Arsenal start 2025 with a 3-1 victory!

NicheSportMedia

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reviews Arsenal's first match of 2025 having won with a 3-1 victory  01/01/2025  Brentford Stadium, London, UK

Transcript

00:00Hello, happy new year to you all.

00:02Happy new year.

00:03Would you like to kick off?

00:05Congratulations.

00:07Difficult game, but second-half performance,

00:11two early goals in the second half,

00:13what did you think of the game?

00:15It's a very difficult place to come,

00:17when you see the record at home,

00:19the way they play, the way they cause issues to opponents,

00:22very impressive.

00:24On top of that, we went a goal down,

00:26so then it becomes a big mountain to climb,

00:28but I think the team showed a lot of composure,

00:31was very calm emotionally,

00:33because we needed that in today's game,

00:35and as well had the right desire.

00:37So keep insisting, attacking them,

00:39and do it in a way that can cause them problems,

00:41which is difficult.

00:43So, overall, I think we deserved to win the game.

00:46What's going through your mind when David scores the ball

00:49and you start sleeping?

00:51Hopefully the wall doesn't vibrate,

00:54that was it.

00:56The usual action from David, it happens,

00:58and we're lucky that the goal didn't go in,

01:00probably he would have changed the game.

01:02So, good, the team adapting,

01:04we lost some players again before the game,

01:06we had a little issue,

01:08the team still performs, goals are there,

01:10and with a 17-year-old in the starting line-up,

01:13which is great to see,

01:15that plays with that courage and that determination as well.

01:17You mentioned the bug there,

01:19did that affect some of the play on the pitch as well?

01:21Yeah, on the pitch and off the pitch, yeah.

01:24Hi, just on Ethan,

01:26before you mentioned needing the right context

01:29to give him certain minutes,

01:31I was wondering why,

01:33was it partly the bug,

01:35but also were there other factors that made

01:37now the right context and the right timing?

01:39Well, in that position it wasn't because of the bug,

01:41it was a decision that I made

01:43because I thought he was the best player to play

01:45in the position to start the game.

01:47And because it was a story there,

01:50with his debut here,

01:52and then making his Premier League debut,

01:54sometimes that feeling comes in,

01:56and you feel it's the right one,

01:58and then who knows?

02:00I remember when you gave him his debut here,

02:02two and a half years ago,

02:04you said it was a gut feeling.

02:06In that time since then,

02:08I was just wondering,

02:10it's obviously been a bit of a slow burn,

02:12you haven't rushed it,

02:14so in that time how have you felt

02:16his development has gone to be able to

02:18make his first start at 17?

02:21Part of the development,

02:23it's patience,

02:25and managing frustration,

02:27or managing expectation,

02:29because you expect that everything is going to go so fast

02:31as the previous things happened,

02:33and it's not the case.

02:35So now we're building him,

02:37he's played already a lot of games,

02:39a lot of minutes for us,

02:41for the age that he's got,

02:43and he fully deserves that.

02:45How disruptive was it,

02:48you weren't sure?

02:50These things happen,

02:52in this period there's always things,

02:54throat, infections, viruses,

02:56so I tried to delay

02:58the line-up as well,

03:00as far as possible,

03:02because you can get up in the morning

03:04and you can have a surprise unfortunately.

03:06A game in three days' time,

03:08are they going to be ready?

03:10Yes, I hope so.

03:12It's nothing serious,

03:14but obviously they were in the ideal condition

03:16to play today.

03:18What's the protocol in this situation?

03:20Do you have to isolate?

03:22Leave that one to the doctor,

03:24obviously in relation to the symptoms

03:26that I have,

03:28with Kai it was obvious,

03:30he wasn't feeling well at all,

03:32and he had very clear symptoms,

03:34so stay away from it,

03:36put him in a car and go back to London.

03:38Are there others who have to isolate?

03:40I don't think so.

03:42Thank you, Sam.

03:44You play games in January a lot,

03:46and suddenly something like this happens,

03:48you get some illnesses, you get a bio-injury,

03:50does it feel like you're a bit stretched

03:52and a bit short right now?

03:54When I see the willingness of each individual

03:56to play through anything,

03:58and the versatility that we can create

04:00within our idea,

04:02the answer is no.

04:04But we don't know,

04:06if something else happens

04:08we'll have other issues,

04:10hopefully not,

04:12but today it was back,

04:14and other players are there

04:16in the top four as well,

04:18so we need everybody.

04:30Yes, today we discussed

04:32about that option,

04:34because it can happen

04:36and then the game falls in their hands

04:38and what exactly they want,

04:40but we managed to turn things around,

04:42the timing of it was really good,

04:44so we were lucky that we took

04:46that advantage in the second half

04:48and it was a different game.

04:54There was a lot of news in the hours

04:56leading up to the game about it.

04:58How disruptive is it for you and the team

05:00that that information leaks out

05:02about there being an issue?

05:04I didn't know anything that was leaked,

05:06so...

05:08No, we'll keep it away from you.

05:20Very good as well,

05:22it's because he deserves it

05:24and the type of game that we have to play

05:26and the amount of density that they defend

05:28when they are deep

05:30requires people with a lot of threat in the box

05:32and he's a master of that

05:34and we believe

05:36with the unit on the left

05:38we can have the dynamism that we wanted.

05:40Very good, he scored a very important goal

05:42again, he's always there, he's a big threat

05:44so great to have these options.

05:46You said it was important for you to be calm

05:48emotionally in this game,

05:50is there any particular reason why this game

05:52especially, you needed to be calm emotionally

05:54or just a general thing?

05:56That's something general

05:58but there are certain teams

06:00that as well, they are so good

06:02at doing certain things

06:04and if we manage that a bit better.

06:10I think so, yeah, hopefully he will recover

06:12very quickly.

06:24Very good timing,

06:26both of them really important,

06:28it's a big quality of our team

06:30to share the goals across the team

06:32and he's done it again, he's scored

06:34in three very different ways

06:36and great, that's what we need, people up front

06:38has to be firing, has to be with that feeling

06:40and they are with that feeling right now.

06:50They are so consistent

06:52in the way they behave, they train, they want it

06:54and goals are

06:56about moments as well and about

06:58the feeling and the energy

07:00that the players are in right now,

07:02they are in a good mood right now.

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