- 16 hours ago
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta Gives Injury Update And Talks Eze Facing Tottenham Before North London Derby
21/11/2025
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
21/11/2025
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Can you start off with any clarity you can give us on Gabriel and how serious that injury is?
00:06Yeah, Gabriel unfortunately picked up an injury with the Brazilian national team
00:10and he's going to be out for weeks.
00:13Can you give us any more clarity?
00:16No, we need to have another scan, I think it's next Wednesday
00:20and we'll have the timeline probably much more clear than we have at the moment.
00:26It's clearly a blow but have you ever felt more comfortable about the players that you can actually bring in
00:32and the options that you have when you have injuries like this?
00:35Yeah, it's clearly a blow because it's our leader in our backline
00:39and to me it's obviously never a positive thing.
00:43The good thing, as you mentioned, is that we have very good options
00:46and people have to stand up now and do the job.
00:50Ricardo Calafiore missed the Italy game, is he OK?
00:54Yeah, he missed it, he wasn't available, he's been carrying a few things
00:58and we have to bring him back and he hasn't trained yet.
01:03Tomorrow we have another training session and see how he is.
01:06What chance the other injuries that you've had in Jokeres, Martinelli
01:10and the other longer-term ones in Jesus, Havertz, Madweke and...
01:14Did I miss anyone there?
01:16Yeah, we put a lot of energy during the international break with all the medical staff as well
01:23to try to bring them as quick as possible.
01:26Tomorrow we have another training session, see how some of them are feeling,
01:31whether it's a bit too close to bring them in this game
01:34or we feel that they can have a contribution in the game.
01:36Tomorrow we'll have more clarity.
01:38So there is a possibility some of them could be in the squad?
01:41Yeah, well, I'm hopeful that we can make another step tomorrow
01:44but certainly I cannot tell you.
01:47And you can tell us the names of...
01:49No. I can, but I'm not going to do it.
01:53I know you've spoken about the North London derby before,
01:57but you've managed the North London derby,
02:00you've played some of the most ferocious derbies in world football.
02:04What makes this one so unique, so special for you?
02:08It is different.
02:09I mean, it's a big city but it's a big rivalry,
02:13it's a part of London that we want to conquer, they want to do the same.
02:18There's been a lot of shifts as well over the years as well,
02:21who has been more dominant and it's just beautiful,
02:24especially when we play at home in front of our people.
02:27We know what it means to them and the energy that they're going to bring,
02:30the energy that the team is going to bring in every single action.
02:33And it's just a privilege to play those kind of games
02:36so we cannot wait to get to Sunday.
02:39You mentioned the fans and it obviously means so much to them,
02:42to both of the fans.
02:44But how big a challenge is it to separate what their needs are
02:49and trying to focus on what is just a game that you want to win
02:54and you must win to get three points?
02:56It's about bringing it into the table.
02:58That's the context of the game and that's a superpower.
03:00You know, when you have everybody playing with that passion
03:03and with their emotion with the team every single ball,
03:06it makes a difference.
03:07And we're very privileged the way that the fans have been with us
03:12at the Emirates and especially against our rivals.
03:16And on Sunday I'm sure that the team is going to behave
03:19and make them very proud.
03:20You mentioned the recent record.
03:21It has been very good from your perspective.
03:24Five wins and a draw in your last six North London derbies.
03:28Can you put your finger on why the record has been so good?
03:31Have you been able to separate the actual occasion with the actual game?
03:36Yeah, it's a game that emotionally requires something else.
03:41And you cannot be too hyped,
03:45but at the same time that game demands that in every ball,
03:50in every action you have to be at it a bit more than in any other game.
03:54And we have found a really good balance.
03:56Obviously we played well.
03:57Some days we have deserved to win,
03:59some days we've been a bit lucky as well to win.
04:01That's fair as well to say.
04:03So on Sunday we need a really, really good performance to beat them.
04:07I wonder if you've seen Dwayne Rooney's comments
04:10about his three outstanding players of the season so far.
04:14Semenya was one.
04:16Brian Mbumo was one.
04:18Victor Jokeres was the third one.
04:20That one is very good.
04:22Just following up on that,
04:24he has come under a bit of criticism.
04:26Can you allow yourself a little smile like you're doing now?
04:30Well, I'm really glad that this is coming from someone like Wayne,
04:34his experience and the kind of player that he was.
04:36I'm sure it then is not just related to the goals that he has scored,
04:40but the contribution to the team at number nine can do
04:43and the impact that Victor has in our team.
