Is the team from Man City the same?
I can tell you that after the training session, we still have a session.
How is William Saliba?
Pretty similar, he’s not going to be involved tomorrow and we'll have to wait until the next game to see where we are but he hasn’t improved this week as well.
No game this weekend, was it a good opportunity to digest the game and performance from Man City?
I think so, obviously it took us a while to go over what happened at the Etihad but we don’t want to accept that but you have to recognise that on the day when they took the game to a different level we didn’t reach that level and they were better than us and they deserved to win the game.
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How do you see it now? Win every game and see what happens?
Win tomorrow, that’s what we have to do. Within the disappointment and the spirit around it, two things: recognise what a lot of people have done at the club to get us back into the Champions League because it was already a difficult thing to achieve and not a lot of people were very optimistic that we had the ability to do that at the start of the season. So let’s recognise all the work that people have done to achieve that.
Second thing is what I like the most, is even achieving that with six games to go I don’t think it has happened in more than a decade of the club, but we’re still not satisfied and we’re still upset and we want more. So we want be the club that we want to be to be consistently with the best that’s the mentality that we need and that’s what I loved more the last few days.
You sound proud of your players?
Yeah, because we have achieved what it was difficult to achieve and we can still achieve the Premier League because it’s five games to go and a lot of things are going to happen still. What we have to do is forget about what happened last week, learn from it and move on into the next game with a full team at home, with our people, London derby and put things night.
247 nights top, what’s important is where you are at the end of the season?
How many?
247?
So tomorrow, 248 is what I want. Win tomorrow and be at the top.
Is criticism something that happens in this country, they don’t perhaps look at how good Man City have been?
I don’t think it’s unfair, it’s football. We are Arsenal Football Club, we have to be here to win every single trophy. This is the demands. The reality will happen in the last 15 years, that’s not the reality, but the demands have to be there.
The things I like the most, I’ll repeat myself, great, we are in Champions League, and everybody is still unsatisfied with the situation. And this is what we need if we’re going to move forward as a club and as a team.
Couple dropped points before, then you went on a great run, is this what you need to do now?
Yes, at the end it’s find a way to win. But our way to win has been consistent, the whole season has been playing well, playing better than the opponent and dominant and we have to do that tomorrow to play Chelsea.
Arsenal women play tonight in front of a full house. Talk to me about how proud you are of that?
It shows the unity, as well the way everything is evolving together and the importance of women’s football in this country, especially what the England women’s national team do, what we are doing as a club which as a club maybe as a club we’ve maybe been much better than the men’s football.
In many moments with all the trophies that they won, that’s the reality. So, incredibly proud of them to do that and they fully deserved the credit they are getting and to play tonight in front of 60,000 people is something amazing.
How do you keep the focus with the players after the defeat against Man City?
It is difficult but in sport you have to accept the reality and when a team is able to take the game to a different level and you’re not able to step to that you have to recognise there is still work to do and don’t get confused and be very humble and recognise what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are to be better. The reality is that for [247] days we’ve been with them and there’s still five games to go so it is a lot of things we’ve done very well for ten months I think.
Did you need to raise the mood amongst the players?
Not about the mood, it’s about keeping that fire in the belly for tomorrow.
What can you expect from Chelsea who have not been at their best of late?
They’re going to try and come to the Emirates to beat us, they have a great manager, exceptional players, very difficult to predict what they’re going to do because they can play in various ways with different players and different qualities and we are going to prepare the game to win it.
Has the pressure on you has changed after the game on Wednesday against City?
Now it is not in our hands, and what is in our hands is to win our games, that’s what we’re going to try to do and the rest is down to City.
Does it mean in a way, the league not being in your hands, does it mean you’re settling for second place right now?
No, I already mentioned that.
You’re hoping that City slip up, what did you see last week that would give you hope that they have an Achilles heel?
How tough it is to win every single game, it’s not something I saw last week it’s something I’ve seen for nine months. If not they would have won every Premier League game and they haven’t.
When you look back, how important has missing Saliba been?
