After seeing us beat Fulham 2-1 at Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta was whisked off to the press room to tackle questions from the media.
He was asked about Bukayo Saka’s impact as he grabbed the winner, as well as the latest on Gabriel’s injury and Jakub Kiwior stepping up among other topics.
Here is everything he had to say:
on Saka’s return:
I think it’s a beautiful moment to see how much our people love, respect and admire Bukayo. He’s not a surprise to any of us and I think the best example is his reaction. Immediately after scoring a goal, what does he do? He goes and says thank you for all the hard work that all the sports science guys, physios and everybody involved in the recovery have done for him to be in the condition that he is. I think he lifted the stadium, the energy and it’s great to have him back.
on Saka’s emotions at full-time:
He was very positive. I think the first [game] is always the one, how am I going to feel? Because now I have a different opposition in front of me, different demands and pressure. He dealt with it really well and the downside to that is Gabi and Jurrien, we don’t know how they’re going to be. We’ll be assessing them tomorrow and understand better how we are with those two.
on the early impressions of Gabriel’s injury:
They are two players in this team that never want to come off. Gabi felt something in his hamstring, we don’t know how big that is and with Jurrien as well, he was already struggling very early in the game. He managed to continue and at some point he couldn’t, so, that’s the downside to it.
on Timber’s injury:
Jurrien was the knee.
on the importance of potentially missing Timber and Gabriel:
The good thing is that it’s been like this the whole season. You see Martinelli today, you say we’re missing three months. You see Bukayo, four months. Jesus, almost the whole season. How we have managed to be where we are with all those injuries. Ben White hasn’t participated at all this season, it’s what it is. We want it so much that we’re going to give it a real go and we are very excited for next week.
on the defensive injury problems:
You can imagine, we’ve lost four players in the defensive line in one week – Calafiori, Ben White, Jurrien and Gabi Magalhaes. We have still another four, that are so willing that they will do their job.
on the reaction Saka gave to Sam Wilson after scoring:
As a manager I’m part of the staff. We all love this kind of recognition and gestures because it goes beyond the professional side of it. There is a connection there that is so necessary and to be able to appreciate as well the amount of work, stress and responsibility that they have to go through because they will be like this. I hope everything goes well and the work that we’ve done is going to work. So, I was very pleased with that.
on the importance of the relationship between players and staff:
That’s why the emotional part is so important because you can do all the physical work and all the conditioning but you need to leave the players. Four months is a long time and there are moments that we travel and we go to play Champions League and you are there for two days, you are on your own at the training ground and it’s not easy.
on Mikel Merino’s impressive scoring return:
It’s good he has that capacity to score goals, to sense the danger and to move in the right moments into the right spaces. Today was a different goal but then you ask him to play as a nine and he does it perfectly and understands the timing, the position, the role. So good. It’s a joy to have players like this. I thought Ethan had some really good moments. Martinelli was superb as well. You see how much we missed him, that threat, that attacking purpose that he has every time he’s on the ball. Some good performances.
on the number of injuries we’ve faced this season:
Especially because there have been some big, big players in very, very critical positions and affecting the whole line. But we have a lot of good news as well. Look at Mikel, look at Ethan, look at other players doing other stuff. So that’s it.
on the learning experience managing injuries:
You’re scratching your head. I’m having the next few games the same. At the same time it’s been a great learning experience for us and all the coaches and staff to manage that situation. At the end the players are going to react to how we react to it. You start to feel sorry for yourself and say it’s impossible, how we’re going to do this, it will be impossible. But these boys don’t give you the reason to act like that and look where we are in April.
on Jakub Kiwior:
The good thing with Jakub is that he’s been very reliable. Every time we need him he’s always there, he’s available and he does his job. We ask him to play as a left centre-back, as a right centre-back, as a left full-back. He’s ready, he’s got a smile on his face. It’s sad for Gabi but he really wanted to play as well and he will be fine.
on whether Kiwior could be up for the challenge against Real Madrid:
If you ask the dressing room how much they want to play the next two games and the Real Madrid game, believe me, everybody wants to be on that pitch.
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