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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says there will be changes tomorrow against Bournemouth
10/04/2026
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London UK
10/04/2026
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London UK
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00:00Good afternoon, Mikel.
00:01Afternoon.
00:02Can we start off with team news first of all?
00:04We were filming open training yesterday.
00:06No Bukayo, no Martin Odegaard, no Uri Ntimba or Calo Fiore.
00:11Are any of those available for tomorrow?
00:14Yeah, there have been changes there since yesterday, yeah.
00:17And all four available?
00:20I don't know. Some of them.
00:23Okay, Eberica Eze was there.
00:26Yeah.
00:26How big a boost is it to have him back?
00:28He's available.
00:29Has that surprised you? Is it ahead of schedule?
00:33He has, but my first conversation with him after he felt an ego,
00:41he wanted to be available the next week.
00:43We knew that was impossible, but the recovery,
00:46I think the will that he's shown from day one to get back as quick as possible,
00:52how he's pushed the medical staff and himself to be there tomorrow,
00:56it's just great to watch.
00:58And Pierre Encafé is still out?
01:01There will be changes tomorrow.
01:04Good try.
01:07Can I, Eberica, ask you about your relationship with your players?
01:11Yeah.
01:11And the trust that you have with your players.
01:13And the context I want to ask you this question is,
01:16how much did you have to pick them up yourself after Southampton and City,
01:20and how much did you leave them to it?
01:23I think it's a balance.
01:24As I said the other day, I think it's better to observe first,
01:28you know, to see the natural reaction,
01:31to see what we are made of,
01:33to see what is the first instinct,
01:35collective and individually from players,
01:38after understanding that we didn't have off-season.
01:41And then you can intervene based on that.
01:43But to be fair, they didn't need much
01:45because the reaction was top, as I said before.
01:49The understanding of why we lost those matches
01:51and how we were going to put it right,
01:54and I think it was a really good reaction against Sporting.
01:57You played before City this weekend.
02:00If you win, you go 12 points clear.
02:02How big an opportunity do you see this as,
02:04and how big a psychological blow do you feel you can strike against City if you were to win?
02:10Yeah, the closer we get,
02:11the relevance and the importance of the match increases, obviously,
02:14and tomorrow is a big day for us.
02:18The players know it.
02:20Our supporters know it.
02:21It's an early kick-off.
02:25So, get up early, have an early breakfast,
02:29bring your lunch, bring your dinner,
02:31how you say in England,
02:32and let's go all together for it,
02:34because it has to be a big day.
02:36You spoke on Tuesday about the pride you have
02:40working with the people that you do.
02:42Yeah.
02:44Would you say that that pride and that unity
02:46is tested or reinforced when you have difficult moments like you just had?
02:50I think reinforced,
02:51because that talks about your culture
02:54and identity of this club and the team.
02:56And to define that,
03:00you have to go through different scenarios,
03:02different moments,
03:03individually and collectively.
03:04And I always said that that's one of the proudest things that I have,
03:08not only with the people,
03:09but as well our supporters as well.
03:11They've always been with the team regardless of the situation,
03:14and that's rare to see in football.
03:16And I'm sure you will want that to continue for longer.
03:19Is there anything you can tell us with regard to...?
03:21I think that attitude and that behaviour and that unity
03:24gives you more will to win for them, you know.
03:27And that possibility, opportunity to make so people proud and happy increases,
03:32and that's what has driven everybody,
03:35me first of all,
03:36and then all the players and the people in the organisation.
03:39You just might have missed what I just said right at the end of your contract.
03:43If there was anything you can tell us,
03:46if there have been any talks about...?
03:48No, there's no news on that.
03:49I think we'll have time to discuss that now.
03:51The full focus is on what we have to do from here
03:54till the end of the season.
03:55Just finally, you've always spoken about getting your players
03:59to create their own history.
04:01How much belief do you have that they can do something
04:04they haven't done for 22 years and win the league,
04:06and do something that they've never done,
04:08and win the Champions League?
04:10A lot, because I see them every single day.
04:13First of all, the capacity that we have as a club, as a team,
04:18again, the will to win,
04:19and we recognise the opportunity ahead,
04:22and we're going to do our best to try to achieve it.
04:27Go to Anita from the Premier League.
04:28Hello.
04:28Good afternoon. Hi, Mikel.
04:30Going on what Darmis was just asking about your contract,
04:35I'm sure you saw the other reports linking a couple of young players
04:38with moves in the summer, Miles and Ethan.
04:41I just wondered how difficult is it for you to manage the ambition
04:46to become a club that is a dominant force challenging the titles,
04:50whilst also keeping the DNA of the club there?
04:54Because fans are so invested in these young Hellen boys
04:58and want to see them do well,
04:59you see the likes of Saka,
05:01and it's fulfilling a dream of many.