I don’t know, he’s an important player but I don’t know how to quantify. I don’t know how to quantify when Gabriel Jesus has been out for four months, Nketiah for three months, Emile Smith Rowe for four and a half months, Kieran Tierney out for a few weeks, Tomiyasu out for three-and-a-half months, maybe now six months. This is football.
How aware that you can’t take Chelsea’s recent form
We already spoke about that, it’s going to be a very different game. It’s a London derby they have something to prove, we have something to prove. It is going to be incredible to play in that stadium and we’re going to have to be at our best again.
If you could go back to next Wednesday and do something different what would it be?
Win.
How were the players in the first training session after the City defeat?
They didn’t need much, they knew, the disappointment was across the club, everybody. Our supporters, our people, our staff, our players. It was a big night and we didn’t produce the performance that we wanted and we deserved to lose the game and we have to move on but I think it was a good reality check I think as well in the way they step up the level we couldn’t reach that level but the reality check that you have to step to that level for 10 months. Believing what you do because you’re so good as well.
If you didn’t win the league, would you still be proud?
Yes, but that’s what I started saying that I am incredibly proud and thankful for what everyone has contributed to bring Champions League football back to this football club with five, six games to go, something that hasn’t happened in over a decade in this club. So congratulations and thank you so much for everyone who has contributed to that and thank you for still being upset and not accepting that Champions League is not enough and we want more. Because this squad is going to demand to get where we want.
Chelsea investment, their drop off, management, having to be at the top to stay where you are?
I look at what we can do, and what is the best strategy for us to move forward, for us to raise the level that we want to reach and again it’s going to be a really competitive summer and window because we’re going to be eight to ten clubs with huge capacities to improve and we know that.
247 days, composure is what Arsenal have done well, that’s gone in the last few days, how do you go about getting it back?
That composure is a lot of times is related to moments, and a moment can change. Whether you use composure or you lost it and you cannot cope with the pressure and we have very important moments that we have nailed that moment and it has given us three points and other moments that, like at West Ham you get 3-1 the game is over and you don’t do it. Or when you are at Anfield, or when you are at home and you concede the goals that we concede. But this is football as well, the sport is part of that. This is the key moments are what define at the end whether you win or not and in the last week we have missed that.
Is that more of an individual thing or collective?
A bit of both I think.
When you analyse Chelsea, what has gone wrong, where are the weaknesses in their team?
That’s for them to analyse not for me.
It’s often said spending money, buying players is seen as the solution to everything but what has happened to them, is it an example that you need a lot more?
I we have very important things. First of all is to have the right people and I think we have the right people, we have the right players that can compete that can challenge and understand their role within the team. You need quality, you need a goal threat, you need physicality in this game to do that but it is extremely difficult to find that thin balance with the players. Recruiting is just, you have the best intention but then the player has to come here, has to fit in, has to get that chemistry with the manager, with the teammates, with the staff, with the country and it’s not easy at all. Credit to everyone who makes those decisions as well.
Chelsea have little to play for, does that make them more dangerous, less dangerous?
I don’t know what that would be. They are really dangerous because when you look at the individuals they can put on that field they can be for sure a huge threat and we need to be aware of that.
Has Chelsea’s lack of form after the huge spending reduced the pressure on what spending equates to in terms of success in the league?
I don’t know. Nobody says that next season they’re going to make 100 points, we don’t know because they have exceptional talent. If they make that work, they can do anything because they have the players, they have the infrastructure they have the history to do it. I don’t know, I cannot assess what is right, what is wrong because you cannot assess this in two months when you make those changes it's not fair.
Giannis Antetokounmpo talked about success and failure after the Milwaukee Bucks were knocked out of the NBA play-offs, speaking about working towards something as success, do you look at what Arsenal have done, working toward something, as success?
As a manager, I don’t want to be using those words. I know what we were trying to do, what the objective was what we’ve been doing and we still have the nicest part of the season to play with five games to go. But when I still look at it, this is not over you know? I would pay a lot of money to next season in this moment be in this position again, a lot, believe me, so I just want to maximise the moment we have right now and go for it.
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