Arsenal boss Arteta discusses Tuesday nights Madrid match and preparing for Brentford
11/04/2025
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
11/04/2025
Sobha Realty Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00Hello, Miguel.
00:02Hello.
00:03I know you've got a game to work towards and to talk about,
00:06but it's the most incredible night I've ever had at the Emirates.
00:09So, is it OK to just reflect on it for a couple of questions
00:12before we move to Bramford?
00:14You can try.
00:15What's the feeling around the place over the last few days?
00:18Great, it's been an unbelievable energy.
00:20Obviously it was a very special night, as you mentioned.
00:23That's over, and now the full focus is on Bramford
00:27because it's a game that's going to require the best of us.
00:31I know it's over.
00:32I just wanted to ask you about Declan.
00:35Which of his free kicks was your favourite?
00:39Difficult.
00:41No, they are two different.
00:43The technique is very different in both of them.
00:45The range and the angles that he's got,
00:47both of them were excellent.
00:49They helped us to win the game, which was the most important thing.
00:52Do you know which one was his favourite?
00:54No.
00:55He touched the corners from that side usually, doesn't he?
00:58What about now in terms of being the first in line for all free kicks?
01:03That's something that we discuss a lot.
01:05I mean, the different ways that he can create moments in and around the box,
01:11whether it is to assist, whether it is to score.
01:14Because he has all the qualities.
01:16He can run into the box.
01:17He can eliminate people by dribbling.
01:19He has a long range shot.
01:22He has deliberation set pieces.
01:24So that's what we're heading with him.
01:25You know, to become a game that he can decide against with very different tools as well.
01:31Your message before the game and the club's message was make it happen.
01:37That was the theme, wasn't it?
01:38Yeah.
01:39And the players obviously did pick up on that.
01:41I think Pakaio just said to Declan before he took the first one, feel it.
01:46Which is that theme, isn't it?
01:48Absolutely.
01:49I said to you guys the day before, it wasn't about believing is not enough.
01:54It's about that conviction, feeling it and making it real after.
01:59In order to do that, we had to do a lot of things right.
02:02Like we have done all season, especially with the circumstances that we had.
02:05And it's continued with the same mindset.
02:07With Pakaio obviously he won both for three kicks.
02:14Still not probably 100% in terms of the gains he's got in his legs,
02:17but frightened Real Madrid.
02:20And what will he be for the rest of the season?
02:22Very important.
02:23It gives us a level of threat connection and unpredictability
02:27that probably another player at the moment can provide,
02:31especially with the connection that he's already built in and around the team.
02:35And he had as well the power to leave the stadium,
02:39which is something incredible because shifting the energy in the stadium
02:43is something really difficult to do.
02:45And a player is able to do that.
02:47That's a great addition, great quality to have.
02:49Not only a brilliant player, a brilliant character as well.
02:52He sat where you are on Monday and asked a difficult question about his contract.
02:56Big Sloan's face that he wants to win things in this badge.
03:00When you hear something like that, how inspirational is it for you?
03:04Very.
03:05I mean, so humble, so simple.
03:07Very committed to the club.
03:09Obviously he has very deep roots connected to this football club
03:13and with a lot of the people here.
03:15So I'm very glad to hear that he wants to stay with us and win with us.
03:19So how do you handle Brentford then?
03:21Because obviously it's only half-time in the Champions League.
03:23That's for the future.
03:24Do you tap into that belief and that buzz
03:29that all the players were involved on Tuesday?
03:32Or would you have the rest of you?
03:35Just with normality.
03:36I mean, this is our context.
03:37Play every three days.
03:38I'm playing in different competitions,
03:40the biggest stages, playing in Europe,
03:42then coming back to the Premier League
03:44and having a completely different game,
03:46completely different opposition and context around the game.
03:49And if you want to become a team that has the capacity to win in any of those,
03:54you have to do it every three days regardless of what the scenario is.
04:00Hi.
04:01How many days off did that win?
04:04Just one.
04:06Just one?
04:07Yeah.
04:08Were they happy with that?
04:09I think they were very happy with that.
04:11Sometimes after winning you want to spend the next day in and around the team
04:15because you want to share that feeling.
04:16But we had a day off.
04:18It was the best way to recover and prepare the game against Brentford.
04:22How did you spend it watching it over and over again?
04:24No, it was a game.
04:25Yeah, it was a game once and then straight away I went into Brentford.
04:29That's the reality.
04:30Has it been hard to bring the players back down to work?
04:34It's not about bringing them back.
