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London Colney

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta previews their Premier League match away at Sunderland

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Transcript
00:15Good morning everyone, hope everyone's well. We'll do the usual as live and then we'll
00:18go to a 10.30 tonight. If everyone's ready to be back, we'll kick off with Gary from Sky.
00:24Hello.
00:29Sorry?
00:33No, no, all good. He's fine. He's doing really well. Let's see if he can get this game or the
00:46next one. They will be around that time, I think.
00:55Let's see if we have another training session. He's been doing really well. He's been training
00:58with us now for a few days and he looks in good shape.
01:04I almost need to have a list that goes up for quite some time to mention all the categories
01:11that the men team are in for the Ballon d'Or. The team itself, you as head coach, obviously
01:18David as the goalkeeper and three Arsenal players out of five in the Premier League nominated
01:22on the shortlist for the player in the Ballon d'Or. What does that say about the job then,
01:27what's done here at Arsenal?
01:29Well, it says about where the club is at the moment, how well the club is doing. I think
01:35obviously the consistency that was shown in our performances and then those individual
01:40rewards are because the team does an incredible job together. So it's good to see that they
01:47get into major trophies, that's an important thing.
01:49Up to yourself to win the head coach category?
01:53That's not up to me, but it's a privilege to be there, that's for sure.
01:57Declan Rice obviously would love one of his teammates to win it, including England teammates.
02:03He's kind of mentioned Harry Kane. Do you think he should win it this time around?
02:07I don't get too bored, so I'll leave that to the specialists.
02:12Talking about the quality players that you've got, the England team squad won't be announced
02:18for a week, but the potential for you to have seven Arsenal fans in it this time.
02:25What does that say about the core of your squad?
02:28Well, let's see what Thomas decides first and after that we can talk about it.
02:32I'm really happy with our players, the variety that we have within the squad,
02:38the balance within the squad, especially the personalities and the different qualities
02:44that we have managed to put together, so that's what we have to maximise.
02:47It's been a while, it's perhaps been one team with seven players in the England side,
02:53but for a team like Arsenal it's important to have that England contingent.
02:57Very important, not only in the squad, but as well within the staff,
03:02within the club and to make sure that this culture and the roots are very clear
03:10and they are very attached to our identity and our values.
03:14A lot has been spoken already this season about Martin Onagard before we came in,
03:18but he seems to be developing a relationship with Solis because three assists,
03:24three of Solis's four assists have been for Martin Onagard. Is there an understanding there?
03:28Hopefully those relationships are great between all the players.
03:32That way we try to develop. There is certainly a start there.
03:36Let's see when we have a bigger example how this develops, but it's a really good sign.
03:41Supercomputer question time?
03:44I was waiting for it.
03:46Champions League have gone up from 1.5% above Bayern Munich to now 5% above Bayern
03:55but maybe the Premier League. You've got 53.71% chance of winning the Premier League.
04:02Imagine the City second at 27.63. That's a massive crowd.
04:07I'm all interested in the probability to win tomorrow night.
04:11That's the most important thing and to make that as high as possible
04:15and in order to achieve that you really need to earn it on the pitch
04:18against that really tough opponent as we know.
04:20For the note of caution, there's a 0.05% chance of relegation.
04:26Okay. Always on your toes.
04:29Thanks, Gary. We're going to Syria from the Premier League.
04:32Hi, Mikel. Just talking about overall game,
04:34you mentioned him taking different heights and handling positions to help progress the ball
04:38and that's why he's been playing better.
04:40But how do you actually coach that game idea for a player?
04:43Or is that onus more on him than choice?
04:46Both. Obviously, first of all, the intention that you put in around the team,
04:51the roles, the clarity, the concepts and the principles that you have to apply
04:55to be efficient because you can be there.
04:57But the timing is not good.
04:59The momentum and the shift in position or the rotation is not good.
05:04There is no efficiency.
05:05That's what we try to clear with the players.
05:07Everyone's obviously been talking about the fluidity of your attack,
05:10but obviously it seems like Declan Rice taking up those spaces on the right,
05:14miles of steady driving in central from the left really helped the ball progression.
05:19How much do you think that helped the dimension of your attack
05:21and how useful can that be in this under?
05:23Well, it depends on our players.
05:25It depends for sure on the behaviour of the opponent,
05:28what kind of attitude they have, especially in different phases of play.
05:33And in relation to that, try to adapt the quality of our players to be
05:37as vertical as possible, as progressive as possible
05:40and to put the best players in the best possible scenarios as often as we can.
05:44You said at the end of last season, when you have a difficult period,
05:47I think the best thing you can do instead of talking is observe,
05:50look around you and see how people behave in the atmosphere.
