Arteta on player options, Nwaneri and adding pressure to Liverpool

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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta on player options, Nwaneri and adding pressure to Liverpool  21/02/2025  Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK

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00:00Just with Ethan, kind of watching from afar, it feels like he's growing with each game,

00:05that kind of personality, the confidence to beat people and take shots.

00:09Are you seeing that rate of growth seem to be speeding up?

00:15Yes, probably much faster than we all expected.

00:19But yeah, I think what is surprising is probably the confidence and his decision-making,

00:28especially in ball possession, the risks that he takes, the initiatives that he takes,

00:32and how careful he is about, OK, what's the situation?

00:36If somebody is more open, I just want to do it.

00:38And I love that on the player, and now he needs to do it consistently every three days.

00:43Is it a case of giving him freedom with regard to that decision?

00:45For sure, and especially I play with that talent,

00:49get him very, very far from thinking mode, let him express himself,

00:52put him in the environment, put him in the context that he can exploit his qualities,

00:56as often as he possibly can, surrounded by players that fit his qualities.

01:02Some people talk about this style of football,

01:04and also it seems that sometimes creative players have to think about the system more than the player.

01:10Is that the case with Ethan, that you kind of want him to not be coached as much?

01:15Well, there are certain duties that in a collective sport you have to be able to do,

01:20and you have to do it in the right timing as well, because that's essential, especially in football.

01:25But then you're going to have the freedom to express their creativity within sets and spaces,

01:31with their sets and connections that are developed within the team,

01:35that are just thought and agreed to improve the players' qualities, that's it.

01:41Hi, Mourinho.

01:42When Raheem first signed on loan in the window of the season,

01:46you were very gloomy in terms of him as a player, because you obviously knew him from Man City.

01:51In a way, because you've obviously worked with him so long in the past,

01:54are you surprised by the fact that he's not really hit the ground running per se so far?

01:58Because obviously you've known him so well and you know what he's capable of, what he's done in the past.

02:02Yeah, well, I think to compare two aspects when they are so far, especially in time,

02:07it was very difficult, and as well as context, where he was playing every three days,

02:11every minute of every game, every competition.

02:14And with us, since his arrival, he hasn't been the case for another reason,

02:18and we're all very aware that that wasn't going to be the case from day one.

02:22But he's still there, and the most beautiful part of the season is still to come,

02:26and he's going to have a big opportunity there.

02:28He's been playing, obviously, regular first-team football since he was about 17, year in, year out.

02:33How much do you think this is part of just the impact on his legs?

02:36Because obviously he's now 30, and a lot of players break through when they're 20, 21.

02:41Is this accumulation of just wear and tear, possibly?

02:43I don't think so. When I see him running, sprinting, accelerating,

02:47putting his brakes on in training or on the game, I don't think he's related to that.

02:51And for a while now, week to week, it's been always do or die, it seems, every game,

02:55you have to do it, you have to win.

02:57What's that like mentally to deal with, and how do you get the players on board

03:02that it's game after game rather than you have to add the pressure each week?

03:08That's it. I think the moment you're signed and you walk into this building,

03:11or you're part of this football club, that's the demands, nobody has to explain,

03:15you're at the highest level, that's what you expect to do,

03:18and you have to do it regardless of what the circumstances are.

03:22Hi, Miquel. Liverpool seem to control their emotions really well so far this season,

03:26they've had a few slip-ups, but you've been there as a leader,

03:30when you've had those slip-ups, how hard is it to regain that composure, that emotional control?

03:36When you don't win a game, for example, you mean?

03:39Yeah, when you're at the top and you have a few slip-ups and there are people chasing you.

03:42Yeah, well, there's always that concern, you know, because the moment you keep...

03:47certain results that you don't put together,

03:50the other teams are catching up if they manage to win those games.

03:53That's the pressure.

03:54And do you think in the last two seasons when you've been going for the title,

03:58that emotional control, that's what you were lacking, maybe?

