Every word from Mikel’s post-Man Utd presser | Press conference | News

On By Littum

After watching us pick up a fourth win in a row by beating Manchester United 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta as usual tackled questions from the media in his post-match press conference.

He was asked about our set piece dominance, injuries, bouncing back from recent setbacks and much more.

Here’s all he had to say:

on the show:
Very happy. It’s a very special night to celebrate 100 games in this incredible stadium against an opponent with so much history between the clubs and the teams. The way we played, especially after adjusting a few things for the second half and how dominant we were, how convincing we were, not really closing in apart from the save from David after a very sloppy throw-in, so a lot of positives .

on our success from set pieces:
We need that. I think we want to be very dangerous and very effective from all angles and all sides of the game. We worked on all that. Today we couldn’t score from open play like we did against West Ham, against Sporting, so the team really believes that from all angles we have the mentality to threaten the opposition and try to score. Today there were two set pieces, we have constantly threatening corners.

about the team’s position in the league table:
We don’t think about where we are during the break. I think we have to look at our own business, try to perform as we are at the moment and find ways to win the game. I think the team deserves a win again today, which is very good, and what the opponent does, we can’t control that. You can see week in, week out, even if teams win, how difficult it is for everyone.

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whether there is a strategy to win more corners:
We play with inverted wingers, so they also develop a lot inside. There is not much space inside, so when they go there is a lot of space for the full-back, and for the six and for the nine, and now you can go outside, so we have to look at all angles: what they (opponents) do, where they can be weak and where we can exploit the opposition’s weakness.

on the crowd building tension before we take corners:
The stadium’s reaction is something we didn’t plan for. It’s because they believe the same way they react when we’re under pressure and we’re on the ball because they know what we can do. It creates that connection and that belief and is easier for the players to deliver because that noise creates good things in us and difficult things in the opposition.

about the constant development of our set pieces:
I think last year we scored the most goals in the history of this football club, not only because of set pieces, but because of a lot of things that we have. We will create individual moments, magical moments, many players can create their own goals. We can create goals on short counters, long counters, against slow builds when we need restarts and the opportunity to open the resistance. Every single phase of the game, just maximize it and keep working on it, keep improving.

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by sending a message to the rest of the league:
I don’t know, we want the right to win the games and if we perform like we are performing right now, we are going to win a lot of games. But now it’s about Fulham, we have to go there, and we know the experience from last season. We will have to prepare really well to earn the right to win there and continue to do so, the rest we don’t know.

on Kiwior and Zinchenko’s performance tonight:
Big credit to Jakub and Alex, I think it’s the first start for Jakub in a long time, you have to be thrown against that kind of opposition, that kind of front players. Same with Alex, they did amazingly well so well. We trust them, they prepared so well, they had the opportunity and they grabbed it with both hands, so very happy for the team.

on Gabriel and Calafiori’s injuries:
Gabi was a big risk to play today because he felt something against West Ham. Sunday will also be an opportunity with Riccardo, let’s see how he reacts.

on the team’s resilience to overcome a winless run:
The will to win is there, they try, we do our best to do it. It’s true that we went through a lot in that period, the schedule and the opposition we played, a lot of things, and that’s what you have to react to. It’s about trying to do it next time, today we’ve won four in a row but it doesn’t matter, we have to go to Fulham now and be better than them to try and win the game. It’s every three days, it’s a crazy schedule, we’re going to need everyone and mentally to be very strong because you’re going to have to go through those moments.

on whether we use negativity as fuel for positivity:
Me personally, no. I don’t know the team. There’s no more fuel for my own to want to work as hard as I can in the most efficient way to try and win and help these boys enjoy what they’re doing and give them the chance to win games.

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