Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has spoken to the press ahead of the North London Derby against Tottenham, including updates on Martin Odegaard’s fitness, Raheem Sterling and his new contract
What’s your reaction to your new contract?
I’m really happy and excited. It shows the alignment between the club, myself and the coaching staff. We enjoy working together and we have higher ambitions that we want to fulfil. That’s the way that I look at it and as I said I’m really pleased and grateful as well.
You made your debut on the pitch 13 years ago this week…
Still look the same though!
Could you imagine being anywhere else?
I couldn’t think of a better place to be as a player with the people that I met and the experiences that I had at this amazing football club. Now as a manager it’s been something far beyond and better than I ever dreamed about probably.
How’s Odegaard?
We need some more tests. Let’s see what happens in the next day or so. This afternoon probably. Let’s see the extent of the injury and how quickly we can get him back. He’s super positive about everything. Martin wants to be here every day, but we have to wait and see.
Is he hopeful it might not be as bad as first thought?
I leave that to the doctor. He’s willing and he wants to be present in every game, especially a big game like this one. We need to make sure we know first how good he can be or not.
So you’re not ruling him out at this stage?
Players with 48 hours are always available. Let’s see what happens.
How’s Merino?
Better, it’s a slow process because it’s a bone and it takes a while to heal. He’s already doing some stuff and working really hard. We’re using this time to make sure he understands a lot of things that he has questions about so that when he is back to help the team straight away.
Could he back before the next international break?
I don’t know. Honestly with the bone it’s very hard to understand the healing of the bone. At the moment he has a lot of symptoms. You can speed it up very quickly because he’s not lost anything else. But we have to wait and see.
Is there better news on Gabriel Jesus?
Gabi was out there. He’s got another session tomorrow and if everything goes well he’ll be ready to be selected in the squad which is great news for us.
And Calafiori?
He’s another one where we’ll have to wait another day or so.
Is it too early to give Sterling a start?
He looks great. He’s got a lot of energy, a smile on his face and he’s at it. He wants to prove a point and when someone’s got that in his belly you sense it straight away. Obviously I don’t need to know anything else about his quality and what he can bring to the team.
You’ll be playing in a different kit. Does it matter?
It’s not ideal. We wanted to play with our home kit and colours but we will adapt. We did it against Villa and we won. Hopefully it will bring good luck as well.
What’s Sterling been like these past two weeks?
What I see is hunger. He’s a player that wants to play every minute of every game. When that’s not the case, he’s not happy. He wants to play every single day and I see that. His commitment and the level of energy that he’s bringing to the team is a big boost. You can feel it walking through the door. We are better with him. He’s gonna make us better.
Can you unlock his goal scoring form for Manchester City again?
He has this ability [to score goals] and the credit to that is him and the players he’s got around him certainly. He has that intuition and that will to do that. I’m sure it’s going to help the team.
How much has the club evolved since you joined and what’s next on the next step to winning trophies?
In the way that we all wanted as we wanted a very different club. We are in the right direction and we have made some huge steps. We have a lot still to make and I sense that hunger from the ownership to the board to all the players and all the staff here. This is the aim and the objective.
Any club or country you would have left for?
No, the emotional attachment that I have, that my family and kids have, the experience that I have with the people is too strong.
Any qualms about throwing Nwaneri into a big game?
We have to adapt to that throughout the season. We are going to have this kind of situation. It has happened very early, since the second game. The bench against Brighton was very different to the one we probably all expected. We have to face it and use the opportunity as the kids have given us a lot of hope and right reasons to count on them. If we have to then we will, for sure.
Best memory of the derby as player of manager?
Probably afterwards, especially at home when you win and you celebrate with your supporters. You know how much it means and there is something special. We have so many huge Arsenal supporters from the day they were born and looking at our staff we have some good examples around the first team. They come in after the game and the emotion of what it means to them. It is a privilege to have the power to contribute to making someone really happy and making it a special day for them.
How much do you respect Ange?
I admire him and respect him. I think he has been an inspirational coach as he has done things his own way in various contexts and various countries. He has a very unique way of thinking about the game and his philosophy. I love it and he stands by it. He represents himself and his club in a really good way.
Five years since you worked with Raheem. How has he changed as a player and how strong is his desire?
A lot. In his personal life a lot of things have changed but with the player I was really surprised. The first call I had with him I knew in the first 10 seconds we have to bring him because he really wanted it. That was my only question mark: ‘What stage is he at in his career?’
After 10 seconds I knew already before the next questions that we needed him here.
Arsenal fans listening to this and excited about contract what is your message?
‘Thank you’, is what I would say. Thank you for the gratitude, the time we have spent, for the trust, the confidence they have shown. Hopefully that can continue and we are here to make people happy and enjoy the passion which is to love and follow a football club and we are very responsible to achieve that for them.
Havertz adapted to role?
He has been great. It was a journey to that point that we navigated together, but nobody doubted his quality and what he can bring. Especially the success has come because of his character and his personality and how he approaches every game, every situation, facing it and going for it. It’s a joy to have him.
With the injuries you’ve got just now, obviously you let Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson go out on loan or permanently this summer. Are you still happy with the size of the squad that you’ve got and the depth that you’ve gone with this season?
Yes, it can be bigger, yes, but we have certain limitations that we know about. We have to do certain things, certain transactions and as well because certain players, they have our time with us and they needed a new challenge in their career. We have signed a few players, it’s been a bit different to the previous years, but I’m really happy with the quality and the squad. There are certain things that we cannot control and what happened in the last two weeks is extremely unlucky. We have to face it, but hopefully during the season it will be very different.
It’s a really tough period coming up early in the season, five of the next eight games are against the top eight from that season. How do you approach that? People say break for us and with the injuries, the title could be out of their hands already by October or November?
(laughs) Day by day, guys. If we look where we’re going to be at the end of May and the amount of games that we have to play and the level and the challenges ahead, we cannot think like this. We’re going to run out of oxygen. I want to have the energy and enthusiasm for the next day, the next game and prepare that in the best possible way and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go to Spurs with unbelievable energy and believe that we’re going to go there to be ourselves and try to win the game.
Spurs fans wanted Spurs to lose? Ange surprised. What did you make of it?
Nothing. I always have the faith and I know Ange a little bit that his team played to try to win the game. They had some big, huge chances that any other day would be very different and no question, no doubt about that at all.
With the fans though, just the extent of the rivalry?
I don’t know which fans you know and how many of those. Everybody has his own thoughts and I can speak for myself and I never had any doubt about that.
