Ahead of the match against Lille, Mikel Arteta answered questions from the press:
– On what happened to Hincapié:
“We had a training session planned after the match for the players who had not played enough minutes, so that everyone else could have Sunday off to recover and get back into the right rhythm. We lost two players in two very unfortunate incidents, and yes, that is really not good.”
– On Zubimendi’s injury:
“Yes, we need to assess his condition today. He will undergo further tests to determine the nature of the injury, and then we will be able to give an approximate recovery timeline.”
– On what he liked about the win over Leeds:
“There were a lot of positives in the game: the way we responded and how we managed to turn things around in a really difficult situation. The way we started the game was also very impressive. The number of attacks we finished in the final third is something we really need to improve. I also liked the way we defended, without a doubt. Overall, I am happy with our performance, especially after the break.”
– On the team’s attacking play:
“I think things are going quite well. I believe the way we finish our attacks is something special. But if we look at what we were doing before the international break, I think it was better than in any other year. Then, of course, there was the match against Brighton. But I think we are definitely creating some excellent, absolutely outstanding chances. Now we need to be more clinical and finish our attacks better.”
– On Eze’s performances this season:
“Like everyone else, I think he has to earn the right to play. That happens in training and on the pitch. He has to make the necessary impact on the game and the team. He will have plenty of opportunities to do that. His attitude has always been phenomenal, and we also need to adapt to his qualities.”
– On losing two players during the warm-up:
“That is far from ideal.”
– On how to avoid injuries in the future:
“You can simply stop training. If you don’t train, you don’t get injured. The problem is that if you don’t train, the players won’t be fit when you ask them to go out onto the pitch. This can happen at the Emirates. In the seven years I have been here, it has never happened during a warm-up. It can happen the following day in training, and it has happened before – it has happened now as well. But what can you do? If I had a crystal ball, I would say: ‘Guys, go to the jacuzzi, all of you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.’”
– On whether Hincapié’s injury concerns him:
“That is another question we should not be discussing here.”
– On how to maintain composure in every game:
“We have to be emotionally dominant regardless of the context. It is easy to say, but very difficult to do. We have done that in most matches, which is great. We did not do it against Brighton, and we paid the price. There is always something to learn and something we need to change within the team, and that is extremely important because, at the level we have been playing at, with matches every three days, different things will happen, and you have to be able to adapt and deal with them.”
– On meeting Olivier Giroud:
“We were teammates. First of all, he was a wonderful person and a great addition to the group. I remember him winning Ligue 1 with Montpellier, then joining us and having a completely different impact on the team, bringing a different mentality from what we were used to. What a career he has had, and he certainly deserved it.”
– On whether Giroud was underrated at Arsenal:
“Of course, his teammates and Arsène [Wenger] certainly appreciated him properly. I don’t know about everyone else. But first and foremost, he was incredibly intelligent and caused plenty of problems for opponents. Every time he stepped onto the pitch, he posed a huge threat in the opposition penalty area. He was very clever. He also combined brilliantly with other players, and his work rate was phenomenal, so we certainly did not underestimate him.”
– On how long Saliba has been training on the pitch:
“I think it has been more than a week now. Of course, we are monitoring his workload and the number of repetitions. But he is currently building up his fitness at a good level, and we will see whether we can start reintegrating him into the team over the next few weeks to assess his readiness.”
– On whether Saliba could return after the November international break:
“I don’t know. We are still talking about weeks of recovery, and when that happens, things will be different depending on whether he plays immediately before or after it. This is a very specific injury, and I cannot say exactly how he will respond to the recovery process.”
– On what exactly Hincapié injured:
“Both injuries involved the ankle.”
– On what he means by emotional dominance in a match:
“It means controlling the moment, taking charge of it and making sure we are in the emotional state that the game demands. If the game requires a reaction, energy and enthusiasm, and the courage to change the situation, that is how we have to act. If the game requires us to calm things down, we must be capable of doing that. To achieve it, we need to have a really good understanding of what is happening.”
– On whether Eze has spoken to him about his playing time this season:
“He hasn’t. I think I have also made a real effort to communicate with everyone, to be genuinely involved and to make them understand what we need from each of them. So far, everything is good, but we need to maintain that level because we will need players who start or finish matches to be fully ready to change the course of a game. Ultimately, that is what we need to win.”
– On which position suits Max Dowman best:
“We have not seen Max on the left wing very often, and I think, especially considering how we have used him and trained him in those two positions, it is probably easier for him at the moment. But with his talent, we need to try him in a new position at some point. I think he will be able to adapt.”
– On what he considers the most important factor when selecting his starting XI:
“Sometimes I select players based on what I expect, especially at the start of a game. We have a bench and players who can change the course of a match, and we will obviously make use of that resource.”
– On the recovery timelines for Hincapié and Zubimendi:
“Both will definitely miss tomorrow’s match. They will undergo another assessment today, and we will probably know more tomorrow. Then we will see how things develop. Piero’s injury seems to be a little more serious, but we will have to wait and see.”
– On whether he will reconsider the post-training warm-up routine:
“Right now, there is a temptation to play it safe and do something different, but we were already planning to do this the following day anyway. When you play small-sided games like that, there is contact, and these things happen. It did not happen at all last season, whereas this time it has happened, I think, 37 times. But right now, it is very difficult to do anything about it. The question was whether it would happen again if we had to repeat the exercise. The answer is yes – this is a contact sport. What we can do is tell the players: ‘Guys, you get so competitive when we do this, please don’t get involved in contact too often’, to avoid things like this. That is all.”
Source: www.arsenal.com
Author: MissingHenry
