Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta on tight 1-0 Shakhtar win

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Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta on tight 1-0 Shakhtar win  21/10/2024  uefa24  Emirates Stadium, London, UK

Transcript

00:00All good, all good.

00:07OK, we're ready. We'll kick off with Clare.

00:10Hi, Mikel. Maybe not the best performance tonight,

00:13but on a night like that, is getting the win the most important thing for the team?

00:16Well, I think two very different halves.

00:18The first one, we were very dominant, created four big, big chances.

00:22Obviously, we should have converted them and put the game to bed

00:26with the amount of dominance and territory that we had.

00:29The second half was very different.

00:32We looked tired, we lacked that sharpness with and without the ball,

00:37to regain the ball in the right moments as well in the right areas

00:40and with the ball, giving certain balls away that allowed certain transitions.

00:44We had two big chances again, missed a big penalty, obviously.

00:48That emotion, again, it was difficult to overcome

00:51and then we had to dig in, but credit to them.

00:53They are a good side. The moment you allow them space,

00:55you don't finish actions and you give them the chance to run,

00:58they are a real threat.

01:00But overall, it's Champions League, get the win, clean sheet, let's move on.

01:06Hi, Mikel. Can I just ask about Ben White and Ricardo Calafiora?

01:11Are they both injuries?

01:12Ben, it was my decision to take him out.

01:15He had a yellow card, we have played enough with them in recent periods

01:20and they had a lot of density in that side, a lot of attacking players in this side.

01:26I didn't want to take any chances there.

01:28With Riquiz, it was something different, he had to come off because he felt something.

01:31I don't know the extent of that.

01:33So, yeah, in that sense, no great news.

01:39Hi, Mikel.

01:40Hi.

01:41You're saying that you seem tired tonight.

01:43You've obviously got a huge game coming up on Sunday.

01:46How will you re-energise?

01:48Will you be expecting more from them, more energy on Sunday?

01:51Well, we played two and a half days ago after coming internationals,

01:55after flying from Brazil and many countries.

01:57So, I was expecting that we could drop off a little bit.

02:00And the fact that, obviously, we put so much in the first half

02:03and we didn't convert and get the distance in terms of the result

02:07and the scoreline that far, I think we paid a little bit of that.

02:10And then we made life more difficult for us

02:12because, obviously, we started to give the ball away

02:14and we were getting the ball in the right areas and it was more open.

02:17So, that didn't help.

02:19But we have now four days.

02:21Believe me, on Sunday we will be flying.

02:23Do you think you'll be OK coming Sunday?

02:25You'll think that four or five days now you'll actually have...

02:28Yeah, for sure.

02:29We'll review what we have to do.

02:30We have a day off and then two days to prepare the game.

02:33And Sunday is far and we are more than comfortable

02:37that we'll be in the right place.

02:39Do you get the feeling that Martinelli is coming back to his best now?

02:43Obviously, last season was a difficult time

02:44and now he's looking a lot more sharp.

02:46He looks really sharp.

02:47He looks really fresh as well.

02:48Fresher than anybody else on that pitch

02:50because he could not start against Bournemouth

02:52and you could tell that that was different to the rest.

02:55He had another year, another level of play.

02:57He started the game really well and he had a great performance today.

03:02Mike?

03:03Could you tell us, was it ever in your mind

03:06to let Kai Havertz take the penalty tonight

03:08because he had scored in seven consecutive home games

03:11and if he did take the penalty and scored

03:13it would have been a club record eighth?

03:15Yes, well, they made that decision.

03:18Obviously, the penalty taken normally is Bukayo and Martin

03:21and after that we have two or three players who can take it.

03:23They made the decision.

03:24Unfortunately, Leo missed it.

03:26But as you said, it was an opportunity missed.

03:32Hi, Mikel.

03:33Gabriel Jesus has been working hard to get back into his form.

03:37How important do you think he will be going forward for you

03:43for the rest of the season

03:44to get back and recapture his form that he showed when he first came to the club?

03:48Very important because obviously he can play in different positions and roles.

03:52You see his attitude again was exceptional.

03:54Very unlucky because he had two big chances

03:56that he could have converted the goal in many other areas.

03:59He was good and we need everybody.

04:05You're fourth in the 36-team table.

04:07Obviously, this game is to come tomorrow.

04:09But how important is it, especially given the injuries you are taking up,

04:13to try and avoid those extra two games in February,

04:17in the play-off and finish in that topic?

04:19That would be great.

04:20But at the moment, it's very difficult to look at the table

04:23because tomorrow it will change.

04:24And obviously, the amount of games and different opponents

04:28that we are playing against each other.

04:29But, yes, Champions League.

04:31Winning at home in this format especially is key,

04:35keeping the clean sheet.

04:36So, as you said, with the amount of injuries that we are dealing,

04:40deal in a situation where we deal in happy and let's move on.

04:44And finally, we'll go to questions in Spanish.

04:46Miguel, good evening.

04:47I also had to talk to Gabriel.

04:50For me, it was Gabriel Jesus' first time.

04:52He was very good.

04:54The work he did, the participation he had in the process.

04:59He had one or two chances to score and he didn't.

05:03How important is it for you that he scores in the evaluation

05:06that you do of his game?

05:08How important is it for you that he scores in the evaluation

05:11that you do of his game?

05:14Well, there are things that, in the end, are not negotiated.

05:17It's the commitment, it's the attitude and it's certain habits

05:20that you have to have to play.

05:21Gaviria has them absolutely all.

05:24I think today he gave the feeling that he was going to create danger

05:27when the ball was on his side, always on the opposite side.

05:30And, yes, it's important because for the forwards,

05:33in the end, scoring goals is what makes the difference,

05:35what makes us win games.

05:36He had two games, he had two chances, he couldn't convert.

05:39But I think there have been, as you said,

05:41many other very positive things too.

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