04:46His world rate, the way he opens the spaces for other people,
04:50the time that he generates for us,
04:53and then as well the level of threat that he has brought to the team,
04:56which is magnificent.
04:57So I'm really happy to hear that.
04:59Good luck.
05:00Next I'll go to Jake from PLP.
05:02Hi.
05:03Hi.
05:04What's the challenge that is Tottenham this season than they were last season?
05:08Well, I think every game is very different.
05:11And in the same season as well, depending on the momentum of each team,
05:16the games are very, very different.
05:18I think Thomas has brought something very different to what they had before as well.
05:23And you just have to see his record and how a remarkable job he did in this previous club.
05:28And he's given a very clear identity to the team, how they want to play,
05:32how they want to compete.
05:33And it will be very tough.
05:35Some people have suggested that where they are in the Premier League table
05:38has maybe flattered them based on how they played.
05:40What are your thoughts on that?
05:42I think when you start to be in the part of the season that we are,
05:46I think you have to really earn the right to be where you are.
05:48And I think they've done a lot of very, very good things that they deserve to win.
05:52They won in some tough places as well.
05:54The record away from home has been very impressive as well.
05:57So you need to merit that.
05:59Nobody gives you anything in this league.
06:01Manchester City play tomorrow night, obviously ahead of you.
06:04If they win, there will be one point behind you.
06:06Do you feel them kind of coming after you a bit?
06:08No, everybody is going to try to win every game, the same as we are going to do.
06:12We just have to go game by game, control the things that we can do,
06:15prepare very well tomorrow for Sunday.
06:17We have a beautiful game ahead of us and that's what we can control.
06:20And just lastly, a big opportunity for whoever you decide to play in place of Gabriel.
06:26Yes, for sure.
06:27And that's what we're looking for.
06:28And the good thing is that we have rotate and play players in different positions
06:32as well as very early in the season.
06:34And whoever plays is going to be ready to do that.
06:37Alex, BBC.
06:38The start of a big week with Tottenham on Sunday, then into Bayern Munich
06:42and then another London derby the following Sunday.
06:45How do you prepare and deal with these matches coming up,
06:48especially when you put the injury issues you have at the moment?
06:50Well, we've done the preparation and the international break.
06:53We knew that coming was again very intense but beautiful as well.
06:58We have a very tough start of the season as well.
07:00We're ready for that.
07:01And now, have everybody healthy, most of them healthy,
07:06which is a key thing obviously.
07:08And then again, get in the rhythm, start to generate momentum again.
07:12We are in a really good moment and we need to continue to do that game by game
07:16because the games are going to be very thick and fast.
07:20And when to be ready, everybody has to be at it.
07:23It's not just Arsenal that are suffering with injuries at the moment.
07:25Tottenham as well and seeing it across football.
07:28A large part of both squads could be out if they don't come back for the match on Sunday.
07:32Do you think injuries are taken away from the quality of the game at the moment?
07:36Injuries are part of football.
07:38Obviously the demands that those players have in the way that the schedule is,
07:43obviously there are more demands than ever.
07:45And probably that's going to bring more injuries.
07:48We will try to avoid that as much as possible,
07:51but you can see that in many clubs even in different countries as well.
07:54So we're going to have to live with that.
07:56And then just on Gabriel Jesus, how is he getting on in his re-habilitation?
08:00Very good.
08:01So he's doing everything with the team at the moment for the last almost two weeks.
08:06We're going to give him some exposure as well internally with some games
08:09so he gets that fitness.
08:11But he looks really good in training
08:13and he's going to be a big addition to the team.
08:16Ian Tottenham.
08:17Hi Mikel, how are you?
08:18Good, thank you.
08:19Eberici Eze.
08:21It's going to be a big game for him on Sunday
08:24because he could have joined Spurs during the summer.
08:27What advice would you give him
08:30because from some section of the support, the away fans,
08:34they may not be overly happy to see him play in this game?
08:37Nothing special, nothing different to any other player.
08:41I'm very happy that he is with us.
08:43I think Eze over the years he had many options to go to different places.
08:48At the end he was allowed to leave and he chose to come here
08:52which I'm very, very happy and proud of.
08:54And it's going to be a game that I can't wait for him to experience
08:58because it's very special.
09:00You've spoken about the importance of the North on the derby.
09:03You never lost one as a player and you haven't lost one as a manager.
09:06What's the secret?
09:08I don't know.
09:09Try to prepare as good as possible.
09:11Try to perform during the game and try to be better than the position.
09:16It must come down to just more than that.
09:19If you used to have this magnificent record.
