Arteta discusses Gabriel Jesus' current form

NicheSportMedia

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenals 5-1 victory over Crystal Palace, Gabriel Jesus regaining his confidence and Saka's hamstring injury  21/12/2024  Selhurst Park, London, UK

Transcript

00:00Hi, Mikel, congratulations on your win.

00:03Before we discuss the match, may I please ask about Bukayo Saka?

00:07He seemed to be quite distressed as he left the field in the first half.

00:10Any update on the injury?

00:12Yeah, he felt something in his hamstring.

00:15He couldn't continue, he would have to be assessed.

00:18So, pretty worried about that one.

00:20Any kind of estimate on how bad he is?

00:24No, it's very difficult to do that now.

00:26They have tested him inside, but it's very difficult to say how bad it is.

00:32It's a shame, because you were able to bring back Declan Rice,

00:36there's always kind of a give and take in every game.

00:41And Raheem as well, we lost Raheem yesterday,

00:43we don't know for how long as well.

00:45So, to lose two players in 24 hours is not good.

00:49Unfortunately, with the amount of games that we are playing,

00:52three days with this schedule, it doesn't surprise me.

00:56But the team will react to that.

00:58A fantastic performance after a win, after a 90-minute turn.

01:03Gabriel Jesus is having a week of all weeks, five goals in a week.

01:08Amazing.

01:09That's the beauty of football, things change.

01:11I think he scored the same amount in 45 appearances,

01:15and now in two days, on three days, almost scored five goals,

01:18and he could have scored a hat-trick today again.

01:20So, great credit to him, because he has put so much work into it,

01:24so much belief in what he does, and he was patient, and he got rewarded.

01:31What's the difference between last week and this week?

01:35We were clinical today.

01:37Because I think in many things we were better the other game,

01:42but this is football.

01:44We were so clinical today, we were so good in scoring in different ways,

01:49in different phases, like we want to do.

01:52And we didn't concede more as well, realistically,

01:55because David had two incredible saves as well.

01:58So, we have to be honest about that as well.

02:00James, Athletic.

02:02Jadaka, did you feel in that first hour, with Kai and Gabby on the pitch together,

02:07that although you had the correct chances,

02:09it worked brilliantly from an attacking perspective,

02:11there was a little bit of a sacrifice defensively?

02:13Yeah, especially because they were more aggressive than the first game,

02:17which we expected, but we didn't understand well enough,

02:21especially which sequences we had to put and the spaces that we needed to create,

02:25so we ended up playing too much with David,

02:27very close to his own goal, and against them it's a really bad game to play.

02:32We adjusted a few things, and then when he came on I think he changed the game,

02:36he gave us more dominance, still the same threat, but we were much better.

02:41Yes, Antonio?

02:42I'm a couple, we've seen a few times of Jose's where he's had a great performance tonight,

02:45he's succumbed to injury, or Jota couldn't perform,

02:47now after two great performances in a row,

02:49are you hopeful with some of the movement there as well

02:51that this could now be a real, real turning point for him?

02:54It has to be, we have to now push him and let him go and be behind him,

02:59because he's had some difficult moments, and as a striker he's not easy,

03:04because all the time you get a lot of spotlight,

03:07but credit to him, again, his work ethic, the way he came back in the summer,

03:11he was a completely different player, and now he's getting rewards,

03:15it's something that takes time.

03:16Gareth Matias?

03:17Is it further time that Gareth has had to have to succeed?

03:21He had one in October, and then November after Chelsea.

03:25Yes, I'm not sure if it's exactly the same one, is it the same leg?

03:29He had, yes, his third minor injury, I don't know how big this one is going to be,

03:34but he already had two, yes.

03:37Hi, Miguel, after the Everton and the Boon games,

03:42I thought about the control, and I thought that maybe today

03:45we had a bit less control throughout the entirety of the game,

03:48I wonder if that's a trade-off that you're happy to make in a sense,

03:51that you're happy to concede a bit more control to Michael?

03:55Control, I don't really like that word, I like to be very dominant,

03:58very dominant in the right areas, I don't like to concede nothing,

04:01which we haven't conceded nothing in the last four games,

04:05especially because we have given them two big chances,

04:08so it's always the balance that we want,

04:11and when you win everything is OK.

04:14How does that lead you to the end of this game?

04:16Sorry?

04:17How does that lead you to the end of this game?

04:19Well, I'm very happy because we won, we needed that win,

04:22especially after the two draws, but in general overlooking ten games,

04:25no defeats in the last seven, one, five draws,

04:28we deserve to win all of them, clearly, so, good.

04:34Can I just ask, obviously Kyan made that shift last season,

04:37but have you always thought that he might go back to midfield

04:40or he could still be an asset there?

04:42He can be, he can play in any of the two pockets,

04:45and especially the way they play as well,

04:48and what we expected to have a player like him,

04:51we wanted to do something else, it wasn't going to work

04:54because of the way they set up, so I had to change it,

04:57but overall I played that in many areas,

05:00I think it fits really well what we want to do.

05:03Mikel, going back to Gabi, when he went through a hard time,

05:08how did you ensure he stayed hungry,

05:10and did you have to say anything to keep him motivated?

05:13Because for a striker, when you're out of the team

05:15and you're not scoring, it can be quite difficult mentally.

05:20You have to prepare for your opportunity, that's it.

05:23If you fail to prepare when you have the chance,

05:25it's not going to happen, that's clear.

05:27So, you want it, you want it early, and sometimes it's not going to happen,

05:31you have to dig in and go again, and you don't see the rewards,

05:34it's like looking in the mirror after one day in the gym,

05:36or one week, or one month.

05:38Sometimes it needs more time, and suddenly everybody starts to tell you

05:41you look different, you look much better, you look healthier,

05:44and now good things happen.

05:45So I think it's a good example to understand what Gabi's done.

05:49OK, finally we'll go to Phil from BF.

05:51Hi.

05:52Sissi lost the end today,

05:55but is this the last or best chance to win the league?

06:00Well, at the moment we are not there yet,

06:03and they have a few games in hand,

06:05but it's so difficult for every team to win in any competition really,

06:10so anything can happen.

06:11We want to put our noses right in there,

06:13compete in the way that we are competing every single game,

06:16and let's see what happens.

06:18We're still not even halfway.

06:20OK, guys, thanks a lot.

06:21Just one very quick question.

06:23I noticed in the week Gabriel and Jesus celebrated his goal,

06:26the pregnancy thing,

06:28Kai Havertz has done the same today, because his partner's pregnant,

06:31and I hear that Martin Ogier was pregnant as well.

06:34Is there anything you need to tell us about what you're doing?

06:39Merry Christmas, have a great one for you and your families.

06:42Thank you so much.

06:51Merry Christmas.

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