“Although all the players did well but you see this particular guy, I’m so pleased with him…He’s the reason we won this game”: Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has singled out ONE Gunner’s for praise after his impressive performance against Manchester City
Mikel Arteta spoke to Sky Sports after his side smashed Man City 5-1 at the Emirates this afternoon. Here’s what he had to say.
On the overall day/result …
Yeah, it’s a great day for us, obviously, especially with the necessity that we had to win the game to sustain the pressure up there. And the manner that we’ve done it, really, really pleased. You need everything in these games, the moment that we were very dominant, the moment that we had to suffer and be deep, the moment that we needed a bit of luck, and we had it, but overall, obviously, a very happy day.
On pressing high …
Yeah, there are moments in the game that you can have those ones, and sometimes you are very willing to press them, and they are that good, that is very difficult, and they hold you very, very deep. And in those moments, you have to suffer, and as I said, sometimes be a bit lucky. But overall, I think we scored some beautiful goals in different manners, and the team showed a really high competitive level.
Micro-details …
They are really thin lines, you know. You go on high press, and you win it, great. You hold the ball after winning it, great. If not, you defend your box, you know. And it’s a team that demands everything, because they are so good. And we had those margins, today they gave their all.
Anxiety when it went 1-1…
Yes, obviously, because that gives them momentum, and now we had in that period as well, we were deep for four, five, six minutes in a row, within the front of the box that well. And then they have this quality already, you know. When you are facing Haaland, you go one-against-one with the biggest space in the box, he’s capable of doing that.
On Lewis-Skelly after what happened last weekend …
Yes, you need big individual performances against this team to beat them in the manner that we’ve done. And Myles was certainly one of them, the maturity that he showed, the competitiveness as well. On top of that, he scores a goal and that’s probably not in the books. Great, and he comes in again, and he plays with that personality again, and it’s quite a beautiful goal.
Arteta’s role in Lewis-Skelly’s emergence …
It’s him. He’s been pushing us since he’s been with us. We really like the character, the personality. He’s got so much courage. He’s very well-prepared, he’s very intelligent. And he’s got qualities that fit in the way we want to play. And then he had the right to get respected by the teammates. Then he got some minutes, he got them, and he’s asking for more, and the competition is high. He deserves to play.
On the spirit of the game …
You’re going to suffer in periods of the game, you know that. And we did it when we had to do it, again, with a bit of luck, in the right moments. And then we had the opportunity to win the game and be ruthless.
A Sunday to celebrate, will Arsenal celebrate a signing on Monday …
I don’t know. I’ve just been focused the last 24 hours on what we have to do to try to beat Man City. Now we’ve done it, OK, we’ll discuss the situation as we always do. And then Newcastle, that’s important. It’s about the intention. I think we’ve been very clear from every angle what we want to do. And the one is the reality and what you’re able to do.
So it’s possible?
It’s always possible [smiles]!
