00:00Arsenal vs Liverpool tomorrow, the reigning champions, they come to your house.
00:05What is the mood around the training ground, the coaching staff, the players?
00:10I was very excited, a massive game against the champions of the last Premier League.
00:18We have a point to prove, we're going to have our crowd, our supporters very early,
00:23before 8 o'clock, everybody there, creating an amazing atmosphere and looking forward to it.
00:29Yeah, a big atmosphere expected at the end, as you said.
00:32It sounds like there's planning for a big stadium mural when the players come out of the tunnel.
00:37How much are you calling on your supporters?
00:40They've been unbelievable again this season and it makes such a difference,
00:44we become a different team.
00:46The level of energy, commitment, confidence, desire that we can show in every action
00:52is transmitted by them and we need them tomorrow in every ball.
00:56I think pretty soon they have to go to the last stage of the rehab and if everything goes well,
01:11hopefully very soon they will be available for selection.
01:14Just finally for me, this is the first time I'm hearing from you since Ruman Alvin left his job
01:17as Manchester United head coach now.
01:19So Jim Radcliffe actually used Arsenal standing by you as an example,
01:24as a reason why Aaron should get three years in charge once he didn't get that time.
01:29So what does that say about the support and the trust that the club put in you
01:33during the first difficult 12 to 18 months?
01:36I can only talk about why I have experience and it's always sad to see a colleague losing his job obviously.
01:43We know where we are and I think you need support from honesty,
01:49support from your staff, from players.
01:51At the end of the game you need to win a lot of football matches to stay in the job
01:55and that's the reality and the nature of our job.
01:59Good afternoon.
02:00You mentioned they didn't sweep through in UK Liverpool.
02:03Is that sort of a case of the fact that they beat you narrowly in that game back in August
02:08or more to do with the fact that you are leaving UK Liverpool at the moment
02:11and that's a statement of where to beat the champions?
02:14Yes, I mean we are top of the table, we play at home against a really, really good opponent
02:19and we want to maintain our position and in order to do that we're going to have to be excellent
02:24throughout the game to win the game and that's the point we have to prove.
02:28I don't know, I don't like really comparing and I think every week the team is different
02:49because the players available are different, their position is different so yeah,
02:53maintain a lot of the great things that the team is doing, individuals are doing
02:57and consistency is going to be the key to that and we know the difficulty of every game
03:02and we are approaching that with a lot of excitement, understanding where we are
03:08and with a huge desire that we have to achieve what we want to do in May.
03:13You have a nine-game on being in front of Liverpool, obviously they had that good start to people
03:18where they were winning games but quite narrowly in a lot of matches, obviously they are not beating
03:23but perhaps they are not playing their best football, so how do you view the Liverpool side that you are going to be taking on tomorrow?
03:28Well, the margins I think for all of us are very small, we always talk about that and yeah, they have a great manager,
03:35they have a sensational structure, understanding what they have to do in relation to the players
03:40that they select tomorrow in the line and they can play in different ways because at the end
03:45I think those will make them a little bit different and more specific to what we can expect tomorrow
03:50and we have to be conscious of that and then focus on what we have to do.
03:55Alex, BBC.
03:56Hi.
03:57Can I just ask about Kai Havertz, he was on the bench against Aston Villa but then not against the Bournemouth.
04:02How did his rehab and return to play?
04:05Yeah, we are monitoring, obviously his load has been out for a long time for two different reasons
04:10and yeah, he is very close, he trained this morning again and hopefully we are going to have him available
04:17and the best version of Kai Havertz soon.
04:20You had good wins in matches against Newcastle away from home, West Ham at home and Brighton as well,
04:26teams you dropped points against last season, Drew against Liverpool at home again
04:31you probably should have won last season as well, is there another chance to show the progression you made this campaign?
04:38Yes, at the end we want to win every game and the most important one is obviously tomorrow
04:43and we know what we have to do to beat them and now we have to prove it on the pitch.
04:48Okay.
04:49I'm Gal.
04:50Leandro Trossard was voted for a month in December recently, what's going to be behind his fantastic form?
04:57Well, first of all, I think his level of understanding and consistency.
05:03He's got ability but the level of consistency he's showing this season in particular, I think it's been exceptional.
05:10I think he's really clicking with the team in every aspect of the game and he's a player that provides something different to what we have.
05:18And you've spoken about the role that supporters will play tomorrow, what's it actually like when you've got such a huge crowd right behind you?
05:27What actually feels like?
05:28There's nothing like it. I mean, you become a different player. Your emotional status is better, your energy level is better, your confidence is better.
05:37They thrive you to get action with a lot of aggression, with a lot of determination and that lifts their whole team.
05:44So that's what we have to provide you more.
05:46Matt, Evening Standard.
05:48Hi.
05:49Considering how good Liverpool were last season and the signs they made in the summer,
05:53did you expect them to be your main rivals in the title?
05:57Well, yeah, but obviously that's on paper but I still think that they are a superb team.
06:04and what they've done as well and you have to understand as well the context that they had with certain injuries
06:10and the difficulty of the league for all of us but my opinion hasn't changed about them.
06:15And after that Anfield match there was a lot to talk about whether the team were too cautious to compete with it.
06:21Were you confident you'd always prove that wrong over the course of the season?
06:26I don't know.
06:27We always prepare the games to beat them in the best possible manner in the way that we believe
06:32it's going to give us the best chance to do that.
