Tag: Mikel Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta called on his players to be brave and believe in themselves in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid on Wednesday, and deny the Spanish giants a comeback.

Arsenal go into the game with a 3-0 lead from the first leg in London after two superb goals from Declan Rice and another from Mikel Merino but Arteta said they were well aware that the holders and 15-times European champions were very capable of overturning the result at home.

“Our approach is to win it. The same as we did in London,” Arteta told a news conference. “Real Madrid are going to try to take us places we don’t want to go. I understand it because it is part of their history and they have the right to be talking about these kinds of (comeback) scenarios.

“We have to show the mind-set to win. To be brave, to be dominant and to be determined. We need to have the conviction that we can be better than them and win the game.”

Arteta said his players must not only believe in their ability but also embrace the excitement of the occasion as the North London side look to reach just their third Champions League semi-final.

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“When you have to create a story, first of all you have to be excited about it,” the Spaniard said. “The players have to be prepared and you have to be really convinced about what you want to achieve.

“The emotional aspect is really important and I have a lot of reassurance from what the team has done all season, in positive contexts and very difficult contexts.

“To progress to the semis like this and to be convinced we are going to handle any kind of situation, we are going to enjoy it.”

Arteta said both Ben White and Thomas Partey would be available for the game after injuries, while Jorginho had not travelled to Spain after picking up a rib injury in the Premier League draw against Brentford on Saturday.

Arsenal have not made it past the Champions League semi-finals since 2009, but manager Mikel Arteta wants his side to write their own history when they host Real Madrid for the first leg of their quarter-final at the Emirates today.

Madrid, the record 15-times European champions, have won six Champions League titles since 2009 while Arsenal continue their hunt for a first crown.

Arteta, whose team last year bowed out of the competition after a quarter-final loss to German side Bayern Munich, urged his side to back themselves.

“It’s a club (Madrid) that has set new standards in world football. This is where we want to be, where we want to belong,” Arteta told reporters.

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“It’s part of their history. We have to write our own history. We have to focus on our thing. They can hurt us a lot but we can too. “With a lot of hope that we can get a result, that we can do it. We need to be convinced that we can do it. We need to just enjoy it.

“It will be just the first leg, the intention is clear for tomorrow. We’re going to go for it.”

Winger Bukayo Saka did not start in Arsenal’s 1-1 Premier League draw at 15th-placed Everton on Saturday, only coming on in the 46^th  minute.

The 23-year-old England international, who has scored 10 goals and provided 14 assists in 26 matches in all competitions for Arsenal this season, had only made his long-awaited return from a hamstring injury on Tuesday.

Arteta said Saka was in a much better place now.

“We have built his minutes and he’s coped with that really well,” the Spaniard added.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his emergency centre-forward Mikel Merino for clinching another three Premier League points for the north Londoners when he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over city rivals Chelsea.

Merino – a midfielder by trade – showed the instincts of a seasoned striker when he glanced a header from Martin Odegaard up and over Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal, the ball dropping into the net at the far post.

“The way he’s approaching this is incredible,” Arteta told reporters. “He wants to understand everything. He wants to learn from it. He’s very critical of himself all the time. And at the end, the reality is that he wins matches for us.”

Merino scored twice in a 2-0 win over Leicester City in February when he came on as a substitute to lead Arsenal’s attack and he has been playing in that position ever since.

Asked about the 12-point gap between Arsenal and league leaders Liverpool, Arteta said the onus was on his side to win every game and see if they could rebuild their challenge for the title.

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“We have to win our matches. Win against Fulham and we will be close,” he said, referring to the Gunners’ next league game on April 1, after the international break and an FA Cup weekend.

Just like Arsenal, Chelsea were missing several of their usual forward players, chief among them their top scorer this season, Cole Palmer, who picked up a muscle injury in training before the visit to the Emirates.

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca said he did not think Palmer would be available for England who have two World Cup qualifying matches against Albania and Latvia over the next eight days, and he hoped the break would do him good.

“We don’t wish players injury but in Cole’s case, in this moment probably he could get some rest, physically and mentally, it could be good,” Maresca said.

Mikel Arteta said this week’s 7-1 hammering of PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League had given the club a huge lift but urged caution ahead of Sunday’s trip to misfiring Manchester United.

Second-placed Arsenal, 13 points behind leaders Liverpool, are realistically out of the Premier League title race after recent stumbles.

But they travel to Old Trafford seeking their fifth straight league win over their old rivals in Arteta’s 200th Premier League game in charge.

Arsenal, struggling with injuries in forward areas and goalless in their past two league matches, hit form in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie on Tuesday.

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 “It was a great night for us in an important competition that we have hope in,” the Gunners boss said. “The manner, the way we did it obviously lifted everybody. That’s the past unfortunately so it’s about what we do today, the preparation for tomorrow and try to replicate a great performance on Sunday.”

United are a lowly 14th  in the Premier League, 21 points behind Arsenal, but Arteta said they should not be underestimated.

