Arteta wants Arsenal to be the kings of everything (Full Presser pre Fulham)

NicheSportMedia

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said that "we want to be the kings of everything. Set pieces, the best in the world. High press, the best in the world. In open spaces, the best in the world." when asked about being named Kings of Corners  06/12/2024  Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK

Transcript

00:00Hi, Miquel. How's Gabriel going on?

00:03Well, we have a few, obviously. It's matchday minus two, so we have to modify a few players.

00:08We have another training session tomorrow, so we'll see how everybody is for Sunday.

00:12How would you rate his chances?

00:14Sorry?

00:15How would you rate his chances?

00:16See, we don't see tomorrow's training session, but it's difficult to say something.

00:19And Calaf Diori?

00:21The same.

00:21The same. Is his slightly longer term, would you say?

00:25Depends how they evolve in the next few days.

00:28OK, corners. You've been labelled the corner kings after your efforts this season.

00:34What do you make of that and how has it been taken?

00:37Well, we want to be the kings of everything.

00:39On set-pieces, the best in the world.

00:41High press, the best in the world.

00:42Attacking open spaces, the best in the world.

00:45Best atmosphere in the stadium, the best.

00:48The best at everything.

00:50Before it was about, we didn't score enough,

00:53we were self-defending, we didn't have mentality,

00:56we weren't physical enough, we could not challenge the top teams.

01:0022 years, 17 years, 20 years without winning away from home, big matches.

01:04We want to be the best at everything.

01:06We want to have the best academy, the best individual development for players.

01:10The best of the best.

01:11Recruit the best players, best coaches.

01:14That's the aim.

01:15Just the kings, then?

01:17That's the objective.

01:18If not, we have to go and do something else.

01:20A lot of people have been impressed with Devin Rice and Makaio Saka's delivery as well.

01:25How hard a skill is that?

01:27How hard do they work on it?

01:29Well, they work like with any other kind of finishing.

01:32Constantly.

01:33We want to be a threat from everything that we do,

01:35and we have to take every opportunity to make it count and be a threat.

01:41Because Rice didn't originally take corners,

01:43and that came about in your trip to UAE, Dubai in the winter.

01:49Can you tell us how that came about?

01:51I have the players' qualities to the team needs,

01:55and how we can exploit the qualities that we have within the squad in the best possible way.

01:59It's all about the players.

02:00Every tactic, every decision, every position in the pitch is towards that.

02:05And you've been compared, tongue-in-cheek, to Stoke.

02:09Are you planning any long-throw plans?

02:11I understood very well what Berbatov said.

02:14It was in the best possible way.

02:15So we'll take it as a big compliment.

02:18100 per cent, yeah.

02:19Because they were so good at it.

02:20Sorry?

02:21Because Stoke were so good at those set-pieces.

02:23I think so, no?

02:24Yeah.

02:25Yeah.

02:26And just on Martin Odegaard, he'll make, if he plays, his 100th.

02:32Great.

02:33As a captain, how important and integral a player is he?

02:36A massive player.

02:37He showed again on big matches what he can deliver,

02:41what the speed that he brings to the team, the quality he has.

02:45The speed that he brings to the team, the quality he has to play in the way that we have to play.

02:50So, really happy.

02:53Steph from the Premier League.

02:53Hi, Miquel.

02:55Were you watching the Fulham game last night?

02:57Yeah, sure.

02:58What did you make of it?

02:59Is it going to be a big challenge?

03:01Yeah, a big challenge.

03:02Obviously, we experienced last year we lost five points against them.

03:06I was being very complimentary about them, about the coach and what they do.

03:13So, yeah, it's always a really tough place to go.

03:16Of course, they have a lot of former Arsenal players in their ranks.

03:21I'm doing very well as well, which I'm very happy for them.

03:25So, Reese is still one of our own, but the rest as well.

03:29And it will be great to see them.

