We head to Leicester City on Saturday looking to extend our unbeaten Premier League run to 15 matches, and before making the journey to the East Midlands Mikel Arteta held his pre-match press conference.
He was asked about the blow of losing Kai Havertz to injury, as well as our trip to Dubai, the fitness of other players and a host of other topics.
Here is everything he had to say:
on Kai’s injury:
We were having a great camp in Dubai recharging, training, having some time off and connecting again with nature in a different environment, and then the injury happened in a very unexpected way. Certainly it is a big blow because of the injuries that we have but fortunately, we've been through a lot this season. We have played without Gabriel, without Saliba, Ben White all season, Tomiyasu all season, Calafiori for two months, Merino for two months, Martin Odegaard for two months, Bukayo Saka for three months, Gabriel Jesus… all of them. So that’s it, that’s the challenge ahead. I love it and look forward because we are still where we are with all the things I mentioned on top of playing four times with 10 men, blah blah blah. Let's see what the team is made of.
on whether he enjoys trying to solve problems like this:
Yes because I don't want to look, I understand the narrative. If any team in this league lost four players in the frontline like those, I know what the answer would be - I don't even want to mention that. We've been through a lot and we have sustained the level of performance and results until this point, so we are more than capable of doing it. That's the only thing that we're going to be looking at.
on who might start up front from now on:
You don't have to be very creative with the options that we have, I'm sure you're going to get it right!
on whether Ethan Nwaneri could fulfil the role:
I think it’s [more about] when, I think it's in there as [a possibility] more than a necessity, is that real quality. He’s been playing as an attacking midfielder and on the right wing and I think it's been really good in that position, so that's fine.
on whether Raheem Sterling could shine with regular football:
Yes and for other players as well, and for Leo [Trossard] to probably play in two or three different positions. It's between all of us, we have mentioned that many times. It’s adding value from different players. It’s probably been a little bit different in adapting to the qualities and the strengths of our players so go for it, the spirit is pretty certainly the same.
on whether he’s tempted to rush back Bukayo Saka:
I don’t know, we have a long-term injury, so what is faster? In a 10-day injury, three days is a lot because it’s 30%, but in three months, a week is probably not that much. It's too early, he’s in an early stage of the rehab, so when we get a little bit closer and he starts to do more demanding stuff and has more load, we will see where he is. There’s no setback, he’s fine.
on if Ben White could be involved against Leicester:
Yes, Ben has been training more regularly now so we still have to manage his load a lot but he’s going to be available yes.
on Everton using a photo of him scoring against Liverpool on their programme cover:
It's probably because it was the last time Everton beat Liverpool at Goodison, so good memories - I look young! I was a very powerful player as you know!
on his reaction to Everton’s late equaliser against Liverpool:
I better not tell you the story of what happened! It was a funny one because I was watching the tablet and I lost connection so we didn’t know exactly what was going on. That's the beauty of football, the uncertainty and that’s the fact for everybody. It's not the first time for everybody, it’s really difficult to win matches in this league, that's why the hope and the ambition are always there because to do it consistently for 10 months, it’s a very, very long league.
on whether that goal proves he’s the answer to our striker shortage:
I think we’d be in big trouble!
on Liverpool dropping points:
When the gap becomes a bit smaller than you expected, it’s always really positive. You need that, generating momentum and the next few weeks are going to be critical as well to understand where we are after the international break, with six or seven weeks to go in the season.
on how he keeps injured players focused:
By keeping them as close as possible to the team and involved. They are responsible as well to manage this period and the energy of the team and support in the best possible way to maintain the standards and the belief around the team, and to be connected, because when you come back, if you have been in the process every single day, I think it’s much better to achieve again the performance level that you need.
on maintaining our pressing up front:
We will have moments in relation to the opposition’s qualities and the intentions they have, and our ability will hopefully be better and better in the next few weeks. As for now, we always adapt to the qualities of the players.
on facing Leicester away this weekend:
Very difficult. At home against top opponents, they make life very difficult. I know Ruud very well and how he sets up his teams, and you can see the spirit there. They are very much alive and a threat.
on what has caused the number of injuries this season:
You cannot prove it, so the evidence we can provide is very limited in many aspects and every case is very different. Obviously some of them we know are based on load and minutes, that’s inevitable. We have players who have been injured and who have played 130 games in the last two seasons, so in the end it’s an accident waiting to happen if you continue to load and load. Is it this season, is it the accumulation of that, is it the stress of that, is it luck, is it preparation, is it methodology? There are a lot of factors, and it’s very difficult to point at something, but the schedule is super demanding and for certain players, especially explosive players, it becomes a real issue.