The Spaniard was asked what he expected from Ruben Amorim’s team, who have produced some surprising results this season including a win against Manchester City, a draw against Liverpool and an FA Cup win against Arsenal on penalties.

 “That’s the history of that football club,” he said. “The players that they have and the coach that they have.

 “Watching the game last night against Real Sociedad (a 1-1 draw in the Europa League) you come very clear that they are very capable to put a really strong performance and beat you on the day. So we know that, we know the difficulty of the match and that’s how we prepared.”

Arteta, who became Arsenal manager in December 2019, was asked at his pre-match press conference to name his top moments as Gunners boss as he marks 200 league games in charge.

 “Probably the number one is with the day that I was sitting here on the first day, just fulfilling that dream of one day becoming the manager of this incredible football club,” he said.

“And then there are many others, but the other night was up there with one of the best because of the way we did it.”

He added: “I have a lot of energy still and I’m very driven to have more success.”

 Mikel Arteta has challenged Arsenal to hammer away at Liverpool’s daunting lead in the Premier League title race.

Arteta’s side head into their New Year’s Day clash with Brentford trailing nine points behind table-toppers Liverpool.

The Anfield outfit have won 14 of their 18 league games this season to make them firm favourites to clinch a title that Arsenal expected to be in contention to win themselves.

With champions Manchester City in turmoil, the third-placed Gunners hoped to capitalize after finishing as runners-up for the last two years.

But Arsenal have paid the price for an inconsistent spell that leaves them well adrift of top spot, prompting Arteta to issue as rallying cry prior to their last game of 2024.

“We have to continue to be like a hammer, be there every day, and if someone wins all the matches then we congratulate them and then go to the next season,” the Spaniard said.

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“But if they don’t, and in history that hasn’t happened, then we will be there.”

Arsenal are bidding to win their first title since 2004, but will be without Bukayo Saka for an extended period after the England winger was ruled out until at least March with a hamstring injury.

The diagnosis is set to see Saka miss at least nine more Premier League matches as well as Arsenal’s FA Cup third round tie against Manchester United, and their two-legged semi-final League Cup clash with Newcastle.

Saka’s absence, coupled with a knee injury for Raheem Sterling, is likely to see Leandro Trossard handed a run on Arsenal’s left-hand side, with Gabriel Martinelli switching wings to fill the void left by the 23-year-old.

Trossard, 30, has been in and out of Arteta’s team since his move from Brighton two years ago, but the Gunners boss said he always remained committed.

“He’s a really good character, but they all want to play. Leo has shown a lot more consistency in the last 12 months. Raise the level, and if he plays at that level then he will play like anyone else,” Arteta said.

 “He has the capacity to do something special in the final third. He’s played as a left winger, as an attacking midfielder, he’s played as a nine and he’s a player that I value a lot.

 “Leo naturally is a bit of a moaner but I like that because he’s very competitive and you have training sessions, he’s always busy with the referee’s decision, because he wants to win.

 “He can make an impact because he’s got that drive, that anger which says, ‘I’m gonna show you’, and I love that about him.”

Mikel Arteta said  winning the League Cup could be a launch pad for more silverware as he celebrates five years in charge at Arsenal this week.

The Spaniard won the FA Cup in his first season in charge, in 2020, but the trophy cupboard has been bare since then despite some near misses.

Arsenal, Premier League runners-up for the past two seasons, are currently third in the English top-flight, six points behind leaders Liverpool having played a game more.

Today,  they host Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, three days before a match against the same opposition in the league.

Arteta said he was hungry for more silverware including “the big ones”, adding a cup run builds momentum.

 “I fully believe in that, the fact you are winning, you get into the next round of the competition, it builds, it creates something different around the team, that’s why these kind of games are really, really important,” he said.

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The 42-year-old said winning the League Cup would be a huge shot in the arm for the club, who have not won the Premier League since 2004.

 “It brings belief, trust, positive energy,” he said.

 “Touching a cup, beating someone in the semi-final, beating someone in the final, it generates that energy.

 “And I think it creates that right path to go and do something else, especially because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country, it gets the momentum going.”

The League Cup final will be held at Wembley on March 16 next year.

Arteta, appointed as Arsenal boss in December 2019, said he would “decide the best team to win it” when asked about the potential for wholesale changes in Wednesday’s fixture.

 “We’ll decide that in the morning in relation to how the squad is, obviously the relevance of the match and where we are in the quarter-finals, it becomes a very important match,” he said.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refused to confirm whether the Gunners would have any players back for their Premier League clash with Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

The North London giants are bidding to make it four victories in a row across all competitions in the 3pm kickoff, having overcome Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City and Paris Saint-Germain over the past couple of weeks.

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The 2-0 triumph over the French champions in the Champions League saw Mikel Merino make his belated debut after a shoulder injury, but Arsenal lost key full-back Jurrien Timber to a muscle problem at half time.

The Gunners were already without Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Ben White (groin), Kieran Tierney (hamstring), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) and Martin Odegaard (ankle) for the visit of Luis Enrique’s side, although the former was seen in training earlier this week.