03:30Have you been keeping in touch with Smith-Rowe and what he's been doing?

03:35You have to leave them to do their own thing.

03:36Obviously, once in a while we speak to them.

03:40But, yeah, very grateful for what they did for us.

03:42And we've seen the best for now.

03:44And just to finish, last season when you lost against Fulham at Craven Cottage,

03:48you were in a difficult spell, you were probably quite tired and then you went to Dubai.

03:53Do you feel like you've done things differently this season to avoid repeating that spell?

03:58Well, it's a little bit different the period that we are in and where we're coming from.

04:02But, you know, it's the demands of this league.

04:04Every game is so difficult.

04:06At that time as well, we lost a few games.

04:09So it was even harder.

04:10Things to do much better than we did last year, that's for sure.

04:14Thanks.

04:15Alex from the BBC.

04:16Hi, Mika.

04:16Just on one of the players that scored from one of the set-pieces in the game last week,

04:21Jurien Timbal.

04:22He's obviously come in, played a number of positions,

04:25started in for Ben White, had such an important role in the team.

04:29What have you made of how he's progressed this season?

04:30Of course, he won his first goal as well.

04:32Yeah, really impressed, obviously.

04:33He's coming from a long-term injury after his ACL.

04:37We knew the talent, the leadership, the skill that he has.

04:41So he's been in great form.

04:43And he gave us something very, very different to any other

04:46full-back that we have in the team.

04:48And his impact has been tremendous, I think.

04:50You obviously have an incredible record from set-pieces.

04:53It's 22 goals from corners since the start of last season.

04:56It's clearly getting under the skin of opposition teams.

05:00You even had Gary Neville call Nicolas Jota the most annoying man in football.

05:04What have you made of the attention on your coaching staff?

05:08Well, that is great.

05:09Obviously, when we are very good at a lot of things,

05:13we take it as a compliment and just as a fuel to be better.

05:17Because we are not perfect at all.

05:19Even in that department, or defending set-pieces,

05:21we can see three chances.

05:23The three of them were coming from that kind of situation.

05:25So there is a lot to improve.

05:27And the margins are always there for us to explore and try to get better.

05:34In football in the past, we've had instances where the perception around things has changed.

05:38You think of Benga with nutrition, Pep playing out from the back.

05:41Do you think what we're experiencing now with set-pieces,

05:44we're sort of seeing a change in how people view them?

05:46In five, ten years, people might talk very differently about set-pieces.

05:49No, I think it's something that changed 10, 11 years ago, I would say.

05:53Not only what is related to set-pieces, but all the restarts of play.

05:57I remember a lot of big teams that have won a lot of games,

06:01a lot of important games, a lot of last-minute games in these kind of scenarios.

06:04You look at the Champions League, all the data, it hasn't changed that much.

06:09The importance of that, because the margins are smaller and smaller,

06:12because the competition is harder.

06:14Probably people put more attention into that.

06:16But, yeah, you have to dominate everything.

06:19Can I ask you one about your backroom staff?

06:21We've heard that there's talks to tie them down to new contracts.

06:25How important is that when you also signed your new deal?

06:28How important was it for you that they also stay with you as part of it?

06:31Yeah, we all try to do it at the same time.

06:34It's difficult because it's always four or five people that have to commit at the same time.

06:38It's not easy to do it, but I'm so happy with them.

06:40I value them at the highest level, and we want to continue together.

06:46So, hopefully it will be resolved very soon.

06:48Jordan, Athletic.

06:50You mentioned 10, 11 years ago set-pieces became a thing just as you were finishing as a player.

06:55I just wondered when did you realise yourself that it was undervalued in football,

06:59and how did you come to value a set-piece so much?

07:04Probably when I was a player, because I understood.

07:06I was at Everton, I understood how important they were,

07:09how difficult it was for the position as well.

07:12And then when I came here as well, we had a period that in some big matches as well we suffered,

07:17and then we were out.