09:22No, but I have lost games against this person as a manager.
09:25All right?
09:26Yes.
09:27Anything you have?
09:28Okay.
09:29Pekao Saka reports he's going to be offered a new contract.
09:34You were talking to him about a new contract.
09:36How important is it for you that he signs up because he joined the club as a nine-year-old,
09:41could become a player who stays at one club for his career?
09:47Well, what I'm very aware of is that he wants to continue with us.
09:51That he's very happy that he's in the place that he wants to continue to be
09:55and achieve everything that we want to achieve together.
09:59And then when that happens and how it happens, I leave that to Andre and the club to figure
10:04out.
10:05And lastly, this is now a period of four months before international break again.
10:10So largely this next period of 25, 30-odd games, whatever it is, is going to define
10:15your season.
10:16In terms of that, how delighted are you that it's now going to be all guns blazing towards
10:22what could happen at the end of the season?
10:25You've just got your players from now until March.
10:28Well, we have a lot of work to do to that point.
10:31Again, go game by game.
10:32Put the focus in the present, the things that we can do and we can control.
10:38Try to improve every single day.
10:40Try to be a better team.
10:41We'll have different periods playing different kinds of oppositions.
10:44We'll have different resources available as well in the team.
10:47Try to be as competitive as we win and win as many games as we can.
10:52Simon, do you understand it?
10:53I'll just ask you about that sort of few days with the SA deal which, from the outside,
10:58seemed to move so quickly.
11:00What was it like for you experiencing it?
11:02And was there any point where you sort of feared he could go to Tottenham
11:06or you wouldn't get him in the building here?
11:09Well, I don't know.
11:10At the end there are three different parties.
11:13My feeling when I spoke to him that he wanted to join, then it's all about timing
11:17as well in football, which is something very difficult to predict and maybe it doesn't work.
11:22What I'm very glad is that he did work.
11:24He worked in a great way.
11:26I'm very happy with what he's doing and still what he can do for the club and the team.
11:31It's just the start of the journey.
11:33We've sort of seen flashes of great moments from obviously the goal against Palace,
11:37things like that.
11:38But do you think there's still a lot more to come from him?
11:39Yeah.
11:40What more can we expect to see from Arsenal?
11:42A lot because those relationships you have to build and creative players need to understand
11:47that because it's all about as well, connections, about timing and him really flowing.
11:53And he's playing in a different position.
11:55The more he's a bit settled in one of the positions and he starts to interact with players,
12:00being more friendly, which he's doing at the moment,
12:02his natural talent will come out and he will have even a bigger impact on the team.
12:08Tom, happy birthday.
12:09Happy birthday.
12:1022.
12:11Go.
12:12We saw that Alex O'Shea Chamberlain was with you guys recently.
12:17How important is it to you to kind of reconnect with those players,
12:20players playing with you and the North London Army around this time,
12:23and what do they kind of bring when they do return to the club?
12:26Well, it's great to have him around.
12:28I'm very proud to have him because, first of all, he wanted to be back.
12:32So when that happens, it's a play that has been out that he wants to come,
12:35it's a really good sign.
12:37It means that he felt loved here, respected,
12:39and he believes it's the right environment for him to, again,
12:42start to build something new in his career.
12:44And, yeah, we all know Alex, how a magnificent person he is.
12:48He can be a great example for the other players as well,
12:51with his experience and even for me.
12:54So, good to have him around.
12:56He did an interview with Ben Foster as well,
12:58in which he talked about when Thierry O'Ree came back that period,
13:01that second time he was at the club.
13:03He said that he felt like they learned that Omri brought an edge
13:07that was kind of lacking from that team.
13:09A nastiness was the word that he used.
13:11Do you feel like your team now has nastiness and edge
13:14to go on and win these games and titles?
13:17Yes, I do feel that we have everything that it takes to win.
13:20Who are the nastiest players?
13:22It's not about that, I don't know if that's the best word.
13:25It's at the end, you need to have everything that requires to win,
13:28and then you have to deliver and do it.
13:30But I really believe in my team.
13:32Just on Calafiore, is it to do with his load?
13:37Because I think this season he's played very consistently,
13:41he's been available for every Premier League game.
13:43Compare that to last season.
13:45It's obviously a much stronger fitness record.
13:49So is it more about managing him throughout these kind of moments?
13:54Yeah, he's been dealing with a little issue and he played
13:58and we as well rest him and take that load because of that.
14:01And when he got into the last game and had to try with the national team,
14:05they were very understanding of that issue
14:07and that's when they allowed him to come back.
