Match Preview: Mikel Arteta faced the press ahead of Arsenal’s match with Newcastle United in the Premier League

Match Preview: Mikel Arteta faced the press ahead of Arsenal’s match with Newcastle United in the Premier League

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faced the media ahead of the Gunners’ clash with Newcastle

Although the season may not be ending in the way that Mikel Arteta would have wanted, the Arsenal manager was in a jovial mood, even making a couple of quips in his pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against Newcastle United. There was time among the light-hearted nature for some seriousness about the team news, of course.

 

 

There was some also some very good stuff on Andrea Berta and the transfer window. He set the record straight on whether the pair were indeed aligned on moves and the process by which those discussions went down.

 

Here is every word from Mikel Arteta’s press conference:

 

It was great to see Kai Havertz back in training on Wednesday. Could he be involved on Sunday?

 

We’re going to decide that tomorrow. So he’s done certain parts of the sessions in the last two days. He looks in great shape but I think it’s more a shout of, first of all, the medical staff, the doctor especially, giving the clearance and then how Kai actually feels to contribute if he’s required.

 

And how much credit does he deserve for getting himself back into a position where he could play before the end of the season?

 

Unbelievable. I think his work rate, the work that he’s done as well, a lot of credit to the medical staff for the work that they’ve done throughout the last few months, because between then they’ve been pushing each other. We know how important Kai is for us. And the fact that he looks in great shape, I think he’s improved a lot of the metrics that are very important for a striker to give himself the best chance. And you see the transformation on him, which has been really impressive.

 

And once again, there’s plenty of injuries you’re dealing with right now. What’s the latest with Declan Rice, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and Jürgen Timber?

 

Again, they’ve done part of the session, not a complete session. So we’re going to have to wait and see tomorrow if they can deal with things that they haven’t done because they weren’t ready to that early in the week.

 

Final home match of the season, given all the injuries, given the red cards, given the suspensions, just how deep have these players had to dig this season?

 

Yeah, it’s been a phenomenal effort from all of them. Understanding the circumstances. It’s our last home game, as you said. It’s always a very special occasion. It’s our chance as well to wrap up the Champions League, to put ourselves in a really strong position for the second place. And as well in a way to say thank you again to all of our supporters for the amazing season that they’ve been in every journey, in every ground, making the effort to travel with us everywhere and at home as well. And it’s the biggest, I think one of the best days in the season, when you have to just say thank you to them and they can say what they feel as well about the team.

 

And given everything that the players have been through this season, have they got one more big performance in them on Sunday?

 

They do, two. Not one. We need two and now we’re going to start with that one. We’re going to have to need a big one and be very clinical because we know the qualities of Newcastle, we know the results that we’ve had lately against them and how thin the margins are with them and the fact that especially how clinical we have to be in front of them to score the goals.

 

Newcastle would move above you into second if they won on Sunday. How important is it that you ensure that if you can’t win the Premier League then you finish runners-up?

 

Well, you have to be always as good as you possibly can. Obviously, the dream of winning the Premier League this season is gone. So, as we said, be the best of the rest and feel that pain to be better.

 

And finally, for me, it could be the last match at the Emirates for a number of players who haven’t returned to their parent club or ended their contract. Does it look like Thomas Partey will be back here next season?

 

I wouldn’t like to talk specifically about anybody. As you said, there are a few cases, and we’ll all try to show our gratitude, how much we love them, how much we appreciate the time that we’ve been together and hopefully, our supporters can do the same with them.

 

I know it’s not over yet, but with two games to go, what is the overriding feeling when reflecting on this season for Arsenal?

 

Until we finish the last one, I get that feeling and sometimes to analyse I prefer not to do that exercise yet.

 

You mentioned recent results against Newcastle. Would you say they’re a bit of a bogey team for Arsenal?

 

Well, a very difficult team for any opposition. I think what Eddie [Howe], the staff and what they have done in the last few years is remarkable and they’ve been very, very consistent, very difficult to play against like we’ve been.

 

What is it that makes Newcastle so difficult to play against?

 

Well, they dominate almost every aspect of the game. They are great when they have to attack a low block, and they have a lot of presence on the board. They need to go on set-piece, they need to go on transition, they need to defend a low block. The game has to get physical. They are ready to do that. The way they compete, they are smart. They try to take advantage of a lot of things like any good team. You have to dominate a lot of things. You know you’re on the top of the table in this league.

 

You said you wanted to say thank you to the fans last home game of the season. Just how special has the atmosphere been at the Emirates this season?

 

Yeah, well, I think it’s growing and growing and that’s what we want to do. I think we have raised expectations so much and we understand what they want. We want it more than anybody else and the journey makes sense when you have that support, that love and that chemistry between the people that feel very attached to this football club, the players and the staff. I think that’s the case, but we know that we want much more.