07:18And then I went to City and I immediately realised that we had to do something about it,

07:26and continue to do that.

07:27I think you're not quite instrumental in bringing people to City before Arsenal.

07:31Can you tell us about how the two of you were introduced?

07:35No, I started to do a lot of digging.

07:36But in relation to that, in relation to individual development,

07:39I think it's an area as well that was not explored enough.

07:43In my opinion, another evolution that the game was going to have.

07:47And try to be always ahead when we can to try to maximise those opportunities.

07:52Clive, Football London.

07:53Jürgen, obviously a reunion with Emil this weekend.

07:57I just wondered, in that period when Martin was out and missing a bit of the creative play,

08:01was there any part of you thinking, I wish we still had Emil as well?

08:06Yeah, it was a very tough decision to let Emil go,

08:08especially because personally I feel really grateful for what he did for the club,

08:13and for me in a period of time that I think he was instrumental to change something around it.

08:18But at the end, players have to play.

08:20He had a lot of difficult moments as well,

08:23a lot of struggles with injuries when we were together,

08:26and he needed a fresh start.

08:27It's normal, we understood that, and we allowed him to go.

08:30With that gap behind Martin in those creative positions,

08:33I know you had to tweak the way you set up once Martin was out for a while,

08:37and he's been the obvious back-up, he's lived for 17,

08:40and to throw him into the Premier League games feels a bit of a risk.

08:43Is there any regret or apprehension about that area of the squad,

08:47or maybe you were showing a bit more depth?

08:49No, we allowed Fabio to go as well,

08:51because we wanted to create the room and the space for Ethan,

08:55and he has given us every reason to trust him.

08:58He's shown that he's ready to make the next step, and it's great to have him.

09:05OK, last couple in the live section, we'll go to Norway Media first.

09:07Hi, a couple of questions about Martin, if you don't mind.

09:10In an interview on last week's Sky,

09:14he was asked about his reputation as a gentleman within the sport.

09:18You obviously have a long life in football,

09:19have you ever met someone with that combination of performance on the pitch,

09:24and characteristics on the pitch, and personality of it?

09:28I don't know, everybody is unique, Martin is unique.

09:32As you said, his character, his personality,

09:34the way he's been raised, educated, is at the highest level.

09:38And, yeah, it's everything that we want to have to represent our club

09:43and the team in the best possible way.

09:45And you obviously have been talking a lot about the officer in Bournemouth,

09:49he came back from injury just now,

09:51but is there anything specific with his play that you are working on

09:56that you tell Martin he has to improve?

10:00Well, there are a few targets at the start of the season,

10:03obviously not to share here,

10:04but all the players have that, and he's in the right direction, yeah.

10:08OK, and finally we'll go to Phil from PA.

10:10Hi, Mika, just going back to the set-pieces,

10:13do you feel like a bit of a modern-day trailblazer in the sense

10:17that you put so much emphasis on it?

10:19What's a trailblazer?

10:21A leader in the field, a trailblazer leader in the field.

10:24No, no, no, not at all.

10:25No, I think there have been some exceptional teams on that.

10:30You just want to get better, and whatever we do,

10:31and I repeat myself, it's not good enough.

10:34We can still improve a lot in that sense,

10:37but last year we were the team in the history of this club

10:39that scored the most goals.

10:41We want more, we have more margin, we can do things better.

10:45With the defence, exactly the same thing.

10:47Environment, the same thing.

10:48Everything, we're going to try to improve it, for sure.

10:56The success at the end is if we win what we want to win,

10:58that's the success.

10:59If that allows you to win a game, great.

11:02Another game, great.

11:03But it's a lot of elements, I mean,

11:04to do what we did against Manchester United,

11:06to limit them to what they did,

11:10big credit to the team.

11:12It never happened in the history of Manchester United,

11:14so I have to put a lot of emphasis

11:17in what a lot of players did to that.

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