04:36It's now maintaining that energy, you know,
04:38and that momentum and using it towards Brentford
04:42and the very difficult game that we're going to face today
04:45against the team that when you look what they've done,
04:48it's just incredible.
04:49It's remarkable.
04:50It's a beautiful story.
04:51And they have earned it in the way they work,
04:53in the way they are organised,
04:54in the way they believe,
04:55in the way they play.
04:56So big credit to them
04:58and it's going to be a really tough test for us.
05:01You might know already,
05:02but Thomas Frank was at the Emirates on Tuesday
05:04doing his homework.
05:05How much respect do you have for him as a manager?
05:08A lot.
05:09I mean, more than respect for his admiration.
05:11I think he's done it in a way.
05:14He's done it with a football club
05:16that everybody shares the vision.
05:18Very clear identity.
05:20A club, a team that we can learn a lot from
05:23because the way they did it is very, very clever,
05:27in my opinion.
05:28And then the way it has sustained and evolved as well,
05:30the model, really well-timed, in my opinion.
05:33So look at the results that they had away from home
05:35in the last six matches as well.
05:37So we know what it's going to require for us to beat them.
05:41What is the main threat that comes from?
05:43That's the thing, that they have many.
05:45You know, they are really aggressive in the high pressure.
05:47They turn the ball over there in transition.
05:50They are really good, really well organised.
05:52Obviously when they go really deep,
05:54they have runners from deep as well
05:56to hurt you in that situation.
05:58Any restart of play can become a set piece
06:01and they play from that
06:02and they create a lot of chaos from that.
06:04So yeah, you have to be very well prepared.
06:06Alex Weepsie.
06:08Hi, Michael.
06:09Hi.
06:10Obviously an amazing night at the M1C
06:12and beating around with it 3-0.
06:14Is it your team's best ever performance under your management?
06:18How would you recreate that mentality over and over again?
06:21I understand.
06:22Probably in terms of the impact he had worldwide
06:24and the context and the manner that we did it,
06:27probably the one that the people would talk the most,
06:30you know, but at the end it's another game for us
06:33and there's still a lot to do.
06:35But I think it's great for us as a team as well
06:39to build this moment, those connections and that history together.
06:43Slightly less semi-automated offside
06:46introduced in the Premier League this weekend.
06:49Is it a good thing there coming in now?
06:51Yes, I mean, I think the Champions League is worldwide
06:54and it facilitates the job of all of us
06:56and makes the game more fair.
06:59Welcome.
07:00And you said it's your reality playing every three days
07:03before the Efton match.
07:05You rested five players before round good.
07:07Are you tempted to do a similar thing again this weekend?
07:09Well, we'll look at now at how the players have recovered
07:13because it's not only about this game,
07:14it's about the schedule that we have in the next few weeks as well.
07:17So, yeah, whoever plays will be very competitive.
07:21Simon Standard?
07:23Mikel, can you just ask,
07:24Bukayo and Deccan came off early in that Real Madrid game.
07:28Are they OK?
07:29I know you thought half the game they were.
07:30And also, is Bukayo pressing well enough to maybe make this weekend
07:34or even a second live?
07:35Yeah.
07:36So, with Deccan and Bukayo, they are both fit.
07:38So, it was just a matter of two kicks and they recovered well.
07:42So, they are available for tomorrow.
07:44And Ricky is progressing really well.
07:46I think to give you a timeline difficult
07:50because he needs to step up,
07:51especially having more people around
07:53and how Danny reacts after that.
07:55But he's in a good place, I think.
07:58Just as well, we spoke a lot about how you've got lots of different things
08:01you want to do this summer.
08:03I just wonder with Ethan and Miles and their futures,
08:06how important that ranks on your list of priorities?
08:08Obviously, they've got another year left,
08:10but also, you speak a lot about rewarding players,
08:12what they've done and they've progressed a lot.
08:13So, how key is it to tie them now?
08:15For sure.
08:16I mean, we have to put energy.
08:17The most energy we have to put is making sure
08:20that the players that we have with us are happy.
08:23They feel valued.
08:24They feel very much part of what we are doing.
08:26They feel important.
08:28And then the rest of the necessities, okay?
08:30We can look, especially in our academy first,
08:32and then we cannot do that elsewhere.
08:35Okay.
08:36Hi.
08:37I was going to do some maps with you quickly,
08:39if that's all right.
08:40Okay.
08:41We saw a video of Kai Havertz stepping up in rehabilitation.
08:43It was 104 days since Saka got injured to when he then returned.
08:49From the announcement of Havertz's injury,
08:52it will be 108 days to the last game of the season.
08:55Is there a chance that we could see Kai Havertz back?
