Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has spoken to the press ahead of the Gunners’ Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest, with Barcelona links, injury news and Jurgen Klopp on the agenda
Team news?
We have got some late decisions to make. Thomas won’t be one of those, but we have a few that obviously had some issues at the end of the last game and we are still uncertain with a few players.
Partey in the squad?
Thomas is not in the squad.
Are you disappointed?
Well, it is what it is. You want everybody available and he is a top player for us, a really important player for us. But at the moment he is not fit yet.
Will Rice be a late decision?
He is one of the players, yes.
Is he racing against time?
He has done some work, but he has missed some work as well. But hopefully he is going to be okay.
Gabriel another one [who is racing against time]?
That’s another one.
Will Partey be back for Liverpool?
We will see. We will see how things evolve and if that’s too short or if he’s okay.
You leaving the club in the summer?
Who, me? No. That’s totally fake news. What you read yesterday is…I don’t know where it is coming from and it is totally untrue. I am really upset about it.
Reaction to the report?
I could not believe [it]. I don’t know where it is coming from and it has no source. It has got nothing and I think we have to be very cautious when you talk about personal things to put it in the way it was put yesterday.
Unfinished business here?
I am in the right place. I am with the right people. I feel really good about it. And, as I said many times, I am invested in a beautiful journey with this football club, with these players, these staff, our people, and there is still a lot, a lot to do.
Compliment to be linked to Barca?
But that is something that we cannot control. This is part of football. But that is something very different to someone putting a statement that I am doing. That is very, very different and the other one is just part of football and this industry. That’s it.
What’s going on with your contract?
I don’t know. I think I have got a strong relationship with the board, with Edu, with Tim, with the ownership and things come in a natural way. We have always done that way and it worked out really well. And when the time is right we will have those discussions and think about the best way to do it.
After the three defeats did you think the performance against Palace was a matter of time?
Well yes because when the team performs the way we did and still loses games, I was hoping it would not carry on the way it did. But this is football. It can still happen. But I was very confident that it was coming. The way the team was performing and how upset and angry we were not to have what we deserved I think it was a motivation as well to put it right after the break and get back on track.
Do you think Forest having players at the AFCON will be an advantage to you?
We can manage and optimise our preparation. This is what we have tried to do against a manager that I know very well. We have some really bad experiences over there in the past two seasons so we’re going to have to be really good to beat them.
How important are Martinelli’s goals against Palace going to be for him and the team?
Sharing the goals is really important but there is the individual, there is the ‘me’. Confidence and taking some anxiety away from it and scoring two goals like we did I think it’s going to make him a lot of positive things.
How did Klopp change Liverpool and the Premier League?
I think he’s made this league much better. First of all the person. The character, the charisma, the ideas and his passion for the game is something special. I think he’s had a big contribution for the growth of this league.
Then I love the way he did it. When you see the emotion that he put in and you see that human side, explaining the reasons behind his decision and the challenges and everything that is related to our job, I think he was spot on.
When someone has done what he’s done for that football club and the league you have to respect that and basically say thank you because I think he made this league much better, he made every manager better and he’s made the league much more beautiful and intense.
Personal side of being a manager – harder these days for a manager to stay for ages than before?
I cannot respond to that question, I used to speak with Arsene and he took his job like we all do, we put so many hours and ours lives to it and all the energy.
Sometimes you feel like you don’t have it any more, sometimes that can happen when you’re a player, a manager or you’re in any job, you have to be very cautious managing that energy and that time and how much you invest.
It is extremely demanding, I love it and I am young and have a lot of energy but I understand that after a lot of years – I think with Jurgen it was 24 years doing different jobs in different countries – it is something that naturally happens.
You are also high intensity – how do you keep going?
I think because I love what I do, I love every minute and I get a lot of joy with waking up every morning and knowing I have to drive to Colney and I’m going to meet these people, spend time together and prepare to be better for the next day.
It drives you when you feel respected, when you feel loved as well, when you see a clear direction and ambition that you want to do as a club and this is why we are right now
Angry with Barca rumours – angry because the story was out there or because it could damage your relationship with fans?
One is a consequence of the other. First of all, I am really cautious when I talk publicly about my personal things and when someone puts a statement saying something I said or did, it is upsetting.
I understand we are in this industry but the second one I don’t think anyone deserves to hear in news like that and I have always been really straight and always said the complete opposite; how happy I am, how grateful I am and how much I enjoy where I am now, that is why I am upset.
How do you get into “top gear” to win the league from here?
Well, we have been that for the first six months we have been there. There have been moments we have been second, third, fourth but we were first as well for periods before Christmas.
Now we have to catch up and the best way to do it is to continue playing the way we are playing, get results, get momentum and get victories but at the moment it doesn’t depend on us there is still so much football to play.
Said you’re in the right place – gone from eighth to challenging for title – not finished here yet?
No, there is a lot to do here. We all share that ambition and you can feel it as well, that we want more, that we aren’t satisfied and that the club wants to take another push and another level in everything we are doing, this is where we are. We need everyone on board to achieve it and I am certainly on board.
Any discussions over a new deal?
No we haven’t – but this is something that will happen naturally when it has to happen and that is it.
This is your team now, do you want team to kick on yourself?
I always felt it was my team, our team, because when you make the decision to coach or manage a team, a club, you have to make those players your own. It is the same with the staff. It is not players that they were signed by another manager, you make them your own, you try to maximise as you can.
We had two years of very difficult Covid situation that we cannot forget. And then, my job became more normal within the complexity of the situation that we have much more normal and doable, hopefully, and I’m enjoying it a lot. I feel we are on the right track but we are still very far with my vision of where this club and this team have to be.
Did Covid make group stronger?
I don’t know. We navigate some difficult moments and challenges that we have through Covid I think in a really powerful way. My belief is that created emotionally a really strong attachment and belief that we were the right people top take the club forward, It happened for a reason and I think we used it in the right way.
In a good position to go and dominate in years to come?
We don’t know. We can take care of our own business. We’ve got a lot here still to do and what others do, we don’t know. Sometimes they sign managers who have a really great impact straight away and we have some cases in this league that happened in the past. Sometimes as you said, needs some transition. We cannot control it. Let’s focus on what we can do.
Ever see yourself managing another club in England?
Today, no. But I don’t know. I played for two great clubs in this country. I moved around in different things. I am extremely young and I don’t know what’s going to happen.
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