05:03So, how do you strike that balance?
05:06It's part of us, and I think at the end what it has to define this football club
05:12is to seek for the excellence and to seek for the best,
05:15regardless if you're coming from the community, from abroad.
05:18At the end if we can have players from Hellen,
05:20obviously much better because the identity is there,
05:24we grow with them and they know exactly what we're looking for.
05:28But then they have to earn it, and not for a week, not for a month,
05:31for years like anybody else.
05:33It doesn't matter in what department or role you have in the club,
05:37at the end you have to sustain performance,
05:38and that has to be at the very highest level if we want to win
05:41and sustainably be where we want to be.
05:44Given the success that Arsenal has had in challenging
05:48for the Premier League in recent years,
05:50do you feel the period of time for those younger players
05:53to prove to you that they should be a part of that
05:56is maybe becoming shorter because the margins are fine?
05:59The margins are shorter, but we're doing something as well
06:02that is unprecedented.
06:03We have players that played in competitions
06:05that nobody else has done at that age.
06:07So I think the balance is there.
06:09We are doing everything that we can to accommodate that,
06:12especially because they deserve the opportunity,
06:14which is the best thing.
06:15Nobody is here to give a gift, an opportunity
06:19if somebody doesn't deserve it.
06:20Everybody that has been in and around the first team
06:23because they deserve to be there.
06:24Looking ahead to tomorrow,
06:26you've already drummed up the enthusiasm,
06:30you want fans there,
06:30maybe they should have an early Friday night as well
06:32to make sure they get their own time in the kick-off.
06:35Almost around this 11-game run,
06:39I guess when you come up against Antonio Riola,
06:42someone who is from the same part of Spain as you as well,
06:45there is the rivalry there,
06:46but do you also have a sense of pride
06:48that you've got someone from your home area
06:51also doing incredible things in the league?
06:53Yes, it's amazing what is done together with the club,
06:57the consistency that they've shown,
06:59the manner that they've done it,
07:00the amount of players that they've sold,
07:01how they have rim betting themselves,
07:03and then the run that they are in is incredible
07:06because we know how tough the Premier League is.
07:08When it comes down to pride, it's huge,
07:11when it comes to rivalry on match day, it's even bigger.
07:14It goes out the window.
07:15Thank you, best of luck.
07:17Tom, for me.
07:18Hi.
07:19Can I ask you about the 12.30 kick-off?
07:21Because, as mentioned,
07:23I think the fans received an email yesterday
07:25encouraging them to be there in their droves
07:28and be there in the right state of mind.
07:30What is it about a 12.30 kick-off that proves so challenging?
07:36I don't know.
07:37But I think for every game we have to be,
07:39but we know the meaning of every match here
07:41and the opportunity that we have,
07:43especially when we play at home.
07:44We need to maximise every resolve.
07:47So it's about each individual,
07:48how we turn up there.
07:49It's not about being in the stadium.
07:52It's actually impacting the game,
07:54the atmosphere and the energy in that stadium.
07:56And that's very different.
07:58And whoever goes there tomorrow,
07:59I would please ask him to be with that mindset,
08:02with that energy and commitment,
08:04because the team is going to respond beautifully to that.
08:07You've done a lot of travelling this season.
08:09There was a period where you played four games away against the road.
08:11You've been at Wembley and Southampton and then Lisbon.
08:13You've now got, besides City and the Champions League games,
08:17the rest of your games are all in London.
08:20How much of a benefit is there?
08:22We need to exploit that and use an advantage.
08:24As you said, we travelled so much during the last nine months
08:28and now it's not going to be that much as well.
08:31We're going to have two clean weeks in between now
08:34and the final game of the season.
08:36So that's something very positive.
08:38Let's use it.
08:40Michael, just on the beret…
08:42Change your seat.
08:43It was taken.
08:47It was taken.
08:48It was taken.
08:50It was taken.
08:50It was taken.
08:51It was taken.
08:51I hope you can adjust.
08:53But, yeah, on Beret, I was just going to ask,
08:56before his injury you spoke about understanding him better.
09:01Who?
09:02Beret, is it?
09:02Oh, okay.
09:04And I was just wondering what, in this kind of time with him being out,
09:08have you kind of grown to understand him even more?
09:11And what aspects of him as a person?
09:14It's a great question.
09:15So, one of them I didn't know that he was so determined,
09:20so obsessed and so willing to push his body.
09:23I didn't know that part of him and it really surprised me
09:26in a really powerful way how much he loves the game.
09:30When you take somebody the opportunity to play,
09:33you really see the reaction.
09:34And his was, wow, how involved he was in and around the team,
09:38the energy that he brings every day in the building.