06:35Hi, Michael.
06:36Right at the start of this press conference you just said you feel like there's a point to prove.
06:40So I was just wondering what that point is in your head?
06:43We can go again and again.
06:45I mean, every week we have a point to prove.
06:47We had it a few days ago against Bournemouth after a great win against Villa and it's going to continue like that till May.
06:55And we know that because once we are in the position that we are in we want to maintain and extend the lead that we have.
07:02And in order to do that our level of determination and desire has to be with that mindset.
07:07In terms of maintaining that through, I guess, weeks where you're playing every three days.
07:11How do you keep, I guess, everyone, not just players but staff on that kind of goal?
07:17Does that make sense?
07:18Well, we all want it that much.
07:20That's what is driving everybody.
07:23And that's the superb quality that we have within the club, staff and players especially.
07:29because we know what it's going to take to achieve what we want.
07:32And this is maybe a bit of a random one.
07:35I noticed that Martin Zubimendi, Martin Erdogan, Death and Rice were all born within two months of each other.
07:42And I was wondering, with those three, when they played, they seemed to gel quite well.
07:48And I was wondering if their ages have any...
07:51So they have started to connect since their birth, yeah?
07:54Let me investigate about that and I can come back to you in a few weeks.
08:00Yeah, but how do you see them, I guess, as a trio, both on and on?
08:04Well, it's a great point.
08:06So maybe it's something that we have to think about.
08:09It's very clear and obvious that they click, they understand each other really well.
08:13They complement each other exceptionally well.
08:16And that's something that we believe that we could achieve before we brought them together.
08:21And now they are doing it.
08:23James, yes again.
08:25Amarim and Mareska, they both left their jobs after speaking about frustrations with the head coach model.
08:31You were hired here, obviously, as head coach and then you became manager.
08:35I know every club is different, but for you, what difference did that make going from head coach to manager?
08:41Well, it was different at the time when they proposed to change their role and what they thought about in the areas that I could help probably more than they expected at the beginning.
08:55But at the end it's about the relationships and the people because we have formed great teams with very different qualities and some that have been more on certain things.
09:05And when there is somebody that is much better than me on that, I let him do it.
09:09So for me the title doesn't really reflect the daily, probably the way we operate daily.
09:18I think it's more important than the people and then the morale within that people to really understand that.
09:23OK, let's give each other the things that he can master and make us much better and the rest we just support that idea.
09:31That's it.
09:32It must have been a confidence boost for you, obviously, in your first Mojira role to be given that extra responsibility.
09:38Yeah, because I didn't demand it, we didn't ask for it, and they believed it was the right thing to do.
09:43But again, since then, because we have to work with different people with the changes that we had in recent years,
09:49I think when you have a leader, which is ownership in this case, Stan and George,
09:55and George that is very close to that with very clear alignment to all of us, what he wants to do, how he wants to achieve it,
10:01that creates that space for everybody, I think it's very easy to work at this.
10:06James, CDS?
10:08I know it's been mentioned already, but going back to that game at Anfield,
10:11it felt like the reaction at the time was so immediate and visceral in terms of your perceived style.
10:17Have you looked back on that game and what did you take away from it?
10:22What do you think maybe the broader conversation got wrong?
10:25No, no, no. I mean, people are entitled to their opinions.
10:30Mine was different, but that's the beauty about football.
10:33What was your opinion?
10:34Very different.
10:35Okay, we'll do the last two in the other live.
10:39Charles, goal?
10:40Hi, Miguel.
10:41We saw another brilliant finish from Gabriel.
10:44He's down to two goals behind your old teammate, Orin Celmi,
10:47in terms of record goals for a defender in the Premier League for Arsenal.
10:52I'm sure you expect him to break that record pretty soon, probably, the way he scored that.
10:55But what do you think sets him apart from pretty much all of our defenders at the moment,
11:00when it comes to the art of goal scoring in the opposition box?
11:04Desire to score and the amount of work that he puts in and attention and detail to get himself in the best possible positions to do that
11:12and to execute what the game and the specialists and actions are going to demand of him.
11:18You saw Piero Nkappia, he seems to have really settled in now and adapted and stepped up in Ricardo's absence.
11:24How impressed have you been with this, the way he's adapted to the Premier League, especially after missing out early on through injury?
11:30Very impressed because obviously he came very, very late in the market without pre-season after a surgery as well.
11:37So, yeah, I mean, he's been immense.
11:40I mean, for everything that we ask him to do, he's fulfilled that in various roles as well.
11:45So, yeah, I think it's been a big boost for the team and another step in terms of what he can bring to the team.
11:53Hi.
11:55This group of players have got more points than the Invincibles managed after 20 games, more points, more goals.
12:01Obviously, you've been here all the time as a player, as a manager.
12:05Do you think that this group that you have is as good as the Invincibles, if it got better?
12:10No, because the Invincibles won a lot and they won consistently
12:14and they created a history and legacy and we have to do that.
12:19But when you speak to the players, are they ever mentioned?
12:25No, obviously there is a lot of stats, but in the last two or three years as well,
12:29we had stats and more points and more goals and the history of that.
12:32But at the end we have to translate that to major trophies and what we want to do.
12:38And probably now what we are doing would have been enough, but now it's not enough
12:43and we have to make the margins even bigger and that's what we have to end.
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