14:09And with Martin, I was just wondering, before he got injured against West Ham,
14:15I think he was rolling around the pitch a little bit more than usual.
14:20That's a lot then.
14:22Yeah, but at points he was very central, at points he was on the left.
14:27And I was just wondering, is that something you'd like to see again when he's back fit?
14:32Yeah, we have new players and new players create new connections,
14:38create new ways of attacking especially.
14:43And we need to let that flourish, you know.
14:46And we are learning a lot from them and where they feel comfortable,
14:50how they can do that in the most efficient way.
14:53And when he's back in the team, I'm sure that we'll be able to do all the things as well.
14:57James, Ebiens.
14:58Hi, Michael.
14:59Just specifically on the six players that were injured before the international break,
15:03when we spoke to Sunderland, you were quite optimistic on their recoveries at the moment.
15:07Are you more optimistic than them at the same level or less optimistic?
15:12I am, but it's the final stage and now is when there is contact around them,
15:18when they have to be pushed into very unpredictable things that they haven't done.
15:22And yeah, I think they're going to be with us soon.
15:25I don't know if Sunday's going to be too soon.
15:27With replacing Gabriel, one of the great strengths you had was that pairing of Gabriel and Saliba
15:33and the consistency that offered to the team around them.
15:36Do you have to try and recreate that?
15:38Or do you almost need to lean into the fact that one player can't replace Gabriel
15:42and there may need to be two or three stepping into that?
15:44No, because every player brings specific qualities and Gaby is his leadership, his presence,
15:49the love that he has to defend and to transmit as well his body language to other players.
15:57And we have to do it and we have to spread that.
15:59People will step up.
16:00We've done it in the past many, many times.
16:03Unfortunately, we played last year the biggest and the most probably part of the season without him as well.
16:09And the team was able to cope with that.
16:14Let's go to Pablo from IS.
16:16Hi, Mikel.
16:17Hi.
16:18This week, Kike Sanchez-Flores, ex-former Watford manager,
16:22he recognised in an interview that he was quite sad this summer when he saw Thubimendi
16:27leaving Real Sociedad to come to Arsenal because of the Spanish league losing its talent.
16:32But he also said that Arsenal made a really big step forward to fight for trophies because of Thubimendi's signing.
16:41He also, Thubimendi scored this international break with Spain.
16:44How high do you rate him in the level of best midfielders in the world right now?
16:53Well, for my players, they are the best.
16:55To compare them with other players, I don't think it's fair.
16:57I think each player has his own qualities.
16:59I think the impact of Thubimendi in the team is unquestionable.
17:03I think what he's doing and doing it so early as well in his career here,
17:07it's very, very impressive.
17:09And that's what we need.
17:10A player at that level, playing consistently and helping the team,
17:15is going to be very positive for the team and the results of the team.
17:18Do you see him being in the line-ups of Spain?
17:22That's for the manager to decide.
17:25Hopefully he will do so well here that he will have a great chance
17:28and a big headache for the manager.
17:30Charles McCall?
17:31Ben White, there was maybe a bit of a surprise before the international break
17:35that he didn't start near those three games in a week, especially the one in Prague.
17:39Are you still at the stage with Ben where he's really carefully managing his minutes after the injury issues?
17:45We had a period after now, I think he's in a much better period.
17:50Now we have to pick plays in relation to the opponent and the game
17:53and the best combinations that we think.
17:56So he needs to continue to train very, very hard and wait for the opportunity
18:00because he's going to have it.
18:01He's always been such a warrior for Arsenal, hasn't he?
18:03Ben White has shown so much trust in him.
18:05Do you still have that sort of trust, not so much in him,
18:07but in his body that he can handle the games that are going to come up
18:10because he's got such a big week in three games?
18:12Yeah, but now he needs to do it when he plays and prove that like any other player.
18:17So that's the test, that's the level.
18:19Jurgen has been incredible as well this season.
18:22We know the level of Ben and how incredible he can be for the team.
18:25So that's it. Everybody will have options.
18:28Just very quickly, just on Kieran Tierney during the international break,
18:31you're still so loved here by the fans.
18:33We had such a special, special moment with Scotland.
18:35What was your thoughts when you saw that goal?
18:38I'm sure you absolutely loved the moment here.
18:40Well, very happy for him and very happy for all the Scottish people as well
18:44because I lived there for two years and I have an amazing experience
18:47and I fall in love with their passion and how they treat people.
18:51So I'm very happy for the country.
18:53Okay guys, that finishes the end.
18:55Okay guys, that finishes the end.
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