Arteta reacts to Merino's matchwinning impact as Arsenal beat leicester

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Arteta reacts to Merino's matchwinning impact as Arsenal beat leicester   15/02/2025  King Power Stadium, Leicester, UK

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00:00Yes, a very tough match. The first half, especially the first 20-25 minutes, we struggled to get

00:11certain momentum because we did a lot of simple things very wrong, giving a lot of balls away

00:16and never really threatening and generating enough momentum and sequences in the opposition's

00:21box, but the second half was very different. We had much more urgency, better intentions,

00:27better executions, and then you can sense that the game was going in the direction that

00:32he had to go. Saying that, it's a moment when we give the ball away in the middle of the

00:36park, the space is open in the counter and Miles has to make a magic touch to deny the

00:42goal, and in the other end then, that's when we score the goal. With the source, they were

00:47brilliant and Mikel obviously made a huge impact to score the two goals.

00:52Is it too simple to say he's the solution now going forward for the next few weeks?

01:00Yes, we're going to have to share that and we know that we're going to have various contexts,

01:04some that we're going to have to make up because a player is not performing, or because the

01:08opposition is doing something else, or because he's got a yellow card or he's fatigued, and

01:12that's going to restrict what we can do really in terms of the personnel. But we have prepared

01:16for different scenarios, then those scenarios have to work. Hopefully, they will work as

01:21good as Mikel worked today.

01:23When Mikel Mourinho scored, I was thinking back to the summer, the Euros, when he scored

01:31against Germany. I was wondering if you can think back to your team-mate, Marouane Pelé,

01:36because it seemed like a very similar thing to strike.

01:39I didn't think about him, to be fair, but Mikel has got that. It's a goal threat because

01:45he can smell danger, he can anticipate the action, he's got really good timing to arrive

01:51to certain areas, and then obviously he has the capacity to execute with a lot of part

01:55of his body. He needed the delivery, he certainly had that as well, and he put it in the back

02:01of the net.

02:01Was that front three something we were seeing work out in real-time because of the different

02:06kind of profiles? Obviously, starting with the smaller guys, but then moving on?

02:12Well, I think the game started to suit him more, because they started to defend much

02:16more deeper and we had more momentum, more sequences, more set-pieces as well in that

02:21period, and we believed that he could impact the game. We were lucky that he did it.

02:28How important was it after Liverpool got those late points, demoralising circumstances for

02:33them on Wednesday, for you to put pressure on them ahead of tomorrow's game?

02:38Yes, and it was for us as well. With everything that happened in the last few days,

02:42there was a lot of noise as well. To show how much we wanted, that regardless of what

02:46happens, we're going to really go for it, that we believe in the resources that we have,

02:50in the quality of our players, and we can still adapt and be very competitive and still

02:56win a lot of matches.

02:59Did you come up with the idea of having Moreno as a striker? Because I think I heard from

03:03you, you said you didn't train him. I know you said before you had some wild dreams,

03:09but did you come up with the idea?

03:10Well, I put all the options, but there were too many. The moment you start to draw options,

03:15there are too many, and at the end you have to have the picture in your head of what can

03:21work and what are the variables and the options and the synergies within the team, and then

03:25you have to feel it. That's a feeling on the pitch and seeing what is happening actually,

03:29what is the game demanding. We believed that it was him in that moment, and then to get

03:35it right, he needs to deliver, which is the hardest thing in football.

03:38Given the situation with injuries, is it going to be the case for the rest of the season,

03:43that in different moments, different players are going to need to step up?

03:48For sure, for sure. And it would have been earlier in the game because, for example,

03:52Ethan, he puts the ball in the crossbar, then he puts the ball in the post. We have another

03:56massive chance arriving with Declan in the first half. It can be a set-piece, it can

04:02be in various ways. The team has a lot of capacity in open spaces. Today we were really

04:06dangerous when we had the ability to run, and that's what we need. We are a threat from

04:11every situation.

04:12Is it a tough day for Raheem? Is he a player that needs some rhythm in the games that makes

04:21him a confident player as well?

04:24Yeah, and as well, I think from everybody, to step up the game, because in the first

04:28half, as I said, especially in the first 20-25 minutes, we weren't at our standards. When

04:33that happens, it's very difficult for the front players.

04:36I just want to go back to that Mo Schele moment, because it was only eight minutes

04:40before Mikel scored his goal. It seemed such an incredible touch, a moment of maturity

04:45to know what type of touch to take in that moment. Give me a reaction when you saw that

04:49moment, the trickle-wide of Miguel.

04:51Well, to be fair, on the bench, I didn't know whether he touched it or not. It was

04:54a deflection before in the cross, but when I watched it back in the dressing room, it

04:59was amazing because it was one of those moments where he should have changed the moment in

05:03the game and probably the result.

05:07On TV, Mikel, Joko actually compared Guarneri to Messi. How talented do you think he is

05:16and how much of a future does he have?

05:19Well, what he's showing, basically, that's him. Obviously, his age is always something

05:26that puts a question mark on how we have to deal with him. But every sign that he's given

05:31us is, let me go for it, let me go, let me go, let me go. And when a player is giving

05:35you all those signs, you should not stop it. You have to play with that freedom, with that

05:39creativity, with that confidence that he's playing at the minute. And the players around

05:43him believe in him. So, let him go because he's a massive threat, massive talent, and

05:48he deserves to play.

05:50And finally, to Nicola Bakker.

05:51I was going to ask about Ethan as well. Until Mikel came on, he looked like the most dangerous

05:56player, and then he supplied that incredible curve across to them, and that was a bit more

06:02of his defining moment.

06:04Yeah, because I think he was one of the few in the first half as well, that every time

06:07that he was on the ball he made things happen. You could see that he had another level of

06:12threat than the rest of the team, and he continued with that in the second half with two great

06:16actions, and after that he put the ball on the plate for Mikel to score the header.

06:21OK, Paul.

06:22Yeah, thank you, guys. Thank you.

06:26Thanks, guys.

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