We’re back in Premier League action this week and ahead of our trip to Wolves, Mikel Arteta has been speaking with the press.
We sit top of the Premier League table by four points and before our game at Molineux, Mikel answered questions on the title race, injuries and much more.
Read every word below, with a full video of the presser from Sobha Realty Training Centre to follow:
on how Calafiori is after the weekend:
He’s fine; he was training with us today, he’s feeling better, and hopefully he’s fit for tomorrow.
on White coming off against Wigan:
It was just a bit of fatigue, obviously he did a lot in the game and by the end of it, he was feeling a bit of tightness in the hamstring, but he’s fine.
on if Odegaard is back in the mix:
No, for Wolves he’s not going to be fit. But for Sunday, we’re very hopeful that he can be with us.
on any other team news updates:
Kai is the other one that again, for the weekend is a possibility, so looking forward to having him in the squad.
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on how much we needed the performance and result against Wigan:
Well very little time to reset because we’re going to play a game on Wednesday and then on Sunday again, and then we continue to play, but really good, because that means that we are in every competition, in a really strong position as well, so it was good because I liked a lot what the players delivered, some players that didn’t have many minutes, and the attitude, the way we attacked the game, was very impressive.
on being able to enjoy and relish it:
The position that we are in is a privilege and we take it because we have earned it, and for so long, seven and a half months is a long time to, every single day, do the right things and perform at the level that we are performing to get where we are, so we need to embrace that. Tomorrow we know we’re going to play a really difficult match against them, our recent past with them showed how tough it was to actually win the three points. I know Rob [Edwards] really well and how he sets his teams out and it’s going to be a tough test.
on what gives him the confidence that we can go and win the league this year:
Well they have given me the confidence that what we’ve done up to now, every single day, and the biggest reassurance in every competition, the manner we’ve done it, with all the challenges that we’ve faced already, gives me confidence because it’s the way we prepare. I don’t get the confidence for the things that I imagine, but for the things that I see every day and the preparation and how much the players want it. We are where we want to be, that’s for sure.
on how much it matters that Man City have been there and done it before:
I don’t know, obviously we are looking at what we are doing and especially what we have to do in the present time, and tomorrow, how we have to perform against Wolves to do better than that and win the game and that’s it.
on Wolves’ appraoch:
Most of their games, that is what they are doing against opponents and he [Rob Edwards] came in in a really difficult moment for the club and I know how he feels about the club and the way he works and it’s going to be very tough. If we do the things that we do really well we have a big chance to win the game and we need to play as well with that purpose and confidence.
on trying to keep Merino included around the squad during his recovery:
There is a time for everything because it’s what we want as a team and what the players and the families, as well, need at some point. So it’s a long-term injury so he’s with us now and very involved with us in every meeting at the moment, then he’s going to have a period as well because the injury requires and I think the body demands and the mind demands as well some time in a different part of the world next to his family and then he will be back with us for the end of the season.
on what he wants our full-backs to be doing further up the pitch:
Well, depending on the position that we are playing and which space as you mentioned occupying; the width, the pace, the pocket, and have that functionality in the team I think is really positive. Then we will adapt to the players that we have because some of them are more comfortable in certain spaces but I think what our full-backs are doing this season it’s another level.
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on how wary he is of going to Molineux Stadium after our previous match with Wolves:
Well, I think understanding the difficulty of the match is always there in any game in the Premier League but when you come to the last stages of the season you know the importance of every win and what you have to do. I sense the team is in a really good emotional state, really looking forward to playing tomorrow and that’s why. Play with that energy, that confidence and I’m sure we’ll continue to do what we’ve done.
on getting back in the saddle in the Premier League title race:
It’s great to be in every competition, it’s great to change the mood from competition to competition and adapt to that in the manner that we are doing so every competition is very welcome.
on if we could run away with the title:
That’s what we want to do, and the more we win in the next few weeks, the better position we’ll be in towards where we want to be.
on if it’s best to let players continue into new positions they’ve adapted to:
Circumstances with players as well, it sometimes forces you to do certain things. But Mikel [Merino] adapted really well to the No. 9 position [last season] because we were missing Kai and Gabby at the time. Now we have issues with midfielders, and players are stepping in. Bukayo stepped in, and his case is one we have to consider for the future, but it’s really good – especially the way players respond to different types of roles in the manner that they’re doing.
