Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta discusses how it is now becoming the right time for Arsenal Academy players to come through to the first team due to the unbelievable dressing room atmosphere which has been created
13/12/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
13/12/2024
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00If you don't mind a slightly broad, wide question, I know you're focused on the here and now
00:07winning matches, but what thoughts do you have about how football as it's played will
00:12evolve over the next 5-10 years and what changes we might see practically?
00:17Please have some thought.
00:19I think it's going to be very constrained and related to new regulations and new rules
00:31probably. Because with the amount of games we're going to have to play, I think the type
00:37of squad you're going to have is going to be vital. I don't know those restrictions
00:40they're going to have. And whether we have to change certain rules in the game because
00:44that's going to have a big impact on there. After that I have a few ideas, but to be fair
00:51it's very difficult to predict in my opinion.
00:53What kind of thing?
00:55I have a few things, but I don't know if that's going to be possible in a few years because
01:01of the constraints that we're going to have.
01:03One thing people say is that maybe 4-4-2 and target man and other lines might come back
01:09in a cycle. Do you think football is cyclical?
01:12Very much, I think so. When it was done 70-80-90 years ago, now it's a genius and we have invented
01:20something and you just have to look back. As you said, the wheel keeps spinning and
01:26a lot of things are repeated.
01:29Just on that, you say with the constraints of the game and rules might change, do you
01:35think games themselves might have to be shorter to avoid three games in a week?
01:42That's an option.
01:45Would you be for that?
01:47Depends, I mean we have changed the Champions League format. To play more games, to play
01:54home and away, it's a very real possibility I think.
02:01Just on the academy, it seems like it's now very well equipped to bring those players
02:07through, people like Myles and Ethan. They seem like they're pre-league ready to be thrown
02:12in and Myles last night on Wednesday in the Champions League. Could you talk about how
02:17when you first arrived and what you saw in the academy and how tough it was, because
02:22you had to prioritise the first team, but working with the academy and getting it to
02:26the stages now?
02:28I think the academy historically at the club has been very, very successful and strong
02:33but there are moments as well. Sometimes you get a lot of players coming through in the
02:39same position. As I said, they need time in the squad, they need that role in the squad
02:45and then it's when you throw a player. For me that's the key. That player can be ready
02:49but maybe the context within that team, that dressing room, that moment is not the right
02:53way to throw an academy player. I think now the work has been done for a few years, it's
02:58been exceptional what everybody's done at the academy and now I think they have the
03:02right environment and they are prepared and the jump is so big for what Ethan and Myles
03:08have been playing to what you ask them to play in the Champions League. It's a huge
03:13step. But they are showing that they are capable of doing it, so it's great.
03:17Is that dressing room that you have now, because it's obviously very different to the one you
03:21walked into, that dressing room is now perfect for young players?
03:25Unbelievable. It's not for me to say, probably it's for them to say. I think they have already
03:29expressed that, the way they make them feel, the way they look after them, the way they
03:34can look at certain people and say, wow, these are the standards and this is what I
03:38want to become. And I think that's a great example in there.
03:46Is it an opportunity now with the amount of games coming up, you've got a really good
03:56record against Everton, to really kick-start this season now?
04:03For sure. It's been moments as well and that's been tough and very difficult for me as well
04:10to accept that I haven't given more. But that's the context that we've been in. When we started
04:18the games, 90 per cent of the subs that I made are related to saving minutes or because
04:25of injuries or avoiding injuries, no tactical reasons. And I would like to play much more
04:30because I think it can impact the team in a very good way.
04:34How have you found him so far as the owner of the pitch?
04:39Very good and absolutely desperate to play. I know Raj from many, many years as well.
04:44He had this role, this very important role and impact in every game and suddenly you
04:49are in this position. He's been now for a while, not only here but when he was at Chelsea
04:53as well. So that's always very difficult and I feel a lot of sympathy for players when
04:58they are in this moment and hopefully we can change it.
05:04You mentioned winning trophies quite a lot. You mentioned you need to prove world class,
05:10you need to win something. You've obviously got the side very competitive coming away.
05:16Is that the message to the players that you need some silverware even if it's a cup, a
05:21league cup? Is that what you've been saying?
05:23That's the aim, that's the dream and that's what we work for every single day. Actually
05:30getting it is going to be a thing for very small margins and details like we've been
05:34in the last two, three years. But we know that the next step is there and we are working
05:39towards that for sure.
05:40And it's about time, it needs to be now rather than...
05:44It needs to be, it has to be, we want it to be and we're going to do our very best to
05:49make it happen. That's the only thing we can do. We cannot promise anything but what we're
05:55going to promise is our very best and put everything that we have to make it happen.
06:00And finally with Mel in Spanish, I believe.
06:02Hola, Miguel.
06:03Hola.
06:04¿Qué habla de los jugadores que están subiendo por la academia? ¿Qué han de ellos? ¿Qué
06:08de su personalidad, su habilidad, lo que ellos están creyendo que es en persona? De eso
06:15no solo para ti pero para los jugadores del equipo también.
06:19Al final es un todo. Un jugador tiene que ser total. La parte emocional, la parte fÃsica,
06:24la parte que está relacionada con el juego y tenemos suerte de que tenemos dos talentos
06:29que reúnen muchas de esas cualidades y que yo creo en ellos pero que lo más importante
06:34es que los que juegan creen en ellos también y cuando se lo pones al lado se sienten cómodos,
06:40se sienten con confianza y yo creo que tenemos dos talentos que nos van a dar mucho.
06:44Muchas gracias.
06:45A ti.
06:46Thanks everyone.
06:48Good luck.