Mikel Arteta Arsenal
You must be delighted with that performance
I am really happy as it was the game we had in hand against an opponent that we knew would make life really difficult for us. We experienced that at Goodison. We started the game with some frustration and not really understanding what we had to do and allowed them to run in certain transitions.
But after 25 minutes we started to get much better and the timing of the two goals was key. We needed a magic moment there and Alex produced that. And then the team grew especially with Thomas as Jorginho was not feeling good today. When he came on he really gave some presence and some stability to the team and I think the second half was superb.
How pleased are you with the response after City?
When you look at them every single day and you see how much they want it. And how much they want to produce what we are asking them to do and how much they want to please our people. I had no doubts that we would turn things around in performance. In results sometimes it is more details that makes you win or win. But I am really pleased where the team are now.
Martinelli and Saka are both in double digits. What do you put that down to?
Credit to them they have to do it themselves but we try to help them with our way of playing and get them into those positions as much as possible. They are willing to learn and asking for more and more every day. They never have enough information, they want more , and the practice. And when you have that and the talent good things will happen.
Zinchenko had a great game. How important is he not just on the pitch but off it with his winning mentality?
That’s why we brought him, because he brings something different to the team. His mentality and his quality to do certain things that allows us to be more unpredictable, to generate a lot of threat every time we’re in ball possession. He’s played those kinds of games against low blocks 200 times and that’s very helpful.
Martinelli seems to have a good relationship with Trossard. Has Trossard unlocked him?
Probably. Relationships and chemistry build naturally. He has, when you see him play with Fabio (Vieira) there’s even more chemistry because they love each other so much and they have that way of looking at each other and understanding what’s going to happen. He’s building that with Leo and he feels a bit more freedom to move into certain areas. Now his confidence his high again. He’s scoring and producing goals and is in a good mood.
On Alex, and Bukayo for the second goal, has the initiative they showed been a real difference?
Yeah, and you have to do that. You have to produce those magic moments and take that initiative. Have that mentality (of) ‘I’m going to do it on the pitch, I’m not going to wait for someone else to do it’. When you have a few players with that willingness and capacity to do that you have a better chance to win more games.
On the chemistry point, you mentioned Martinelli and Vieira’s chemistry. They haven’t really played close to each other in games…
They will!
Can that chemistry we haven’t seen yet come in the next few weeks?
Yes. For sure.
5 points clear, are you the favourites?
You know my answer. What I like is that everyone has the enthusiasm to do it. We’re not gonna stop that and we have to promote that. The way to promote that is to look at this game and understand that we can do things better, especially in the first half. Make sure we prepare well against Bournemouth.
No one would have envisaged you being on 60 points at this stage
Yeah. I think we’re here because we work how we work, we have really good players and we have a really good connection with our players. So everything adds to the table.
Are you talking to the players about the title?
My players are about the next hour. I’m going to control what they do in the next hour so they’re better.
What is the key to quelling the tension in title runs?
A lot of that is about expectation. The less the games, you need points that you’re going need to win the league. Just still focus on what you can control and what you have to do. Let the rest happen naturally because it’s something that nobody else can control.
How’s Eddie Nketiah?
With Eddie hopefully he’s fine. He finished the game well, but he’s been carrying a little thing.
How do you teach your players to be relentless or is it something they have inside them?
It’s something we have to train, discuss and build. It’s not easy, but a lot of the time it happens through experiences – most of the time experiences you don’t want to go through. The calendar is going to give that sometimes you are here, sometimes you are there, sometimes you are two points or three points clear, or minus two points. We’re going to have to deal with that.