08:59So, we have some extra days there.
09:02Let's see.
09:03Every injury is the same.
09:04The mindset of those two, though, very, very similar.
09:07Great injury history.
09:10Great work ethic.
09:12Desperate to get back playing as quick as possible.
09:14And a great medical staff as well to look after them.
09:18So, hopefully we can have him.
09:20But let's wait, I think.
09:22Once you get to the last stage of that rehab
09:24is when you can understand better how close you are
09:27to make that next step.
09:29Simon mentioned how you want to make players like Myles and Ethan feel important.
09:34Ethan played a lot while Saka was missing and Martinelli was missing as well.
09:38With them coming back, he's obviously playing less.
09:40How has he dealt with that kind of sudden load of exposure to minutes
09:44and all of a sudden less exposure to minutes?
09:46Well, Myles has played a lot and Nathan has played a lot, I think.
09:50And he started a few days ago against Everton away.
09:53I mean, this is the Premier League and we are talking about 17-18 year kids
09:58that never played professional football playing that much football.
10:01And I'm very happy because they deserve it and they will continue to play.
10:05Sorry, this seems random, but Jose Mourinho has come up a few times in this room
10:13like the way he comes across in press conferences.
10:16And I was wondering if you were aware of one phrase he used a few years back
10:21called Football Heritage.
10:23Yes.
10:24And I was just wondering what your thoughts on that work
10:26because it feels like Arsenal in terms of Europe and where they are
10:30are starting to build kind of their own kind of heritage
10:33getting to the quarter-finals and back-to-back years.
10:36And where do you feel kind of that journey is going?
10:39Well, I would like to use that word related to big trophies
10:42more than just qualification for next rounds.
10:45But we have to start somewhere.
10:47We weren't even in the Champions League for seven years.
10:49So we have to start to build that story.
10:53And I think we are on the right track.
10:55But yeah, a lot to do.
10:57And with that, do you feel like it's more than just on the players
11:00and kind of start?
11:02Is it something that's more, I guess, all around the club?
11:07100 per cent.
11:08I mean, those nights like we had to do the other day,
11:11they're going to be remembered for many, many years.
11:13And that's the kind of nights that gives you belief,
11:16it gives purpose to the competition.
11:18It brings joy and then it prepares you for the next one
11:23because you are waiting to experience a feeling like this again.
11:27And that's the most important thing, in my opinion,
11:29that people are looking forward to expand this kind of emotion with us.
11:34Last couple in the live section, James from ESPN.
11:37Hi.
11:38Just on the title of this.
11:39Liverpool obviously have this league at the top,
11:41but they've been knocked out of the Champions League.
11:44They didn't win the Carabao Cup.
11:46Do you take any encouragement from the fact that they are still
11:49to get over the line themselves in a big competition?
11:52Yeah, I mean, it's a really, really long Premier League season
11:55and we all played a lot of matches and we know how competitive
11:58and the margins that most teams win every week,
12:01which is by one goal.
12:02So that means that there is always a chance.
12:05But again, it's certainly not in our hands.
12:07We have to do is win our full matches, be better in the opposition
12:12and wait what happens.
12:13But we want to be there for sure.
12:15Just on Declan, I remember when he started taking corners,
12:19you said at the time you identified that as something a while back.
12:22Now he's started banging three kicks as well.
12:25Is he surprised even you with the evolution in his game?
12:28I mean, how different a player is he now
12:30from the one you signed him?
12:32Yes, I mean, I think we bought a player that, you know,
12:37he was already made, you know.
12:39Obviously, we paid the money that we paid for that reason.
12:41But that doesn't mean that we're going to put a ceiling into him.
12:44Because we believe that it was a lot of part of his game to develop.
12:48A lot of understanding about the game as well to develop.
12:51And then it's about him really believing
12:54and taking initiative to do it.
12:56Because he can do it.
12:57I mean, he needs to score more headers.
12:59He needs to score more goals.
13:00More tappings.
13:01He needs to score more goals outside the box.
13:03And he's able to do that.
13:04So he needs to be adding those qualities
13:06because he's got them in the locker.
13:08The fans say that he got him hard prize.
13:10I don't think so.
13:11Hi, Michael.
13:12Just a quick one.
13:13In Madrid, they are starting to talk and to think about La Remontada,
13:25a possible comeback.
13:26What are your thoughts and Arsenal thoughts about that?
13:28We have to be focused on what we can do, what we control.
13:32And when the time comes, prepare the game
13:35because we know what to expect.
13:37And then, again, we're going to have to earn it,
13:39step up again and be even better than we were in the first game.