 

You’ve raised expectations, as you say. Does that increase pressure as well at the same time?

 

Well, it has to be. Especially at International. I think it’s how much you demand yourself and how much you demand to the person next to you. The crowd and the supporters are always a big measure as well because it has to exist. That connection but as well that demand between all of us to be better. And then we will get better at the small margins that can define winning big trophies or not.

 

Regret this season? I know you said you’ll be looking at the end of the season, how you actually feel, but any regrets going into the final game that your championship isn’t still on the line for all the work you’ve done?

 

I wouldn’t use that word. I think probably you have regrets in your life and anything that you do in professional life as well when you haven’t done your best. I can guarantee you, I give you my word, that we have all tried our very best. Do we want a different outcome? Especially how close we’ve come again? The answer is yes, but that doesn’t undermine a lot of incredible things that this team has done. Again, in the context that we’re there, in the opposition that we play, with the circumstances that we have, it’s impossible to undermine.

 

Do you feel you’ve had the credit over the last 12 months, maybe the last five years, for how far you’ve brought this club?

 

I don’t know, but it’s not something I’m looking for. I’m looking to give my very best to facilitate and to give my vision, my work, and bringing people together to get this club as far as we possibly can, as quick as we possibly can. I guarantee you that’s what I’ve been doing for the last five or half years of my life.

 

I know you hate talking about players individually, but can I mention William Saliba? It’s his 100th game for Arsenal. There was a time at the beginning of his career where he was out on loan and out on loan. We kept asking you about him. Has he developed into the player you thought he would do?

 

Yes, and I think he’s in an amazing trajectory. When you look in Europe, centre-backs, at this stage, to do what he’s already done in the game, there’s not that many. There are a lot of factors that have contributed to that. The first one, him, his character, his professionalism, how much he demands himself. And the second one, the environment that he’s got around him, especially the players that he plays with, the way they look after him, the way they promote and hide the qualities and weaknesses of a player. There’s still much more to come from him.

 

And the Premier League season may be coming to an end, but football is 12 months of the year now, as you know. Earlier in the week, the England Euro Under-17 squad was announced. Two of your players were in it, Jack Porter and Max Dowman. We’ve spoken about Max quite a lot. How much is this a big summer for them? Because you look at some Premier League players that have come through. We’ve spoken about other clubs like Morgan Gibbs-White or Phil Foden. They all start off with success at this kind of level. How big a summer is it for Jack and Max?

 

Talking to them is the biggest tournament that exists in the world. When you play for your country at that level, it doesn’t get much better than that. I’m very happy for them too. Hopefully, they can have an amazing tournament, and bring it home.

 

I don’t know if you noticed, the nominees for the Young Player of the Year Award went up. The average age of those nominees is around 22 and a half. None of them included 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly. I just kind of want to get your thoughts on maybe what he needs to do more or why he didn’t get a nomination, if you feel he deserved a nomination.

 

I don’t know. There’s nothing to do with me, the nominations. We know what Myles has done this season. I think the sample, the still of what he’s done, is very, very, very short. I was about proving that you can do it every month, every three months, every six months, every year, every two years, three years. That’s the most difficult thing in football, which is consistency at every level. In performances, in your behaviour, in continuously developing your game, contributing to winning football matches. It’s not about you and Myles is in the right trajectory.

 

This is one of the last times we’re going to get to talk to you before the summer opens. You’ve had a little while now to work with Andrea. I’m just curious what that experience has been like, working with him. How different has it been to work with Edu before?

 

Very good. Two very completely different personalities, characters. A big one, but someone very driven, very clear in his ideas, in the vision and how we want to achieve it. And as well, very supportive of everything that’s been done here with a lot of people that have contributed massively to the position that we are today as a club, the squad that we have, the players and the staff that we have. And ready to add value and make us better. That’s the reason why we’ve chosen to be here with us.

 

When we spoke to you last week, you were talking about last summer and trying to buy a striker and you said you were fully aligned, but you couldn’t do what you wanted to do. Going into this window, are you fully aligned on the striker that you want to do the same?

 

Yes, on what we have to do, yes. And what we can do, I don’t know. I think sometimes from the plan that we had and actually what we were able to execute, we’ve never been able to replicate it exactly. This is football, it happens, I think, to every football club. That’s why we plan certain ways and, okay, we cannot do it, we’ll do something else. I think the aim is clear and then you have to just do it slowly, thing by thing and start to achieve it. A big part of that as well is keeping and making sure that the players that are here are happy, they feel valued, and they are willing to continue with us. That’s very, very important.

 

It’s been suggested that with Andrea coming in, he’s maybe suggesting some players that are different to you and maybe not fully aligned on the players you want for them.

 

Well, if that happens, that means that we cannot explain ourselves well enough, and we are not clear enough on what we want, and I guarantee you that hasn’t happened. It didn’t happen in five and a half years with Edu, and I guarantee you with Andrea.

