Mikel Arteta had plenty to reflect upon after another memorable away game on Saturday.
After our 5-1 win at Selhurst Park, the manager was asked about our form, Gabriel Jesus’s hot streak and the performance, but he began by fielding questions relating to Bukayo Saka’s injury.
Here’s a full transcript from his post-match press conference:
On Bukayo Saka picking up a knock…
He felt something in his hamstring, he couldn’t continue, and he’ll have to be assessed. So, we’re really worried about that one.
On how bad it could be…
It’s very difficult to [say] now – they have tested him inside but very difficult to say how bad it is.
On losing Saka to injury after regaining Riccardo Calafiori and Declan Rice…
And Raheem as well, we lost Raheem yesterday. We don’t know for how long as well. So, to lose two players in 24 hours is not good. Unfortunately, with the amount of games that we are playing every three days with this schedule, it doesn’t surprise me but the team will react to that.
On Gabriel Jesus’ goalscoring week…
The beauty of football – these things happen. He’s scored the same amount in 45 appearances in three days, he scored five goals, and he could have scored a hat-trick today. Great credit to him because he’s put so much work into it, so much belief into what he does and he was patient, and he got rewarded.
On the difference with last week’s game against Everton…
We were clinical today, because in many things we were better than the other game, but this is football. We were so clinical today, we were so good at scoring different ways, in different phases like we want to do, and we didn’t concede more as well because David made two incredible saves.
On if Kai Havertz and Jesus playing together led to a sacrifice in our defending…
Yeah, because they were more aggressive than in the first game which we expected, but we didn’t understand whether or not which sequences we had to put and the spaces that we needed to create. So, we ended up playing too much with David very close his own goal and against them it’s a really bad game to play, and we adjusted a few things. When Rice came on, he changed the game, he gave us more dominance, still the same threat but we were much better.
On if Jesus can kick on…
It has to be, we have to now push him and let him go and be behind him. He’s had some difficult moments and, as a striker, it’s not easy, and you get a lot of the spotlight, but again credit to him. His work ethic, the way he came back in the summer, he was a completely different player and now he’s getting rewarded, sometimes it takes time.
On if Saka sustained the same injury he did earlier in the season…
I’m not sure if it’s exactly the same one, or the same leg. It’s the third minor injury; I don’t know how big this one is going to be but he already had two of them.
On if we’re happy to concede control as a payoff to score more goals…
I like to be dominant in the right areas, I don’t like to concede much. We’ve conceded nothing in the four games, today we conceded more especially because we have given two big chances. It’s always the balance that we want and when you win, everything is okay.
On how it leaves him feeling at the end of the game…
I’m very happy that we won, we needed that win, especially after the two draws but in general, looking at the 10 games, no defeats in the last seven. We’ve won five and gotten two draws, and we’ve deserved to win all of them so it’s good.
On if he thought Havertz would go back into midfield…
He can be, he can play in any of the two pockets. Especially with the way they play as well, and what we expected to have a player to like him, we wanted to do something else. It wasn’t going to work because of the way they set up, so I had to change it, but overall, he’s a player who can play well in many areas.
On keeping Jesus motivated during the tough days…
You have to prepare for the opportunity, that’s it. You fail to prepare when you have the chance, it’s not going to happen, and that’s clear. So, you want it, and you want it early, and sometimes it’s not going to happen, you have to dig in and go again, and you don’t see the rewards, it’s like looking in the mirror after one day in the gym or one week, or one month. Sometimes it takes time and then suddenly everyone starts to tell you that you look different and much better, you look healthier and now good things happen. So, I think it’s a good example to understand what Gabby’s done.
On if this is our best chance to win the league…
At the moment, we are not there yet, and they have a few games in hand. It’s so difficult for any team to win it in any competition so anything can happen. We want to put our noses right in there and compete the way we are competing every single game, let’s see what happens. We’re not even halfway!
