Following Arsenal’s 1-1 away draw against Chelsea, manager Mikel Arteta expressed his disappointment at the team’s failure to secure all three points during the post-match press conference.
What’s your overall assessment of the game? Considering you faced 10 men for a full hour, was this a game you should have won? How do you feel about picking up just one point?
“First of all, I think it was a very typical London derby. The game was extremely intense, and you could feel the importance of every tackle and every action from the start. Both teams wanted to win badly, but there wasn’t much fluent football – a lot of stoppages, free kicks, yellow cards, so the game was disjointed.”
“After Caicedo was sent off, we obviously wanted to control the game, but we couldn’t. We also picked up four yellow cards. It was clear that the players were being targeted constantly. At halftime, we decided to take a step back, clarify our intentions, and figure out how to dominate. But then a long ball led to a free kick, then a corner, and ultimately their set-piece goal. So the momentum shifted, and the team had to react to that.”
“We still had some good moments, not much sustained momentum, but we scored a wonderful goal. After that, we had another two or three great chances, but we lacked some details, especially in our attacking play.”
On coping with consecutive games and injuries
“It’s been an important week, starting with the derby. This game was crucial for our emotions and desire to win, then Bayern in three days. We’ve lost several players across these matches – for example, today we had to use a backline that had never played together before. It was an extremely tough game, but the team had to respond.”
“Overall, it’s been a very positive week because the challenges were huge. But I have a feeling we should have won today, and we didn’t – that’s something we need to learn from.”
Are some players feeling fatigued?
“We’re playing a game every two and a half days. Today we had one less day of preparation than Chelsea, and we’re missing key players, but that’s the schedule. Now we go again on Wednesday, a game every three days, which motivates us. This game was massive, two very intense matches, but that’s the beauty of it. Not many clubs get the chance to play the games we’ve played this week, and I’m very proud of the team.”
What does it say about your team that they came to Stamford Bridge, maybe didn’t play their best, but are disappointed not to win?
“That’s a great point, but that’s how we feel and the standards we set for ourselves. It’s probably down to their spirit, hunger, and how much they want to win. It’s incredible – we’ll overcome anything because we’ve been through so much. We have to be ready to perform better against Brentford on Wednesday.”
In three years and four months, this is only the second time you’ve been unable to select Saliba or Gabriel in the Premier League. What impact has that had on your team?
“It’s a headache because we need to have plenty of options and changes for various reasons. As you said, this situation was very unexpected – it happened yesterday. But the wonderful thing is we have so many players who are willing to step up and work with each other, and we’ll build better relationships. Today was a great learning game and gave us confidence that whoever plays will perform well.”
Some people think your squad is the deepest and strongest in the league, and that depth was tested today. Did you see any signs today that your squad isn’t deep or strong enough? Because despite missing several players, the intensity was still there.
“To be honest, that depth has been tested since pre-season. We’ve lost six or seven players who have been regularly out of the squad. But I have no doubts, as I said, about the quality we have and the mentality of each player.”
Without Gabriel and Saliba, you’re obviously a different team. How long do you think Saliba will be out?
“I don’t know. I think he’ll have another check tomorrow, and we need to see how he feels and his symptoms. As for Gabriel, it’ll be a few weeks.”
