenal players in their ranks.
03:21I'm doing very well as well, which I'm very happy for them.
03:25So, Reese is still one of our own, but the rest as well.
03:29And it will be great to see them.
03:30Have you been keeping in touch with Smith-Rowe and what he's been doing?
03:35You have to leave them to do their own thing.
03:36Obviously, once in a while we speak to them.
03:40But, yeah, very grateful for what they did for us.
03:42And we've seen the best for now.
03:44And just to finish, last season when you lost against Fulham at Craven Cottage,
03:48you were in a difficult spell, you were probably quite tired and then you went to Dubai.
03:53Do you feel like you've done things differently this season to avoid repeating that spell?
03:58Well, it's a little bit different the period that we are in and where we're coming from.
04:02But, you know, it's the demands of this league.
04:04Every game is so difficult.
04:06At that time as well, we lost a few games.
04:09So it was even harder.
04:10Things to do much better than we did last year, that's for sure.
04:14Thanks.
04:15Alex from the BBC.
04:16Hi, Mika.
04:16Just on one of the players that scored from one of the set-pieces in the game last week,
04:21Jurien Timbal.
04:22He's obviously come in, played a number of positions,
04:25started in for Ben White, had such an important role in the team.
04:29What have you made of how he's progressed this season?
04:30Of course, he won his first goal as well.
04:32Yeah, really impressed, obviously.
04:33He's coming from a long-term injury after his ACL.
04:37We knew the talent, the leadership, the skill that he has.
04:41So he's been in great form.
04:43And he gave us something very, very different to any other
04:46full-back that we have in the team.
04:48And his impact has been tremendous, I think.
04:50You obviously have an incredible record from set-pieces.
04:53It's 22 goals from corners since the start of last season.
04:56It's clearly getting under the skin of opposition teams.
05:00You even had Gary Neville call Nicolas Jota the most annoying man in football.
05:04What have you made of the attention on your coaching staff?
05:08Well, that is great.
05:09Obviously, when we are very good at a lot of things,
05:13we take it as a compliment and just as a fuel to be better.
05:17Because we are not perfect at all.
05:19Even in that department, or defending set-pieces,
05:21we can see three chances.
05:23The three of them were coming from that kind of situation.
05:25So there is a lot to improve.
05:27And the margins are always there for us to explore and try to get better.
05:34In football in the past, we've had instances where the perception around things has changed.
05:38You think of Benga with nutrition, Pep playing out from the back.
05:41Do you think what we're experiencing now with set-pieces,
05:44we're sort of seeing a change in how people view them?
05:46In five, ten years, people might talk very differently about set-pieces.
05:49No, I think it's something that changed 10, 11 years ago, I would say.
05:53Not only what is related to set-pieces, but all the restarts of play.
05:57I remember a lot of big teams that have won a lot of games,
06:01a lot of important games, a lot of last-minute games in these kind of scenarios.
06:04You look at the Champions League, all the data, it hasn't changed that much.
06:09The importance of that, because the margins are smaller and smaller,
06:12because the competition is harder.
06:14Probably people put more attention into that.
06:16But, yeah, you have to dominate everything.
06:19Can I ask you one about your backroom staff?
06:21We've heard that there's talks to tie them down to new contracts.
06:25How important is that when you also signed your new deal?
06:28How important was it for you that they also stay with you as part of it?
06:31Yeah, we all try to do it at the same time.
06:34It's difficult because it's always four or five people that have to commit at the same time.
06:38It's not easy to do it, but I'm so happy with them.
06:40I value them at the highest level, and we want to continue together.
06:46So, hopefully it will be resolved very soon.
06:48Jordan, Athletic.
06:50You mentioned 10, 11 years ago set-pieces became a thing just as you were finishing as a player.
06:55I just wondered when did you realise yourself that it was undervalued in football,
06:59and how did you come to value a set-piece so much?
07:04Probably when I was a player, because I understood.
07:06I was at Everton, I understood how important they were,
07:09how difficult it was for the position as well.
