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Embargoed pre match press conference with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta ahead of Aston Villa v Arsenal in the Premier League, held at Arsenal Training Centre London Colney.

Arteta is asked about Jose Mourinho naming his team days in advance and jokes that he might copy that one day after 25 years in the job, but only when it suits his own squad. He explains how Riccardo Calafiori’s role at left back brings what some call controlled havoc, praising his intuition, capacity to smell danger and attack spaces that are very hard for opponents to defend, plus his comfort stepping into midfield and even the box.

He responds to a question about the so called death of pressing, pointing to recent games where Arsenal pressed man to man and stressing that the approach depends on the opponent, the game plan and a schedule where they are playing every three days.

Arteta gives an update on Declan Rice and Cristhian Mosquera after knocks against Brentford, and on William Saliba and Leandro Trossard, insisting every hour before the trip to Villa Park will be important before deciding who travels.

He also discusses Arsenal’s academy and recruitment strategy, the push to recruit the best young talent from overseas within league rules, the idea of a future multi club model and the continued priority to develop players from London and the club’s own pathway.

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#arsenal #afc #mikelarteta | Mikel Arteta Arsenal press conference today

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Transcript
00:00He named his team and he sort of said,
00:03''I don't care, here's my line-up, we're going to win anywhere.''
00:07Have you ever considered...
00:09I will do that one day.
00:11So, Mourinho has been in the game for how long? 25 years?
00:14So, that will happen at some point.
00:17It sends a message though, doesn't it?
00:19Eh?
00:20It sends a message, I think, to your team and...
00:22Yeah, yeah. And knowing Jose very well,
00:25the message is very clear and with a very clear purpose as well.
00:29So, yeah.
00:30Obviously, you're quite guarded on your team moves.
00:35I presume that's because you don't want the opposition to know too much.
00:38Yes.
00:41And sometimes, and the reality as well,
00:44because I haven't decided the line-up.
00:46Yeah.
00:47But there must be...
00:48They're doing rugby, for example, don't they?
00:50And you know rugby coaches very well,
00:52they make the team like three or four days before.
00:54It'll be interesting to see someone try.
00:56Yeah, we can try.
00:58I will encourage the other managers in the league to do that
01:00when we play against them.
01:01So, the day before, two days before, if possible,
01:03that they tell us who plays.
01:05That would be great.
01:06Ask that question to them and if we get that done,
01:08I'll give you a dinner.
01:10OK.
01:11Yes.
01:12Riquel, the other day, Ricky charged forward and did a back kill in the air at the bend,
01:21Gabby then shot over.
01:24Is Galafuri sort of controlled havoc or is he just havoc?
01:29I mean, is there any...
01:30Controlled.
01:31Controlled.
01:32Yeah.
01:33That word and Ricky, especially in the attacking phase, it doesn't match too much,
01:37but it's something that we want, you know, because he has this intuition,
01:41his capacity to smell danger, to attack spaces that are very difficult for the opponent to defend,
01:47and he does it in a way that for him is natural, which is always good.
01:51So, yeah, we encourage him to do that.
01:54Successfully, your left-backs you've had, of all I've inverted, have done something,
01:59but he seems to have taken it to a completely different level in the positions he can take on the pitch.
02:04Is that something that's just completely natural to him or have you worked with him on that?
02:10No, on the height that he's doing that, probably he's never done it before,
02:14because he used to do it as a centre-back, especially coming to the mid-field line.
02:19Further than that normally he doesn't do, but he has the ability to do that,
02:22and in pre-season, last pre-season we started to say, and you have the feeling that he flows,
02:28you know, and things happen naturally, and he's comfortable there,
02:31and he's more comfortable that playing probably in the mid-field line,
02:34and he's very comfortable every time he's stepping into the position box,
02:38and it gets better there, so we have to use that his quality.
02:41Conny was asked about the death of pressing, he said that teams are pressing less,
02:45including Arsenal this season, and he wondered whether it was to do with fatigue