05:53I know it's very early on in the season, but the teams feel very settled.
05:57You're playing good football, you're winning games.
05:58What qualities do you look for in your players when you're actually winning
06:02and things are going well?
06:04Well, the next day for example, how they do the recovery,
06:10how they interact with each other, their energy,
06:12the way they train the next morning, the attention that they pay in meetings,
06:16when you look at each other, when you look in their eyes,
06:18what is the attention span, how much they are talking about the next game
06:22or the things that they have to learn from the previous game.
06:24And it's a lot to observe that.
06:27Ian talks more.
06:29Hi Mika, how are you?
06:30Hi, very good, thank you.
06:31Kai Havertz, I think a lot of people would struggle to say exactly what his best position is.
06:37So, first part of the question, how do you see his best position?
06:41How do you work out what his best position is?
06:44And just explain to me, to everybody, about how important this man is to your team.
06:49I think the best position is in relation to what the game demands
06:53and what the team demands on the day to be as efficient as possible,
07:00as unpredictable as possible.
07:01Kai is extremely intelligent.
07:03That's his biggest quality.
07:04He understands the game.
07:06He's five, ten seconds ahead of the game.
07:09He knows what he's having.
07:10He doesn't need to think about it.
07:11He just acts and it just makes the people around him better,
07:15which is another massive quality.
07:17But on top of that, he's scoring goals, he's producing chances.
07:20He's worried, as we all know, it's just outstanding.
07:23And he's in a great emotional state at the moment.
07:26So literally, game by game, his best position in your team could change?
07:30You can, yeah.
07:32Because you can play as a nine, but what do you play as a nine?
07:34What's your role with the ball, without the ball?
07:37It's a lot of things.
07:38A position on the pitch, when you put it in the tactic ball,
07:41you put probably the nine central.
07:43But then what do you do when there is a set piece,
07:45when there is a transition moment, when you are in high press,
07:47the goalkeeper is right or left foot.
07:49There's a lot of factors that are going to take that space
07:53and the initial position to a different dimension.
07:58I've got a supercomputer at home, but I like to work things out by stats.
08:02Five times before, Arsenal have won their opening four games in the season.
08:06On three occasions, they've gone on to win the title.
08:09This season, you're obviously very confident if you can carry on with Bayouer last season,
08:15that you're going to be the team everyone has to catch,
08:17despite the fact that people are talking about City and Liverpool and Miami.
08:21We have to focus on the next match we experienced last season.
08:26How tough the game is going to be tomorrow night.
08:28It's an unbelievable football atmosphere.
08:32It's great to play these kind of games.
08:34We know how ready they're going to be.
08:36We have prepared the game.
08:37We're going to finalise the game today.
08:39We know the importance of it and we will be ready tomorrow to be on that pitch.
08:43We compete like we always do, try to be better than the opponent and win the game.
08:48Finally, how much does previous records against teams,
08:52how much does that impact your thinking of the game?
08:55I mean, Arsenal have a fabulous record against the Suns.
08:58Yes, but last year we dropped points there,
09:01especially in the last minutes and we experienced
09:03and we learned a lot from that game for the previous one.
09:06And tomorrow, again, we will discuss many things that we need to be aware of
09:12and where we want to take the game, what the qualities are
09:15and try to nullify them.
09:17Tom?
09:19I know the routine could be really important to you
09:21and making sure things are regimented on a match there
09:24arriving at the same time when you have your meal.
09:27When you have a situation like you had in midweek
09:29where the players go through that experience
09:31and that routine can be somewhat shaken up,
09:34is it a chance to adapt or are there challenges you have to overcome
09:37when those routines are shaken up?
09:38I love those challenges and I try to create them in precision.
09:44So when they happen, we already experience them and we already know.
09:47So get to the stadium very late, you know, change the routine
09:50and suddenly the players have to do something else.
09:53Because when it happens, and it can happen, you can miss the flight,
09:55the train can be delayed, there's so much traffic.
09:58And I don't want the players, but not only the players, the staff as well, panicking.
10:03So when that happens, adapt to it.
10:05Okay, we have another two or three hours on the plane.
10:07How can we use them, play together, spend some time together, sleep, use it.
10:11But certainly don't complain and use it as an excuse because that's not helpful at all.
10:16And on more of a serious note, we heard from Gabriel Jesus after he moved to Barcelona.
10:22He spoke about how nobody had told him anything regarding why he was moving.
10:26He trained on his own.
10:27After the commentary game, Ian Wright said that he was uncomfortable
10:30with how Gabriel Martinelli perceived as being treated.