 

Oh because they are good to say, ‘Look, Mikel, this and this is what we need.’ I said, ‘OK, go and do it’. And if not, it’s because I will ask that many questions as well and we will do so much work that it will be so evident that this is what we don’t have to do. It’s not going to fit, I guarantee it’s not going to fit. Because as well, we have learned a lot.

 

Some of them that have worked really well and others not. And that’s from the ones as well that we have to learn so well to make sure that we make the right calls. We are all human beings and fortunately, nobody has got a crystal ball here.

 

You’ve said the last couple of years that the Premier League is more difficult than it’s ever been. You’ve got Newcastle and Villa who are breaking into that top tier, you’ve got Man Utd and Spurs at 16th and 17th. Do you think the era you grew up, you played in, top four, top six, is that hierarchy gone now?

 

I think so. I mean, I think the level has gone, again, to something I think bigger than what we experienced in the previous two months, last season, last experience. And I know a lot of the coaches and we had discussions about that as well. So it’s frightening the way it’s evolving, how competitive it is coming, how difficult it is to win. The margins really for whether you win or not win in the Premier League is incredible. So yeah, next season is going to be even more difficult, I think.

 

We’ve seen Liverpool come from behind last year to surprise people this year. Coming up against Newcastle, I know you’ve all said a difficult time in the last couple of years against them, but do you think they could potentially be in that conversation as title contenders next year?

 

Yeah, they’ve certainly built the squad, they have the quality and a very clear identity. And on top of that, they will be very dependable. You know where they are, if teams are in Europe, not in Europe, playing once a week, three times a week. I think that’s a massive change as well and we have all experienced that.

 

About the summer, just sort of off the pitch, is there any relief that you aren’t involved in the Club World Cup? Do you feel you need a bit of a break?

 

Well, I think we would love to be part of that, certainly. With the way the squad is at the moment, with the numbers that we have, that would put so much stress again in the squad. So it’s not a choice, we are not on it, but we have to plan, really, the squad that we’re going to have to have available. We want to win these competitions to win it as well, and we certainly have to do both.

 

There is a new transfer window because of the Club World Cup. Obviously, that’s primarily for the teams out there, but anybody can use it. Does that create an opportunity for you that you’d like to exploit?

 

When there is an opportunity, you can use it in your benefit: do it. We are very much aware of that, and we’ll see what we can do.

 

Obviously last summer you went to Marbella and had that pre-season, are you planning to do something similar?

 

Yeah.

 

Could you tell us a bit more about that?

 

Yeah, the players are demanding it. Nowadays I think it’s impossible to have four, five, six weeks on your sunbed, pouring sun cream and just ordering drinks. Six weeks later and go full gas, tour and play 65 games, I think it’s impossible. Now they demand themselves to be in the best possible condition. We are really lucky because we have boys there that they want to spend the summer with their families and with them, so they want to be together as well, so if they can pick a place that we can do that, we can facilitate that, more than welcome to do that.

 

Just following on from the early transfer window, we’re seeing some clubs making some big moves already, Real Madrid, Dean Huijsen, Liverpool, Jeremie Frimpong, that’s very, very close. Is that something that you would really like to do ahead of this summer, get your business done, especially the priority business, as early as possible?

 

Yeah, on paper I think every club, every manager and every player wants to be on day one in the building and get that transition and adaptation as quick as possible. The reality is that sometimes it’s possible and sometimes it’s very difficult, but it is the ideal scenario on paper, yeah.

 

Just going back to the top four, top six era being over, obviously Arsenal will be in the Champions League again next year, how big of an achievement is that for you to get Arsenal back into the Champions League? Do you think it’s almost taken for granted these days that Arsenal are in the Champions League?

 

I don’t know if it is, we know, I think if you ask any manager at the end of the season, can you promise to be in the Champions League next season, I don’t know who is going to say yes, so that tells you the story. Because we know the difficulty, but we understand the expectations and how people think, but to get sustainability, stability and to be in the best possible position as a football club, as a squad, as a team, certainly you have to be in the competition.

 

I think Arsene once said that being in the top four is like winning a trophy, is that how you see it?

 

Well, I know how those words were used in the past, so I’m not going to fall into that trap.

 

The fight for second place is intensifying, in your case Newcastle are only two points behind in the table, and you are starting with strength to overcome them. How are you preparing the team to promise what is going to be a spectacular game at home? (Translated from Spanish)

 

With a lot of enthusiasm for our last game at home, in front of our fans, we played like it was the second place and the Champions League, against a rival that has given us a lot of difficulties in our last games, so I’m very excited to win it, to finish the season well, to thank

our fans for all the effort, all the love they have given us all year, which has been incredible again, and to end the year well.