04:01And that's what any team can lack, getting loads of good pressure, maybe?

04:06I don't think that was the case, I think there were other factors, I think, more,

04:10and especially in some games, especially at home,

04:14that we generated so much that we didn't put them to bed.

04:17So that clinical aspect in the box, that is so crucial as well,

04:20to keep winning, winning, winning and winning.

04:22Just finally, with Sakharov, there's been kind of a lot of pressure on Declan

04:26in terms of corners and him being the main taker.

04:29Has that been a big responsibility on his shoulders

04:32to be the main delivery taker for corners and providing those assists?

04:37Yeah, well, it's been since we decided to use him

04:41because he's unbelievable in his delivery, so consistent.

04:44And we scored a lot of goals, and that curve is impossible to maintain

04:48at the level it was, especially at the start of the season.

04:51We know it's going to fluctuate, we have to improve again

04:54and have threats from everywhere, as I always said,

04:57and that's an aspect that in recent weeks we can do better.

05:00OK, Ed.

05:01You mentioned that you managed to try and re-energise the team after all these injuries.

05:06For you personally, how difficult was it for you to come up with a plan to fill these gaps?

05:11Were you sitting up all night thinking,

05:14who can I play up front, or how did it take you through the process?

05:18Yeah, I had those moments, obviously, because it was a big worry,

05:22losing four front players of that level and the importance of the team.

05:27You're scratching your head to say,

05:29OK, how are we going to now compensate this lack of threat, of goals, of assists,

05:37of options, of who's going to fill those minutes?

05:41You start to generate a lot of options, some more realistic,

05:47some of this thinking in a completely different way as well,

05:51and then what really re-energised me is the team, the staff, the players,

05:57looking at them, that if I tell them to play in any position, do anything,

06:02I know that they are ready for it and they're going to do it really convinced.

06:05Not because it has to be done, it's because they really feel it.

06:08Was there something in particular about Mikko Mourinho

06:10that you thought he could be the guy to start off as a striker?

06:14Was it a particular skill attribute that he's got?

06:18No.

06:19Well, he's a massive goal threat, from positions that he can attack

06:24and arrive in the box, the timing, how he's menced danger,

06:28how he can execute as well with many parts of his body as well,

06:32and the fact that he's very experienced and very intelligent.

06:37So if somebody's going to have to adapt to another position,

06:40it's him, it can be Leo, it can be Raj that has played in that position,

06:45we have Nathan as well that can play there, we have other options.

06:48OK, last two now, Gary from The Times.

06:51Gary, in the last couple of years you've been at the top

06:54for quite a few periods of the season,

06:56this year you haven't been top of the league at all.

06:59Can you apply the same pressure on Liverpool,

07:02and how would you apply the same pressure on Liverpool,

07:04that you had City breathing down your necks the last year,

07:09the last two seasons?

07:11What's the feeling of that, the sort of nipping feeling,

07:15and can you apply that same reverse?

07:19I prefer to depend on me, because when you depend on somebody else

07:23there are too many factors.

07:26But it feels different, it feels like we can generate the right momentum,

07:33and the team with these performances is able to convince themselves

07:38that we can do it, it's a big factor, because suddenly we feel really, really strong.

07:43And that's probably mentally a point that can go for us.

07:48OK, finally we'll go to David from Cassandra's Aerosport.

07:51Hi, you have a situation in which you have basically three forwards

07:54to run in probably the international league.

07:57How much effect have you been playing every three days,

08:00and you have so few players, has it changed the way you rotate the team?

08:06Yeah, we have to be very cautious, because as well as those players

08:09that have to now be loaded in a very different way,

08:13they haven't had that exposure.

08:15So the risk increase is more uncertainty, how they can cope with that,

08:20and the thing that we really need is, first of all, availability,

08:25and those players to be fit in the best conditions to compete.

08:28We have made some adjustments.

08:30OK, everyone, thanks very much.

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