09:41And then we use that time as well, obviously,
09:43to identify areas where he can impact the game,
09:45get his opinion wide and open about where he sees himself,
09:49where he's more comfortable, what he sees about the team.
09:52And I think we use that time in a really good way.
09:55Are those things he identified similar to, I guess,
09:59the spaces and areas he was in when he was in form
10:02just before he got injured?
10:03Yeah, that's on the attacking side,
10:05but there are other areas as well that, obviously,
10:09he didn't feel they were that important or things
10:11that we discussed that probably in other teams
10:13he hasn't discussed as that vital and important
10:16to change games or to win football matches
10:18that he recognises not and such an intelligent person
10:23and so easy to talk to him.
10:25Matt from Standard.
10:26Hi.
10:27You place a big emphasis on your finishes
10:28and that's obviously paid off this season.
10:31I think that's a stage particularly in the tap
10:32where sometimes you always make some line-up decisions
10:35in reverse deciding who you want to go off the bench
10:37or who you want to start.
10:39There are games that is yes, not only for the impact
10:42but as well for some physical restrictions that we can have
10:45or to find some freshness or the type of opposition plays as well
10:49and how we can adapt to what they do or we can hurt them.
10:54And that's a big part when we have the players that we have,
10:56when we have players available obviously,
10:58to do that is a big advantage.
11:00And in Lisbon, Gabi Martin particularly was really sharp
11:03on the bench.
11:04What are the traits that make him so effective in that?
11:08Well, first of all, his mentality.
11:10And Gabi is a winner.
11:12Gabi is someone that it doesn't matter what you're doing out there,
11:14he wants to be the best.
11:15And when he starts great, when he doesn't,
11:18he's still the same specimen and wants to win
11:22and he will do anything to win.
11:23That's what I love about him.
11:25Phil for Pierre.
11:26I appreciate earlier you said there's no news on the contract,
11:30but do you see your long-term future being here?
11:32I mean, Arsenal are doing so well this season,
11:34I wonder whether there's been interest from other clubs,
11:36but are you totally committed to Arsenal?
11:39I'm fully committed here, I'm really happy and I feel good.
11:44My family is good.
11:46I still have so much ambition and things to do in this football club
11:50and for now we are in a good place.
11:52The club's got a pretty remarkable record,
11:54I think it's five managers in the last 14 years,
11:57people are asking to do 20 plus years,
11:59do you see yourself being in that club for as long as that?
12:03I'm going to say what I said to the fans,
12:05bring your lunch, bring your dinner,
12:06it's about tomorrow and this is this job,
12:10it's about the presence when you do on the day,
12:13give your very best and feel that you are the person as well,
12:18that can lead and inspire the group to achieve great things for the club.
12:22At the moment I feel that way and hopefully we are going to feel that way
12:26for the rest of the week with a great outcome at the end of the season.
12:30Last couple of days live, Charles from the goal.
12:32Hi.
12:33Mikel Marino, you said we heard from Spain as well how complicated that injury was
12:38and how rare it was.
12:39I just wonder if we are in April now, obviously,
12:41how that recovery and what sort of stage is that recovery?
12:44Do you think we might see him again this season?
12:46Well, he's another one that is going to push every boundary.
12:50He's out of his boot now, he's doing quite a lot of exercises already.
12:55He's reacted really well to the surgery, he's got no pain.
12:59It's more for the medical staff to go a bit further on that,
13:03but I'm sure there is a chance to make that period shorter.
13:09If there is a person that can do it, I'm sure that's going to be Mikel again.
13:12And just on Aaron Ramsey, I think it's the first time you've spoken
13:14since he announced his retirement from football.
13:18You know, one of the key players in the LRT era at Arsenal,
13:21your former teammate, of course, scored some historic goals of this club.
13:24I just wondered if you wanted to say any words on Aaron
13:27and the career that he enjoyed?
13:29Well, again, a long career, a career full of great moments,
13:35full of challenges and, again, that's another one when you see
13:39those difficult moments, how he reacted to them,
13:41and how he overcomes certain situations.
13:43That looked very, very difficult.
13:45Top character, top guy, a very good teammate of mine,
13:48and, yeah, what a career he's had with different clubs
13:52with his country as well.
13:54And, yeah, a different life start and I wish him all the best.
13:58Hi, Mikel.
14:00In the corresponding picture last season,
14:02obviously you lost the game 2-1 performance on two set-piece goals.
14:06How important is it to rectify that again in this game moving forward?
14:16Yeah, we need to learn certainly that lesson and away from home as well.
14:20We considered a set-piece goal the year before as well,
14:22so it's an area that they are really strong and we certainly have to improve
14:27to create the margin and the game context that we want,
14:31so we're going to have to be really good at that.
14:34Okay, guys, that finishes the as live.
14:36Well, let's check out today.
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