on how Mikel reacts to seeing injuries:
A big pain in the tummy, that’s the first feeling. First of all when you see a player in pain it’s a really bad feeling. Then you think ‘not again’, then you realise you have no time to do that. Support the player, start to look forward and at the alternative and how the team is going to be able to continue to perform. Convince yourself about that because the players need to feel that belief as well. You can use cases and situations we’ve been in in the past. We’ve done it, great - so if we’ve done it before, we can do it again.
on whether he would have signed somebody knowing what he knows now:
No, but we were always put in that situation where we were an injury or two away from a very risky situation. When you try your best and do everything that you think you’re capable of, and you have done your homework and try that, and you don’t achieve it, you can have regrets but at least you know that you’ve done it.
on whether he will limit his ambitions this season:
If I do that, I'd prefer to go home. No chance.
on the mood in the camp:
There is always a moment, and it happened when we were training super well, and we were in the best environment, and suddenly this happened, but you have to turn things around. Unfortunately, we go through that a lot, you could see the reaction with the reaction of the physios, the whole team, and how we feel about that. Tomiyasu is another one that has been really strong with this kind of situations, Ben [too], when Mikel came in and suddenly, he’s on the floor and out for six to eight weeks, unfortunately we had a lot. It’s part of the game; it’s part of our profession and we have to deal with that.
on whether he saw the impact on the players:
The reaction is: ‘What else do we have to do? Let’s do something.’ That’s it, that’s the reaction.
on how Kai injured his hamstring:
He was going to stop a shot after a set-piece, then he stretched the leg and felt his hamstring.
on whether he will change the approach given the different profile of his forwards now:
We have to, there are certain things that we’re going to have to adapt, and again. It brings other opportunities as well because we’re going to have a different frontline of players that are very unpredictable, so good in 1-v-1s, very creative, very sharp and it’s going to give different headaches to the opposition.
on whether the intensity of modern football increases the chance of injuries:
The intensity is going to a different level and the demands that we put in play in terms of the amount of minutes. In this competitive environment, it’s higher and higher so it’s just a consequence of that. You look at all the graphics and the injuries that have happened in the last two seasons, especially this season, and long-term injuries, especially muscle and tendon involvements, it’s higher than ever. There is a relationship and given the data sample is small, I think it’s very clear.
on whether he will bring in a free agent:
We’ll explore every possible situation and make a decision from there.
on whether he wants the Premier League rules changed to get Max Dowman involved:
We had Max, we had many other kids as well there [in Dubai]. It was a big opportunity for us to see them in our environment. It’s clear the rules on age and restrictions at the moment and very difficult to change that as well.
on whether he will keep senior players on the bench so there is experience there:
That’s a good point and sometimes it’s a way of twisting your thinking and probably exposing the player in an environment that is, from the beginning, a bit easier. We’ll have to cope with different contexts probably, and some of them that we haven’t even imagined or can really plan today, but we are ready.
on whether he still feels that bringing in any extra players would have been beneficial:
A certain ability, an ability that can play in our level. That’s a body that we recognise as somebody who can support and impact the team.
on how he adapts training to help with fatigue:
It's very limited, we train less than ever. You see our data, we train less than ever, it’s normal. There’s no time for training. But when we talk about training, it's not only what happens on the grass. The biggest problem is that you don’t train the muscle. That’s the problem, so the muscle is undertrained and when you expose the muscle and the tendon to an exposure that they can not absorb, because the tendon needs 72 hours to recover, so a lot of people talk about what are we doing outside? It’s not outside, it’s inside when you have to load that muscle for two, three, six, eight weeks, when you haven’t trained it the risk of injury is much bigger, one because the muscle and tendon are not recovered and then it’s not prepared to absorb the load and the stress you’re going to put it under again every three days. That’s the problem.
on whether he takes heart from what we have already done this season:
I look at all the factors that can give you an edge that maybe weren’t there. A big one is going to be our people, our supporters. If we’re going to be short in certain areas, they can contribute in a way that nobody else can impact the team and it’s with that energy. The energy can change momentum, belief and put a player from this level of performance to that one without me talking to them. That’s a big power and we have to use everything that we have in-house and in our domain to do that.
on whether Everton’s equaliser helps change momentum:
That helps. It seems like it helps when you see your team performing, what we’ve done in the Champions League and what we’re doing in the league with all the conditions that we’re in, that’s massive belief. The players’ reaction is one that gives me the mood that I’m in, that they want more and they’re not satisfied and they’re not going to stop with that.
on how he gets Sterling going now:
He’s been much more involved recently as well on his merit and he’s earned the right to do so. Obviously now in terms of the minutes and availability we have those players, all the players are going to have more exposure and certainly Raz will be one of them.
on the women's team playing Spurs this weekend:
All the best, let’s do it again! It’s going to be packed and it’s just a joy to watch the amount of support that they deservedly get in because of what they’re doing, so I hope it goes well.
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