Arteta talks about the difference between European and UK Academies (Full Presser part two)

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta talks about the difference between European and UK Academies  03/01/2025  Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK

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00:00For example, we lived in La Masia. To replicate that here is impossible. You cannot do it.

00:17It's the most unique environment that I have seen in my life, the most competitive, the

00:21most inspiring and the most, probably, professional environment that any club that I have seen

00:32or academy that I have seen that replicates a first team environment at 14, 15 years old.

00:37To do that with the capacity to recruit from all over Spain or all over the world if you

00:42want it at that time, that's, I think, very, very difficult to achieve.

00:49I wish, because from that room we were 32 players there. I think 29 of them made it

00:55to the highest level. The six that they share a room with me, they were legends in football

01:03worlds. That's unheard of. So, there is something special there. That's not a coincidence and

01:09they've done it for decades now.

01:12Just on Ethan, we can all see the skill and the ability of the ball, but how many things

01:17does he still need to learn in terms of the requirements and all the stuff that we don't

01:22necessarily see in the same way?

01:25Of course, there is a lot. With and without the ball, he's game understanding everything.

01:29The thing is, first of all, is can you cope with the demand of being thrown there and

01:36be yourself? That's a massive yes. You can see in every decision you're making.

01:42The other things, they will come. Now, Ethan, four weeks ago, he was a different player.

01:47Eight weeks ago, a different player. Ten weeks further up, he will be a different player

01:53and a better player. I think we're in the right path with him. Let's make sure that

01:59he grows in the right way.

02:01Three years in for Window and you obviously haven't got Edu anymore. How's it going

02:07there? Is it different? Does it feel different without him there?

02:11It's different. I'm so used to doing things with Edu, but Jason was part of that team,

02:17a big part of that team. He's in charge. He's in full charge right now. We have great

02:21communication. We are talking every day and we are prepared.

02:25Is there a confidence within the club that you can still attract, convince those types

02:29of players without them?

02:33The good thing about that is that neither Jason or I or Rich or Timo, the owner, has

02:37to convince any players the players want to come to Arsenal because what Arsenal is and

02:43how Arsenal is perceived. That's a massive bonus.

02:47Just finally, how hard is it, given everything that's gone on the injuries and not having

02:51Edu, how hard is it not to panic this month and say we need just something, somewhat,

02:57to lift the mood, to change something?

03:01I don't think... I think we panic means that we are not prepared. A big thing is preparation

03:07and when you are well prepared, I think your decisions will be better. They will be very

03:13well processed and then it will be the thing whether when we decide to sign a player, does

03:21he perform, yes or no, and that's a good decision or a bad decision after that. The preparation

03:25is done, for sure, and we are ready. We have to do something. But we know as well that

03:31we have an excellent squad and with players available we can compete with any team.

03:35Does that also include looking to have players from abroad as well? Would you like that to

03:43be a bit more broad in the way you usually pick players from anywhere?

03:47Yeah, we could do that, different parts of the country as well and not be so limited

03:52as well with the financial situation that all the clubs have at the moment. But that's

03:56a regulation, it might change, it might not. We just need to be so good with the actual

04:01regulation right now. But it is very different in Europe. That's the thing that I don't

04:06think is very, very fair.

04:08Looking at the local front three, obviously Salah, Diaz and Gappo, with your front three,

04:20with the loss of Saka, does that kind of change your mindset? Do you have to just ignore that

04:25and say, here's what it is and after that, well Saka is injured?

04:30I think it's different. They have five amazing players that they have signed over the years

04:37as well and they have invested a lot of money there. We have other kind of players, fantastic

04:42players as well that they have produced a lot for us so I'm very happy with what we have.

04:49Would it help you to have a club in Europe where you can actually park your youngsters in?

04:57Well, that's something that a lot of clubs have at the moment. So that restriction in

05:04the country has provoked that many other clubs have now, like sister clubs or multi-club

05:09systems, to be able to do that. So looking ahead in the future is something to explore

05:16because obviously with the actual system it's very, very difficult.

05:20Jorginho mentioned in the past maybe about going into coaching. You were a player here

05:25but you came to the end of your career at that point and you went somewhere else.

05:29Would he be the type of person you'd want to go into coaching here where you could have

05:36a link between the first team and the coaching staff?

05:39With Jorginho the first thing is the player that we have right now. He's an excellent

05:42player and he gives us so much. When he's playing a lot of games and when he's playing

05:47so many the impact it has on the team and his role in the team is incredibly important.

05:52What he decides to do after, I think I know the answer but I think he's going to have

05:58to play the maximum because he still looks really, really good and one day I think he's

06:02going to be a top coach.

06:04How hard is it for you to manage the amount of games you've got at the moment?

06:19Yes, well we had, especially with injuries, certain limitations in certain positions.

06:25That is what it is. We're going to have to try to manage them not only in games but

06:31also in training when we have the time to rest them or give them some time off as well.

06:37There are various ways to rest or offload a player and we are looking at every possibility

06:42and the best possibility for each individual as well. Hopefully with having two or three

06:47players back it's going to help those rotations as well.

06:51Can you compare that with Gabriel Jesus?

06:56Yes, when you are in that moment obviously you want to continue to play. Obviously he

07:01had a massive step-up in load in recent weeks and we need to monitor that as well.

07:08Do you think it's going to be something that's really necessary in the future to compete

07:21with clubs that are within that kind of network?

07:24Yes, well I think every club is very different and the way they've set up and the clubs that

07:30have picked is various but in our ways obviously the vision from our ownership and the board

07:37to understand what is the best thing for the club in that sense for the future.

07:42Is that something that you would be involved in the process of?

07:46My involvement is in the team and the squads and full trust in what the club has to do

07:54there is for them to decide. If they want my opinion at some moment obviously I'm more

07:58than happy to but my focus is on the team.

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