on if Saka enjoyed playing as a number 10:
I think he does, and everything that brings a challenge to him. Anything where he needs to prove something, that ticks something in him, and I think that’s a positive.
on the relationship between Saka and Madueke:
This morning we had another one. They were in the gym and they were testing, and everyone was trying to compete with each other, and those two were hilarious as usual. It’s great to witness, because it’s natural – the way they like each other so much, they’re constantly together, and there is some competition within the places, but the team benefits from that and they benefit from that as well.
on if the chemistry between them can have a positive impact on the pitch:
It always does. Anyone who has played sports or worked with people in teams or those environments that you are willing to see, it’s much better in the morning with someone when you don’t even want to look at their face, so, it’s very pleasant – they enjoy the company and get along really well.
on if we spoke to Saka before bringing Madueke in:
Yes, I did, I spoke especially with the England boys who knew him really well. Some of them had Noni in their academy, as well, because it’s really important to find out a player’s trajectory from the players and coaches who have experienced him.
on the challenge of players going in for impact moments after returning from injury:
It’s really difficult to replicate the actual action [a player] doesn’t want to replicate for an injury as well, especially for those long-term injuries. It’s tricky, some have to happen naturally, and the more you have players around, the more unexpected things happen. When you get through it, almost without realising, that for me is the best way.
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on if players can lose a yard of pace and recover it after a muscular injury:
It depends on the injury. If it’s a hamstring and you have to reproduce an action at max speed and you have the hand break on a little bit because you don’t want to expose, it can happen. Or you have a wrecked frame and you are scared to shoot from distance as well and you just make a pass. It can be in the brain. But I think part of the rehab and part of the people that are involved in that process is to give that reassurance, to do the drills, the exercises, the treatment that the players need. So when they are there, they are 100% able to do the action when the game requires it.
on suffering too many injuries during pre-match warm-ups:
Big time. They were very different. The first one was with Wilo when he rolled his ankle against Liverpool. Then we had two incidents with Ricky in the warm-up in a really similar way. And then one with Bukayo after he rested on midweek and didn’t play against Kairat and then against Leeds. He had that incident. Very unusual. Probably happened once or twice I think in six years that I’ve been here. And it happened four times there. So obviously we are looking in to it. On the Wilo one it’s one that’s very difficult to see. Sometimes, you want to try and test a player before making sure that he’s ready, and the warm-up is another opportunity to do that. And Bukayo is very random because he never gave any symptoms or signals away that this could happen in the warm-up. But it is what it is. We have to learn.
on if it changes how we approach matches in case this happens:
Yes, I can feel it in my body. I’m more aware of it. So in the office at the moment I hear my door and somebody is stepping in and I’m like, ‘no, please’. Because it’s a moment that is very tricky because when you change Ricky for Bukayo you have to change a lot of things within the game plan, positions, a lot of things that are different and you have two minutes to do that. So yes, it makes you a better coach because you have to be ‘what-if, what-if’ and there are more and more what-ifs just before the game and then a lot during the game. So you just need to be more prepared.
on what the warm-up is for:
Maybe we have to change the word. To get warm? Hopefully they are warm, no? To be ready, to be at their best mentally, physically, to be activated, to be connected with the teammates. That’s what a warm-up is for. And to start to have the feeling and probably start to tell the body that the game is coming, the adrenaline is going to start to pick up, the testosterone has to be in the right spots and you’re ready to compete.
on if we have a regimented warm-up for every game:
No, we have. I mean, I was a player as well and we like sets and routines and that’s the way you tell your body as well. It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming. And to change that sometimes is tricky. It’s a really good area to have a look at what will happen if we don’t do the warm-up. Because then at half-time, we go at half-time and we sit almost for 15 minutes and then we go full gas again in the second half. So, yes, maybe something to think about.
on this game against Wolves having been rescheduled at short notice:
It is done. Obviously, it’s not in our hands. We have to play now and we are very happy to play tomorrow.
on if Saka will play more in the 10 role or out wide:
Yes, depending on the options that we have available, we will try to be as good as possible. We have another opportunity, another option there, which is great.
on how Rice worked on improving his midfield game:
With every player, we have certain targets and things that we want to develop in the games, especially that can give huge value to the team and that’s one of the areas with Declan that we need to continue to do that because he can be such a threat from every angle, any position, to damage and hurt the opposition.
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