02:48or whether teams are now going longer, so therefore the pressing is less.
02:53Is there a reason you think that teams are pressing less this season?
02:57Well, we had periods, and as well it goes to the fact that certain managers
03:03and certain teams had certain players to do it.
03:05After last week we played three games the week before,
03:09it was very man-orientated and a lot of pressing in the Chelsea game,
03:13it was insane in terms of that, the Bayern Munich won as well,
03:17let's see tomorrow what is the approach that Villa has,
03:20and we'll adapt in relation to that.
03:22Last couple.
03:23It was recently reported that Arsenal signed two Ecuadorian twins,
03:30Edwin and Holger Quintero,
03:32they're obviously not going to join until 2027.
03:34What's the thinking and rationale behind this?
03:37Is this a new approach by Arsenal to go overseas and get young kids over,
03:41and try and obviously buy them into the academy?
03:43Is it a new approach?
03:44Well, there is certainly something that I think is very positive.
03:49I mean, we can recruit the best talent that there is out there.
03:52Obviously, the rules and the limitation that the league provides in relation to using them
03:57before a certain age, it is a challenge.
04:00But we saw that as a good opportunity for us,
04:04and if we are ahead, I think that's something very positive.
04:08When did you start seeing this potential path?
04:10Was it other clubs, maybe like Chelsea, where you saw them bring young kids from abroad,
04:14or was it something else?
04:16Yeah, there's always been.
04:17I think for many years we have talked about that.
04:19The last week they were asking me about the multi-club possibilities as well,
04:24so it's something that is emerging there.
04:27For many clubs they've been doing it for years,
04:29in my opinion, a big advantage if you do it correctly,
04:32and we need to start somewhere.
04:34And that's what we did.
04:36From London and the surrounding areas,
04:38you've already produced massive talents,
04:40obviously Manchester United just one of them.
04:42Now, obviously going internationally,
04:43do you think on a more wider scale there could be
04:46further big talents from further afield?
04:49Yeah, for me the first intention obviously has to be
04:52to develop our own players in-house,
04:54but that doesn't mean that you have to close any doors for any talent that we have,
04:58that goes for players and it goes as well to staff, I think.
05:01OK, finally we go to Jack.
05:02Jack, there's a lot of talk about the depth that you now have this season
05:07after the summer,
05:08it was something you spoke about needing at the end of the last season.
05:11Did you think you'd need to use quite as many of them quite so soon into the season,
05:16given all the injuries you've had?
05:17Sorry, sorry.
05:18Did you need to rely on that depth quite as much as you have?
05:21Well, I think we have already used it in a great way.
05:25And not only the depth as well, but the versatility of the squad and the players
05:29that we have in certain positions to fulfil roles for periods of time
05:33that has been challenging in one specific line,
05:36now is another specific line as well.
05:38But to navigate in the way that we've done,
05:40I think it tells a lot about the character and the quality of the players.
05:43After what happened to Chelsea on Wednesday night at Leeds,
05:48I heard Roy Keane say somewhere that he thinks the title is going up
05:51and that you want to be the champions.
05:54How dangerous is it for anyone to listen to comments like that?
05:58I don't know.
05:59We know the reality,
06:00we know the reality that we played every three days,
06:03the quality of position that we have
06:05and how tough it is to win a football match
06:07and we sense it three days before,
06:09the week before and that's the reality in the league.
06:12So, just try to be as good as we can every day
06:15and they go day by day.
06:17Is this game maybe an example of that?
06:19Because if you look over the last ten games,
06:22Villa have got one point more than your team in the Premier League.
06:26They maybe have the level in centre of the Champions League,
06:29they've got Euro for league games.
06:31Is that a reminder of the level that everyone has got?
06:35Yeah, exactly that.
06:36I think I fully agree with that.
06:37There is the level and then there is as well
06:39the schedule that each team has had,
06:42you know,
06:43and we again have the player at home and away
06:45and I guess it's an opposition.
06:46There are a lot of factors
06:47and we are still very early in the season.
06:49OK guys, thanks very much.
06:51Yeah, thank you.
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