Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on their 6-0 thrashing of Lens in the UEFA Champions League

NicheSportMedia

Transcript

00:00 If you have a question, that's fine.

00:02 If the camera's ready at the back, if you have a question, raise your hand,

00:10 as Andy is from the side, and we'll start with you, mate.

00:12 - Hi, Mikel. - Hi.

00:13 You've qualified, you've won the group, scored six goals, clean sheet,

00:18 and I think it's the biggest win at the Emirates since you took over.

00:21 Is this your perfect evening? Is this what you dream of?

00:25 I didn't even dream like this, but we had the chance to qualify today,

00:29 and become top of the group, we've done it in a really convincing way,

00:34 against a really good side, and I think the team right from the beginning

00:38 showed a lot of aggression and determination to go for the game,

00:43 and everything happened in the right way, especially in the first 30 minutes,

00:48 and that was really helpful to win the game.

00:51 How much does it mean to get it sorted, with a game to spare?

00:55 How much does that mean for your players in terms of

00:58 resting them with Christmas and the Christmas stickers coming up?

01:01 Well, I don't know, let's see how we get to that game.

01:05 Now the job is done, we are wanting to achieve that,

01:08 every time we play a full match we want to win it,

01:10 and we'll prepare it in the best possible way,

01:12 but it gives us some room, certainly, in relation to the state of the squad,

01:17 to use certain players more or less.

01:19 Mikel, you suggested in the news conference

01:24 that Arsenal even stated a performance in the Champions League,

01:28 do you think that's it?

01:30 Well, it's great that we are able to win this way,

01:34 but I think the consistency we've shown at home as well,

01:36 to not concede any goals and score a lot of goals,

01:39 that's a really positive factor,

01:41 and I think those players need to have those experiences,

01:44 and I believe that we can do it against big opponents,

01:47 and now let's wait, now we have to park it,

01:51 and in February we will know who we are facing and let's see how we are in that moment.

01:55 Nick from Guardian.

01:56 Mikel, there was a moment in injury time when you were 6-0 up,

02:00 and their striker is trying to shoot, and Gabriel tackles him and celebrates it like a goal,

02:05 you must have loved that, what did that say about the attitude and application of the team tonight?

02:09 When the team has that body language, it's living every game,

02:12 every action the way we do, good things are going to come.

02:15 I like the crowd, they wanted more,

02:18 and they celebrated and played every single goal with us,

02:21 and when there is that connection, it's really powerful.

02:24 The team wants to win, doesn't want to concede anything,

02:27 and that's the mentality we need to become better.

02:30 Sapo, you spoke yesterday about traffic and teams sitting very deep,

02:35 was this tonight an example of what you can do when you've got that motorway and that space?

02:39 Yeah, it's a different kind of game, but I talked about game state,

02:44 and that's a crucial thing as well,

02:46 and it's true that they have a different behaviour to many teams,

02:50 especially in our face-off build-up, because they are really aggressive and maybe man-to-man,

02:54 and we explored that really, really well today, I think.

02:57 If you were playing against Arsenal, how would you do it?

03:00 I'm not going to tell you, that's for sure.

03:02 LAUGHTER

03:03 First chance for you.

03:04 Mikael, you changed the Domi Assi up half-time, is there any reason for that?

03:10 And also, how do you think about his performance to assist tonight?

03:15 I think he was excellent, he's played a lot of minutes,

03:18 and we have a really congested period, we are very short at the back at the moment,

03:23 and we had to use the score to make some changes

03:27 and give some rest and minutes to other players.

03:30 Hi, Mikael, we see the story every week about what a skilful player Mikael Zaka is,

03:35 but the sheer force of will to create that second goal for Kawa Jesus,

03:38 does that almost say more about him than anything else he does on the pitch?

03:42 That's a different edge, to score ugly goals as well and be involved in these actions

03:46 that gives an advantage to your team-mate,

03:50 and he did it as well against Burnley when he won the header for Leo,

03:54 and that's a different kind of aggression that he's got in his game,

03:58 and that's a really positive thing to see.

04:01 That's another goal for him in the Champions League,

04:03 pretty brilliant start from the start,

04:04 how happy are you with how he's been able to step up to the Champions League?

04:07 He looks at home in this top competition.

04:08 Yeah, with him, with everybody,

04:10 and with Kawa Jesus as well, I think he's in tremendous form in the Champions League.

04:13 Today we shared, I think it was six different scores, no?

04:16 Yeah.

04:17 So that's great that the team has this capacity,

04:20 Kai again scored two goals in two games,

04:23 and that's really good for the confidence of the players.

04:27 How is he at the moment?

04:28 Mikael, just on Kai Havertz, he obviously came off the bench and was the hero last weekend,

04:32 and then he scored the goal that broke the deadlock today.

04:35 Have you noticed a difference in him in terms of his confidence

04:38 and how he's carrying himself maybe?

04:39 Having come into this good run of form?

04:42 Yeah, the scoring goals, playing well, participating in wins,

04:46 those are positive attributes.

04:48 You see the reception of his teammates, the crouching in his name,

04:51 and being with him in every positive action that he had,

04:55 that's all good things that are going to help him to show why he is a tremendous player.

04:59 Thank you. Jordan, back to you.

05:01 Mikael, I think that's the first time you've been able to name that midfield three

05:04 and forward three for the starting line-up this year.

05:07 Is that the grand plan, you've been waiting five months to unveil?

05:10 Well, I think we have different options in relation to the opponents as well

05:17 that we are facing, we have, but today we were really attacking,

05:21 because we played with Alex as well in the back line,

05:23 and we needed it, because we want to approach the game to win it

05:27 and be very dominant from the beginning, and I think we have achieved that.

05:31 We'll go to the last question now, gentlemen at the back there.

05:33 Mikael, what are your thoughts on the way Declan Rice has settled in

05:37 from a tactical and technical perspective?

05:39 He seems to have really settled into the side over the last few weeks.

05:42 He was superb today, again, the consistency that he's shown,

05:49 the understanding of the game, I think the decision-making all the time,

05:55 and then the action and the timing that he's got to win the ball back,

05:59 to get the line of pass, to break the team, the speed that he plays

06:03 when the ball gets around him, I think he's been so good.

06:08 The score is very strong, did you have a feeling of revenge

06:12 because you lost in France the first game?

06:15 No, it was the feeling of what we learned with that defeat,

06:19 and defeats give you a lot of things to think about

06:23 and take the learnings from that credit to them.

06:27 They are a really good side, they are extremely well coached

06:30 and they make life very, very difficult for you,

06:32 but today we were really effective.

06:34 Final question.

06:36 Mikael, I just want to ask you about captain Martin Oligar,

06:39 he's been through a lot the last few weeks with injury and illness,

06:42 some people might have expected with the scoreline him to get a break,

06:46 but I think he was the last player off the pitch after the final whistle as well.

06:49 I imagine you had to drag him off, he was only going to play 90 minutes.

06:53 Yeah, but we have five stops and we are very short in certain areas as well,

06:56 and then we have to prioritise who to rest,

06:59 and as well he hasn't accumulated that many minutes in the last six or seven weeks,

07:04 so we asked him how he was, he was fine,

07:06 and he managed himself a bit in the second half and he was fine.

07:10 Thanks, everyone.

07:11 Thank you.

07:12 Thank you.

07:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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