10:33I know you've spoken about the transparency that you've had with your players this summer.
10:37Yeah.
10:37So are you surprised to hear those types of comments?
10:39Very surprised.
10:41To be fair.
10:41Especially because with Gabby, I had an individual talk in the dressing room.
10:45I don't know what the words were said.
10:47It's fine.
10:49And the words that we used for each other, it was all about gratitude.
10:52So, I don't know.
10:55It's okay.
10:56Sometimes I understand when you have to deliver bad news or news that people don't expect.
11:01Those things I reacted.
11:02Somebody has to be there.
11:03Back up.
11:04If I have to be, I have to be.
11:06And I understand.
11:08What is important is normally what happens three months later, six months later,
11:11when Trossard comes in, he's in the dressing room with all of us,
11:14the atmosphere and the relationship you have.
11:16And thanks God so far, with all the players that they left,
11:20at some point, their relationship has been really good.
11:23I hope that that's the same case.
11:26Matt, in the standard?
11:27Michael, can I ask about every concert?
11:29It looks like he's made a really good start at the club,
11:31and you've needed him too with the entries too in that position.
11:34Has he almost surprised you of how quickly he settled,
11:36how confident he's coming straight in?
11:39Well, it's certainly something to admire because it's not easy at all,
11:43and you should not take it for granted.
11:44But after talking to a lot of people that have worked with him,
11:49whether it's staff members or players, I already had a sense,
11:52the way everybody was talking about him.
11:54That is a person that is great at gathering people together.
11:57He has a real personality, a lot of leadership skills,
12:01and you saw the first day he just trained the way he was talking,
12:05the way he was presenting himself.
12:07It was very impressive, and so far he's done a really good job.
12:11Did his performances almost make you more relaxed with someone like William Saliba
12:15or his recovery in the sense that you don't need to take any risks?
12:19Well, relaxed, obviously, we had him out and Juren out for long periods,
12:22and then we had the issue with Mosque,
12:25so we were really, really thin at the back.
12:28So we needed to put another good play in that position,
12:32especially with the expectation that we have the amount of minutes
12:35that they are going to have to try to play.
12:37We've done it, and so far it's working well.
12:41Last couple of minutes.
12:44Just on Ben White injuring Timber, it's been quite unfortunate
12:48that since Timber's joint they've not really been available at the same time
12:52for a long period of time.
12:54How have you found that?
12:56Because I imagine you would have liked to rotate them a lot more
13:01depending on the opponents.
13:05Yeah, that was one of the challenges last year,
13:07especially when we have two or three injuries within the same line,
13:10and sometimes in the same position as well,
13:12so hopefully this season we will have a bit more luck
13:16and we can manage that better.
13:18If we manage that better, probably the likelihood of them getting injuries
13:23is going to be lower.
13:24With Ben 2, is it anything down to the position they play
13:27in the demands of that position, or is it just a luck?
13:32Well, with Julian, with Julian in the last three seasons as well,
13:35and we had the ACL, it was a long-term injury,
13:37and that has consequences afterwards.
13:39And then Ben was out, and you start to load a player for five weeks
13:42in our schedule, he needs to play 15 games in that period.
13:46I mean, the probability or something happens, it is bigger.
13:49And, yeah, the full-backs position nowadays,
13:52they do have some huge physical demands, yeah.
13:55I just had one slightly different question.
13:58I saw an interview you did a few years ago
14:01where you said one of the biggest lessons you learned at La Masia
14:04was competition.
14:06And I was just wondering how big a role that's played
14:09in your kind of building the squad here.
14:15Well, a huge one.
14:16At that point, I used different terminology.
14:20It was a great level of competition,
14:22the best I have experienced in my career,
14:24certainly at that age.
14:26But then there was a really great sense of supporting
14:31and helping your teammates as well.
14:33And that balance, I think, you need between us.
14:36We cannot just compete.
14:37I think we need to cooperate, and we need to understand
14:39each other's role, and we need to be happy for the teammates' success.
14:42And that's what we try to do always.
14:45Hi, everyone from Beville.
14:46Hi.
14:46Just reflecting on the Sunderland game last season.
14:49I know it's a while since then,
14:50but obviously it's a tough night game like last time,
14:53tough environment at the stage of his life.
14:55Is there anything maybe reflecting on it now
14:57that you can bring in tomorrow night's game
14:59or what the players about?
15:01Yeah.
15:02Plenty of things.
15:03Plenty of things to improve, to be alert of,
15:07and some others that we have to continue to do.
15:10Because we did some great things that night,
15:12and that's the things that we will discuss to prepare the game.
15:15Okay, guys, that finishes...
15:17...
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