Mikel Arteta has been speaking to the press ahead of our trip to west London to take on Brentford in the Premier League.
Our manager gave an injury update, spoke about the challenges we face agains the Bees and much more.
Read every word below with a video of the press conference from the Sobha Realty Training Centre:
on Max Dowman, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard:
Max is still not available, the rest we will see.
on Max Dowman’s recovery:
He’s doing very well, I think he will be with us in a week or so, and then he can pick up the rhythm and be available for us.
on if we could see Mikel Merino before the end of the season:
I think the doctors were really happy with the way [the surgery] went. Now it’s the start of, obviously, a long process; we’re talking about bone healing. So, we’ll respect the timings, and I’m sure he’s going to do everything he possibly can to speed up that recovery. The timeframes we’re talking about are months – whether it’s three, four or five, we don’t know.
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Medical update: Mikel Merino
on the Liverpool v Manchester City game:
I understand [frustration that City won], but these are things we cannot control. We have to focus on us, in the present, and every three days what’s coming, and just enjoy that.
on if the players watched the match:
They were just really happy when we beat Sunderland, because we knew that would be really tough. They may have been in their houses watching it, but we’re putting all the energy into what we do, that’s it.
on playing twice before City next play the league:
Remain focused, because that’s going to happen between now and the end of the season, as it has happened in the last six months, so it’s something normal, natural – and I’m looking forward to it.
on Thomas Frank’s departure from Tottenham:
Well, it’s obviously very sad news when you have a colleague that doesn’t continue doing his job, because Thomas is an excellent coach, and an extraordinary man as well – and he’s proven that in the league. We know where we are, and how our responsibility is beyond just performance, and I wish him all the very best with whatever he decides to do next.
on if Premier League clubs are more impatient:
I don’t know. I don’t think you can just take every example in the same way, I mean context is important – every club is very different. It’s always a possibility.
on his longevity as our manager:
I think every era is different at every club. I think we have in the Premier League, two of the most iconic managers with Arsene [Wenger] and Sir Alex [Ferguson] for so many years. It has changed a lot from both clubs, so I don’t know – it depends on many factors, and the first one is to have the players right behind you, enjoying what they do, and believing in what you do – it’s a big thing. And then, you have to win a lot of games, because in the end, if you don’t do that, you’re not going to continue in a job.
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on what makes a project a success:
Creating the chemistry with everyone around the club, and the percentage of games that you win has to be really high. You want to continue in the job, and then you can go through a spell where you don’t win games, and that’s the moment that the sporting director or someone like this has to make a decision. And that changes from club to club.
on being given time to carry out the project:
Well, very happy. That’s what we all want from the beginning. Between us we want to sustain that, and bring bigger stability, performance, joy, and progression for the club. And hopefully, this season, we’re going to be even better.
on being flexible in preparing for opposition who change managers:
I think it’s happened a lot of times already this season for us. At the end, you learn the lesson that not only with the change of manager, but what you expect a manager to do against you as well, because it has changed a lot this season. So we focus more on us and what we want to achieve, the way we want to play, the things we want to happen in the game in relation to what they do tactically – because their setup is one thing; their player profile is another thing, and momentum of the game and context is something else. We have to be able to adapt and recognise that, and understand those clues to do what we have to do.
on if there should be a transfer window for managers:
I don’t want to get into that territory – I don’t know. I think at the end, clubs need to have a freedom to decide what the best way is to do that. It’s always been like that, so I don’t know if a change to that would make it better.
on if form goes out the window for London derbies:
It’s another tough game. We know [Brentford] at home as well, the last few results they have had, the coaching staff have been amazing. So, credit to them, because they’re a top side.
on overcoaching players:
I don’t know if I said that. I said probably that I put maybe more focus on the tactical and technical aspect than the other aspects, and that shift because at the end of the day, you have to recognise what a team needs first of all. To create a clear identity and way of playing, you have to see it in a certain way. If you want to change the culture, you’re going to have to invest a lot and put a lot of effort into that. Now it’s shifted because I think it’s what a team needs as well. The level of understanding of what they have to do is very, very good. So we can focus on areas that we can develop that can give us a lot of value.
on bringing in new players to fit his system:
Yes, and probably some of the things that I learned as well. That you can have an idea, you want to do certain things, but at the end, the players’ qualities are the most important thing, and ask a player to do something that is not completely comfortable, is not natural and it won’t work. It might work for a few actions, for a few moments, but in the medium, long term, it doesn’t, and that’s probably the most important thing. That’s to respect the nature of the player and try to accommodate, if you can, in the qualities that they have.
on breaking down the football calendar between November and March:
Yeah, we have done it in different ways over the Christmas period or afterwards when we have four away games, for example, in four different competitions. Now we are jumping from competition to competition every week as well. It freshens it up, we are trying to do that to see what we have to do in a very short period of time, with the objective to be very present in what we have to do now and what’s going to make the difference now in relation to what we want to achieve.
on Martin Zubimendi’s goal contribution:
Merino, credit to Merino. Merino has been showing him the celebrations, how to arrive in the box and everything. He’s a player who, the first time I spoke to him, said that he had a feeling that he was a bit constrained to go forward in the position that he’s playing. We try to give him the licence in the right moment, against the right opponents as well, to attack those spaces and he’s been incredible.
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on the potential he saw in Martin’s goalscoring:
To be fair, it’s been more in games than in training. In training as well, with the very little time that we have, we’re focussing in other areas. But he has his natural ability to do all that, so it’s not a big credit to the work that we’ve done.
on if anything has changed in Viktor Gyokeres:
Not much. I mean, his work ethic remains the same. I think probably the energy, the confidence, when you start to score and assist, and you score and assist, you probably believe that it’s going to happen more often and the probability of that happening then increases. That’s the only thing as well. I think physically as well, after the injury, because when he got injured, probably, he had his best game, or the best two or three games before that period. When he got himself again fresh and available, and training and a sequence of good matches there, I think everything lifted and now it’s clicking.
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on what he does to build up a player’s confidence:
Remind them how good they are and what they bring to the team, and if they’re not bringing certain pastures, just remind them and they don’t lose sight of all the aspects that are very important on the team, that he’s contributing for the team’s success and winning. So it’s not only with that, I think a big part of our job is to remind people constantly the important things and the relevant things and the reason why they are with us.
on if eight months is enough time for a manager to make their mark:
I don’t know, because you have to go into those discussions and what they agreed on, how they saw the club, or the evolution of the squad, or the performances that are expected. I don’t know, I can just talk about [Thomas] Frank, what I know as a coach because I’ve faced him many times and how he prefers his teams and what he did at Brentford as well. Or the way they [Spurs] looked in pre-season when we played them. They were really impressive. But at the end of the day, this league is so competitive. We are all vulnerable because anybody can be on the day, you know that, and that’s really tough to manage.
on if there’s a number of windows a manager needs:
In my head I don’t have it. I have no clue what that number is.
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