07:12And then when I came here as well, we had a period that in some big matches as well we suffered,
07:17and then we were out.
07:18And then I went to City and I immediately realised that we had to do something about it,
07:26and continue to do that.
07:27I think you're not quite instrumental in bringing people to City before Arsenal.
07:31Can you tell us about how the two of you were introduced?
07:35No, I started to do a lot of digging.
07:36But in relation to that, in relation to individual development,
07:39I think it's an area as well that was not explored enough.
07:43In my opinion, another evolution that the game was going to have.
07:47And try to be always ahead when we can to try to maximise those opportunities.
07:52Clive, Football London.
07:53Jürgen, obviously a reunion with Emil this weekend.
07:57I just wondered, in that period when Martin was out and missing a bit of the creative play,
08:01was there any part of you thinking, I wish we still had Emil as well?
08:06Yeah, it was a very tough decision to let Emil go,
08:08especially because personally I feel really grateful for what he did for the club,
08:13and for me in a period of time that I think he was instrumental to change something around it.
08:18But at the end, players have to play.
08:20He had a lot of difficult moments as well,
08:23a lot of struggles with injuries when we were together,
08:26and he needed a fresh start.
08:27It's normal, we understood that, and we allowed him to go.
08:30With that gap behind Martin in those creative positions,
08:33I know you had to tweak the way you set up once Martin was out for a while,
08:37and he's been the obvious back-up, he's lived for 17,
08:40and to throw him into the Premier League games feels a bit of a risk.
08:43Is there any regret or apprehension about that area of the squad,
08:47or maybe you were showing a bit more depth?
08:49No, we allowed Fabio to go as well,
08:51because we wanted to create the room and the space for Ethan,
08:55and he has given us every reason to trust him.
08:58He's shown that he's ready to make the next step, and it's great to have him.
09:05OK, last couple in the live section, we'll go to Norway Media first.
09:07Hi, a couple of questions about Martin, if you don't mind.
09:10In an interview on last week's Sky,
09:14he was asked about his reputation as a gentleman within the sport.
09:18You obviously have a long life in football,
09:19have you ever met someone with that combination of performance on the pitch,
09:24and characteristics on the pitch, and personality of it?
09:28I don't know, everybody is unique, Martin is unique.
09:32As you said, his character, his personality,
09:34the way he's been raised, educated, is at the highest level.
09:38And, yeah, it's everything that we want to have to represent our club
09:43and the team in the best possible way.
09:45And you obviously have been talking a lot about the officer in Bournemouth,
09:49he came back from injury just now,
09:51but is there anything specific with his play that you are working on
09:56that you tell Martin he has to improve?
10:00Well, there are a few targets at the start of the season,
10:03obviously not to share here,
10:04but all the players have that, and he's in the right direction, yeah.
10:08OK, and finally we'll go to Phil from PA.
10:10Hi, Mika, just going back to the set-pieces,
10:13do you feel like a bit of a modern-day trailblazer in the sense
10:17that you put so much emphasis on it?
10:19What's a trailblazer?
10:21A leader in the field, a trailblazer leader in the field.
10:24No, no, no, not at all.
10:25No, I think there have been some exceptional teams on that.
10:30You just want to get better, and whatever we do,
10:31and I repeat myself, it's not good enough.
10:34We can still improve a lot in that sense,
10:37but last year we were the team in the history of this club
10:39that scored the most goals.
10:41We want more, we have more margin, we can do things better.
10:45With the defence, exactly the same thing.
10:47Environment, the same thing.
10:48Everything, we're going to try to improve it, for sure.
10:56The success at the end is if we win what we want to win,
10:58that's the success.
10:59If that allows you to win a game, great.
11:02Another game, great.
11:03But it's a lot of elements, I mean,
11:04to do what we did against Manchester United,
11:06to limit them to what they did,
11:10big credit to the team.
11:12It never happened in the history of Manchester United,
11:14so I have to put a lot of emphasis
11:17in what a lot of players did to that.
