After we tasted the derby day spoils with a 1-0 success at Tottenham Hotspur, Mikel Arteta headed to the press conference room delighted with another three points in his pocket.
The boss was asked by the gathered media about the win, set-pieces, adapting to injuries and much more.
Here is everything he had to say:
on our performance:
Well, I'm super happy, obviously. We know what it means to our club, to our people to win a London derby, and we have the power to try to make them very happy. So hopefully we have achieved that and that makes it very special. On the performance we had moments in the game, some really good ones, some others that we have to suffer. We suffered because we have to adapt a little bit the plan because of the players that we had available.
I loved it because since the day that we started to get by, the team got hungrier and hungrier to play the game and that's a big compliment to everybody at the club to behave in a certain way. It's a tough week that's coming up, and instead of finding any little excuses or arguments to do that - the opposite, face the challenge, play with courage, acknowledge our qualities and what we have to be able to do to win a game, and we've actually done it.
on our squad's character:
The people that we have, I think I already spoke about it during the week, people that are harder, they have thick skin, they love the game and they love winning. In order to love the game and win, you have to do a lot of things - sometimes people call them ugly. Enjoying doing those ugly things is a big compliment of this team right now, and when you're able to normally, you get a good gift.
on what it means to win here today:
We've won three years in a row here. I don't know when's the last time that this has happened, so that's a big thing. I think they believe already, we've won a lot of big games. It’s a big week coming up and that's going to give us a lot of energy and belief. Obviously, there are a lot of things to get better today. I don't think we've done, especially with the ball, the simple things right at all. We will get better.
on Martin Odegaard's injury:
Regarding Martin, we still have to wait and see the news. He certainly wasn't available to play today.
on Nicolas Jover's influence:
In his field, in other fields, as a person, the relationship that we have, that's why I made a decision to bring him to City when I was there and then to Arsenal. Hm and the staff, they have injected the belief to the players that there are many ways to win football matches and that this is a really powerful one. He's given us a lot, so big compliment to all of them.
on Bukayo Saka coming off:
I made two changes with the front players and suddenly he's down. So I looked at the bench and the options that we had, so we had to adapt. I don't know exactly what it is, but he could not continue.
on how the boss had to prepare for this week:
I didn't enjoy it because I didn't sleep much. I looked at Spurs for four or five days. I had a super clear plan, how to do it. I prepared everything, the session, the meeting, etc, and then one news, we lose a player. Another news, we lose another player. Another news, we lose a player. So I had to completely change it. I liked the plan for the players that we had available, so it was a great challenge.
on what the win says about our players:
That they adapt. Loving the game means that you are able to do things regardless of context. Jorginho, he loves the game. He doesn't play it, but he loves winning. I mean, when he's not playing, he's training like an animal at his age, after winning everything. So when you ask him to play 90 minutes, like he hasn't played probably for the last five months, he's able, even cramping everywhere, managed to do it. The same with Jurrien, he's been a year out, he hasn't played 90 minutes at all, and he was struggling today, but he managed to do it for the team. And like, all these guys, I don't know without a pre-season, I don’t know how many minutes he's played. And he was unbelievable, all of them, but that's the spirit and the characters that we have, that I love.
on the way we defended today:
I didn't want to. I wanted to press much higher, lose the ball in much better conditions, higher up the pitch and do that. What I didn't want to do with certain players that we had today missing is expose ourselves to a game that they are incredibly good at. So, I have to choose. And the reward, I think on the other side, was much bigger than acquiring certain risks today against this opponent.
on if there's a concern with the scheduling of our next two games:
Whether I have or not, I'm sure we're going to play Thursday and Sunday and then Tuesday. So it's what it is. We have to adapt to that. We're going to be a top team, a very challenging team that is up there. We're going to have to adapt to those things.
on if the boss felt a bit calmer to the end of the game compared to last season:
Yeah. It was, obviously, because, after 0-3 to 2-3, you say, this cannot happen. And they throw everything at it, they tried today, but I think we looked more composed, better organised, and gave very, very little away.
on Gabriel's performance:
I think the way he has evolved, first of all as a person, and then on his role at the club, at the team has been phenomenal. It's been great to watch. This is why we are here. This is one of my passions to give players the environment, to give players the support, the education, the coaching, to grow and to prepare them for the life and to prepare them to get to levels that probably they didn't think before. And Gabi is certainly one of the best examples of that. Why? Because he loves what you do. He applies himself incredibly well and he wants it. And when that happens, normally good things happen to this kind of people.
