Arteta on Derby Drama & Injury Headaches

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on Derby Drama & Injury Headaches  30/11/2025  Stamford Bridge, London, UK

Transcript

00:00You've been in mind you've played an hour against ten men.

00:03Is it a game you should have won?

00:05It was a point game, haven't you?

00:07First of all, I think it was a really proper London derby.

00:10Really intense, you could sense from the beginning

00:13that every duel, every action has something on it.

00:17Two teams very willing to win and not much football.

00:21It was a lot of restarts, a lot of free kicks, stops,

00:24a lot of yellow cards, so not a lot of fluidity.

00:27But after the sending off of Kayser, obviously we wanted to settle the game.

00:31We didn't manage to do that, we had more yellow cards,

00:33we had four yellow cards.

00:35Obviously those players were constantly targeted

00:37to try to even the game in terms of numbers,

00:39and at halftime we said, okay, let's pause it now,

00:42let's now get what we have to do, very clear what the intention

00:46and how we're going to dominate the game.

00:48In the first action, long ball gives a free kick,

00:50wide free kick, corner, consider set-piece.

00:53So then the momentum shifted, and emotionally the team

00:56didn't have to react to that.

00:58We managed to get some good spells without having too much momentum,

01:01scored a great goal, and after that, yeah,

01:05we had two or three big chances, but we lacked certain detail,

01:09especially in the manner that we attacked to generate more,

01:12and especially as well to avoid certain transitions

01:14every time Robert had the ball in his hands.

01:17Alex from the BBC.

01:18Hi, Miguel.

01:19Could that be important for your team going through the season,

01:22a type of game where your players learn, like Christian Mascara,

01:25Ricardo Calafuri having to play in the back line,

01:27about Gabriel and Saliba having to make the lead?

01:30Yeah, well, it's been a big week, starting with the derby,

01:34how emotional and the necessity that we,

01:37and the intention we have to win it,

01:39then to play Bayern Munich three days later.

01:41We lost players in those games, and today, for example,

01:45we had to play apparently that we never played before

01:47in a really difficult match.

01:49The captain is still not here.

01:51The nine is still not here.

01:52Kai is still not here.

01:53We lost Leo in midweek as well,

01:55but the team had to react to that,

01:57and I think overall it's been a really positive week

02:00because the difficulty was immense,

02:02but I have this flavour that today we should have,

02:06and we could have won the game, and we haven't,

02:08and that's a learning point for me.

02:10Matt, take a look.

02:11Just on that, picking up that theme of the week,

02:14do you feel there were sort of some tired minds and bodies

02:17out there today?

02:18Well, we played every two and a half days.

02:20Today we had one less day than Chelsea to prepare that,

02:23and on top of that we lost players.

02:25But it's the schedule.

02:27Now we're going to have to play Wednesday for sure,

02:29and every three days.

02:30So, yeah, it drags you on.

02:31It was a lot at stake,

02:33and there were two very, very in-depth matches,

02:36but that's the beauty of it as well.

02:38Not many clubs had the opportunity this week

02:40to play the games that we have played,

02:42and I'm extremely proud of the team.

02:45James, did you miss that?

02:46What does it say about your team,

02:48what they could go on to achieve,

02:49that they can come to a place like Stamford Bridge,

02:51probably play a little bit below their collective level,

02:53and still feel disappointed not to have won?

02:56Yeah, that's a good point,

02:58but that's the feeling that we have,

03:00and that's the standards that we set to ourselves,

03:03and, yeah, probably it's because the spirit

03:06and the hunger and how much they want it

03:08is so incredible that we will overcome everything,

03:12because already a lot of things happened,

03:14but that's it.

03:15What we have to do is prepare very well,

03:16and Wednesday try to be better than Brentford.

03:19Tom, Football London, in the middle of it.

03:21Hi.

03:22How many days?

03:29Three years, three months, 25 years.

03:32Ah, two seconds.

03:33What impact does that have on the way your team plays,

03:38and how do you think Piero and Christian do?

03:40Yeah, well, it's been a headache,

03:42because obviously we have to have a lot of options

03:45and changes in the last few months for different reasons.

03:49That one is, as you said,

03:50and with those numbers that I didn't know very unexpected,

03:53and it happened yesterday,

03:54but the beauty of it that you have players so willing to play,

03:57so willing to connect with each other,

03:59we will build our relationship even better.

04:01So today was a great learning match for all of us,

04:05and as well give you the assurance

04:07that whoever is there is going to perform.

04:09Last couple, Martin.

04:11There's been a view, I think, across football,

04:13looking at your squad,

04:14that you have the deepest, strongest squad in the league.

04:18Today that depth was tested.

04:21Have you seen anything today to suggest

04:24that you haven't got the deepest, strongest squad,

04:27because it looked like your performance intensity was there,

04:30despite the loss of numbers?

04:32Yeah, well, to be fair, it's been tested since the preseason,

04:35because we lost six, seven players constantly out of the squad,

04:41but I have no doubt, as I said, with the quality that we have,

04:45and especially with the mentality that every players have.

04:48And finally, Nick from Haitians.

04:50Without Gabriel and William Saliba,

04:52you're obviously quite a different team.

04:54How long do you think you'll be without Saliba?

04:58I don't know.

04:59I think he's got another test tomorrow,

05:01really, to see the extent of that feeling,

05:04that sensation that he had,

05:06and we will know more with Gabby still some weeks to go.

05:09Okay, guys, thanks a lot.

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